Feature

Kanazawa University’s Cultural Resources Manager Program

Professor Haruya Kagami,
program coordinator of the Graduate
Program in Cultural Resource
Management

Professor Haruya Kagami is the program coordinator of the Graduate Program in Cultural Resource Management at Kanazawa University, launched in October 2012.

“Our proposal was selected by Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) from many applications for the Globally Leading Doctor Course Program,” says Professor Kagami, a specialist in the culture and history of Indonesia. “It was an extremely competitive selection process. We aim to train specialists in cultural resources management.”

This doctoral program will receive funding for six years accepting eight students each year—four Japanese students and one each from Peking University, Chiang Mai University, Bandung Institute of Technology, and Hanoi College of Vietnam State University. “The student will each receive a monthly stipend of 120,000 yen as well as support for field trips,” explains Professor Kagami. “The students will not only study in classrooms but also visit cultural sites both in Japan and overseas.”

The main feature of the program is that the eight students selected each year will study together as a team, communicating in English and conducting surveys of cultural resources at research centers and museums, and heritage and tourist sites. The students will also plan and manage international workshops at Kanazawa University and partner universities overseas. The students will submit reports on their research after two years and then their doctoral theses at the end of the 5th year program.

Higashi Chaya District, Kanazawa
CIty Possibilities of "Culture", as
tourism resource, as source of
identity.

The students will be based in Kanazawa, a city internationally renowned as one of Japan’s centers for arts and crafts center. “It is not widely known that Kanazawa is a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities network,” says Professor Kagami. “Kanazawa is famous for its gold leaf workshops, producing almost 99% of Japan’s gold leaf. Some is used in the high-tech industry such as mobile phones. So there are many cultural resources to study even in Kanazawa.”

In addition to field trips Japan the students are also scheduled to survey sites including Fresco’s in Italy, archeology sites in the Middle-East and Mayan treasures unearthed in the jungles of Guatemala.

The team-training approach of the program is expected to produce international networks of such experts. “We hope that the students participating in this program will graduate to work in cultural administration in the country of their origin,” says Professor Kagami.

Further information
Graduate Program in Cultural Resource Management:
http://human-socio.w3.kanazawa-u.ac.jp/cultural_resources/index.html　(Japanese)

Details

What is Cultural Resource Studies?
The Center for Cultural Resource Studies at Kanazawa University was established in February, 2011 as an institution affiliated with Institute of Human and Social Sciences. One of the major goals of the Center is to redefine tangible and intangible cultural heritages obliged to change around the world caused by economic development and advancing globalization.
More details here:

Center for Cultural Resource Studies: http://crs.w3.kanazawa-u.ac.jp/en/