2020年2月18日に名古屋大学で第10回Research Showcaseが開催されました。名古屋での開催は初の試みとなりました。
（Research Showcaseの過去の開催についてはこちら）
Research Showcase Prizeの受賞者として、名古屋大学の原田礼帆さん（日本美術史）と東北大学の阿部純さん（アメリカ研究）が選ばれました。当日の開催様子に関して、名古屋大学の留学生Emily Richardsさんが寄稿してくださいました！
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The 10th Research Showcase presented by the Historians’ Workshop, hosted for the first time in Nagoya, started on a high note by skipping the introductions and diving right into presentations. Presenters each gave 8 minute talks, followed by a 7 minute question and answer session. Dr. Nathan Hopson, a professor at Nagoya University who specializes in modern Japanese history, moderated the event, which had a total of 24 attendees. This incarnation of the showcase mostly turned its eye outside of Japan, bringing together 9 presenters with varied backgrounds and topics across various time periods and geographic locations. The topics covered included 18th century theological history, Minoan Crete architectural history, early imperial Roman history, 14th century Italian history, early modern French history, modern American history, turn of the century German history, early 20th century Japanese art history, and Revolution-era French history.
The overall mood was that of attentive concentration as the audience listened to the arguments. After each talk concluded, the audience had insightful questions that often pushed the presenters to think even deeper about the various directions their research could go. The presenters thought carefully about the questions posed to them before answering and were effusive in their thanks to the audience members.
After the first round of presentations, organizer Dr. Koji Yamamoto talked about the importance and history of the showcase and what they hope to accomplish through the hosting of this event. Dr. Yamamoto spoke about the benefits the participants of the showcase gain, including being accepted to conferences, getting feedback to improve their research, and being published in peer-reviewed journals. He also thanked The University of Tokyo for their generous grant that allows them to continue with the showcase and expanding the scope of their activities. In addition, he offered his thanks to Dr. Hopson as well as Dr. Julia Yongue from Hosei University, who specializes in business history, for coming to offer her feedback on the event.
After the main presentations had concluded, Dr. Yongue gave a helpful talk on how to improve the future presentations of research by PhD and Masters candidates. Her tips and specific feedback, based on the presenters from the previous showcase, as well as general tips were informative and engaging.
The audience then voted on the Best Presentation of the evening. This prize is awarded to the presentation with the best content, reasoning, and discussion of results. Two presenters tied for first place due to the combined excellence of the collective presentations. Jun Abe from Tōhoku University and Ayaho Harada from Nagoya University were presented their awards by Dr. Yongue. Mr. Abe and Ms. Harada were chosen due to their effective use of evidence, clarity of argument, and relatability in relaying the content of their research to others outside their field. In addition, they demonstrated a great deal of insight when answering questions after their initial presentations on the attitudes of African-Americans towards the Japanese redress movement and Modern Japanese painting in the early 20th century, respectively.
当日のスピーカーやオーディエンスの皆さんにお答えいただいたアンケートより一部紹介します。
オーディエンスA
I learnt a lot about many topics that I never thought about. I would like to know the situation for foreigners doing the academia in Japan, what are the differences, how to join, and some other general information how to get published.
オーディエンスB
自分は日本のことをメインにやっているので、7月の日本史・文学のようなイベントが今後どんどん増えると素晴らしいと思います。
まとめ
今回はたくさんの留学生の方も参加していただき、興味深いフィードバックもいただきました。運営側も多様な開催の形について示唆を得られました。次回の7月日本文学・日本史Research Showcaseをどうぞご期待ください！