Hisatsugu KUSABU (Director of UCRC)
The Urban-Culture Research Center (UCRC) was established in 2003 as a central base of research and education by the Graduate School of Literature and Human Sciences, Osaka City University, one of whose research projects entitled “Studies in the Humanities for the Development of Urban Cultural Creativity (from 2002 to 2007) ” was adopted by the 21st Century COE (Center of Excellence) program by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in Japan. We also opened sub-centers in Shanghai, Beijing, Hamburg, London, Bangkok and Jogjakarta, and UCRC has functioned as a base of international joint-research, education and communication.
Until now, our contribution has produced results in the form of more than 160 publications and several hundreds of literature by project promoters, collaborators or young fellows. Further, the number of doctoral degree recipients has dramatically increased. Under themes including comparative urban cultural history, studies in tourism, studies in cultural resources and studies of intellectuals, we have attempted to integrate an historical approach on urban settings and a perspective on studies in modern culture and have made some notable achievements.
At present, UCRC is composed of the faculty of Literature and Human Sciences from various fields of specialization (core members) and young fellows such as graduate students in doctoral course, Osaka City University and UCRC postdoctoral fellows, and has studied urban problems and cultural problems from various perspectives. Our research achievements have been published in a periodical academic journal Studies in Urban Cultures or UrbanScope. In addition, some of these papers were presented in international symposiums that we held, or have been compiled into archives. Through these activities, UCRC has become a place where new developments in cutting-edge studies and education have been produced. In cooperation with research institutes at home and abroad together with our sub-centers, UCRC will continue to follow a path to become a base of global research and education.