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The 13th Forum for Knowledge, Arts, and Culture in Digital Humanities will be held online on Saturday, March 23, 2024.
We are now accepting →registrations to join the event as a participant. This event also serves as a conference for young researchers of the ARC-iJAC.
About the Forum for Knowledge, Arts, and Culture in Digital Humanities:
Along with the rapid development of the digital and information environment in recent years, we are seeing more and more cross-disciplinary research in academic fields with an awareness of "information" and "digital". This trend is gaining momentum in higher education and research activities as well, and educational programs and course activities related to this trend are being enhanced.
The need for opportunities for academic exchange among undergraduate and graduate students and young researchers studying in such programs under new research themes in line with the times is ever increasing.
For this reason, the Forum for Knowledge, Arts, and Culture in Digital Humanities was established in 2011 as a place for presentation and exchange, with a focus on graduate students and young researchers interested in information and knowledge research in arts, culture, and other related fields in mind. 11 research meetings have been held to date.
This meeting is positioned as a place where participants can mutually discover new research themes and methods through human exchange in different fields, and we also welcome exploratory and adventurous presentations that are slightly different from conventional conference presentations.
■ Date: March 23 (Sat), 2024, from 13:00 JST
■ Hybrid format:
Venue: Ritsumeikan University Osaka Umeda Campus
Osaka Fukoku Seimei Building, 2-4 Komatsubarachō, Kita Ward, Osaka, 530-0018 (https://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/osakaumedacampus/access/)
Online: Via ZOOMOrganizer: The Forum for Knowledge, Arts, and Culture in Digital Humanities
Facilitators: Ryo Akama (Ritsumeikan University), Mamiko Sakata (Doshisha University), Naoki Takubo (Kindai University), Takehiko Murakawa (Wakayama University)
Co-organizers: The Kansai Division of the Art Documentation Society and the Kansai Division of the Japan Society of Information and Knowledge
In cooperation with: International Joint Digital Archiving Center for Japanese Art and Culture (ARC-iJAC), Art Research Center, Ritsumeikan University.
■ Registration method:
Please register via the <registration form for participants>. (Deadline: Wednesday, March 20, 2024)
※ There is no participation fee.※A get-together is planned to be held after the research presentations (face-to-face only). We would like to make it a place for exchange beyond the boundaries of universities and research fields, so please feel free to join us. The venue, participation fee, etc. will be announced shortly.
Read more>>[イベント情報]March 11, 2024(Mon)On February 20, 2024, a Digital Archiving Workshop was held by the International Joint Digital Archiving Center for Japanese Art and Culture (ARC-iJAC), Art Research Center, Ritsumeikan University, and the College of Humanities, SOAS University of London, as part of the visit of Prof. Ryo Akama, Director of the ARC, to London.
The workshop comes after the renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Ritsumeikan University (RU), Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU), and SOAS University of London in December 2023, which includes expanding the cooperation in joint research into the area of Digital Humanities (DH).
The Digital Archiving Workshop, attended by faculty members, library staff, and students of SOAS University of London, began with a general introduction to the ARC and its international research activities in Digital Humanities, followed by a case study examined by Dr. Ellis Tinios (Honorary Lecturer, University of Leeds & ARC Collaborative Researcher) on 'Transforming Research in Early Japanese Books through the ARC Research Space,' and a lecture by Prof. Akama on 'The ARC Research Space--Aiming at Perfecting a Comprehensive Digital Research Space for Japanese Arts & Culture.'
The workshop then moved on to a section focusing on practical techniques. Prof. Akama demonstrated and explained digitization methods for Japanese materials based on the woodblock prints and old Japanese books in the collection of the SOAS Library. Audience members were given the opportunity to obtain hands-on experience in digitizing these materials.
On February 21, 2024, Prof. Akama gave a public lecture organized by the SOAS Japan Research Centre (JRC) entitled 'The End of Actor Prints (役者絵): How did the Meiji Era's Actor Prints Disappear?'
We are pleased to announce the Call for Manuscript Submissions for the Art Research Center's journal ART RESEARCH vol. 25-1, 25-2, 25-3.
As an academic journal specializing in arts and culture, the purpose of ART RESEARCH is to widely publicize the results of the research projects and activities conducted by the Art Research Center (ARC), Ritsumeikan University, and its partner institutions and collaborative researchers.
Since its establishment in 1998, the Art Research Center (ARC) has been selected for several national grants as a center of excellence for research in culture, art, and information science. In FY2019, the center assumed the role as the International Joint Digital Archiving Center for Japanese Art & Culture (ARC-iJAC) upon its accreditation by the MEXT as an International Joint Usage/Research Center. The ARC is highly regarded as a leading hub for the digital archiving of Japanese art and culture.
Our online journal will be published several times a year, and at the end of the fiscal year, a print booklet compiling all contributions will be distributed, as we hope to increase the submission opportunities for researchers.
We look forward to receiving your manuscript.
Read more>>[イベント情報]February 26, 2024(Mon)The 13th Forum for Knowledge, Arts, and Culture in Digital Humanities will be held online on Saturday, March 23, 2024.
We are now accepting →registrations to join the event as a participant. This event also serves as a conference for young researchers of the ARC-iJAC.
About the Forum for Knowledge, Arts, and Culture in Digital Humanities:
Along with the rapid development of the digital and information environment in recent years, we are seeing more and more cross-disciplinary research in academic fields with an awareness of "information" and "digital". This trend is gaining momentum in higher education and research activities as well, and educational programs and course activities related to this trend are being enhanced.
The need for opportunities for academic exchange among undergraduate and graduate students and young researchers studying in such programs under new research themes in line with the times is ever increasing.
For this reason, the Forum for Knowledge, Arts, and Culture in Digital Humanities was established in 2011 as a place for presentation and exchange, with a focus on graduate students and young researchers interested in information and knowledge research in arts, culture, and other related fields in mind. 11 research meetings have been held to date.
This meeting is positioned as a place where participants can mutually discover new research themes and methods through human exchange in different fields, and we also welcome exploratory and adventurous presentations that are slightly different from conventional conference presentations.
■ Date: March 23 (Sat), 2024, from 13:00 JST
■ Hybrid format:
Venue: Ritsumeikan University Osaka Umeda Campus
Osaka Fukoku Seimei Building, 2-4 Komatsubarachō, Kita Ward, Osaka, 530-0018 (https://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/osakaumedacampus/access/)
Online: Via ZOOMOrganizer: The Forum for Knowledge, Arts, and Culture in Digital Humanities
Facilitators: Ryo Akama (Ritsumeikan University), Mamiko Sakata (Doshisha University), Naoki Takubo (Kindai University), Takehiko Murakawa (Wakayama University)
Co-organizers: The Kansai Division of the Art Documentation Society and the Kansai Division of the Japan Society of Information and Knowledge
In cooperation with: International Joint Digital Archiving Center for Japanese Art and Culture (ARC-iJAC), Art Research Center, Ritsumeikan University.
■ Registration method:
Please register via the <registration form for participants>. (Deadline: Wednesday, March 20, 2024)
※ There is no participation fee.※A get-together is planned to be held after the research presentations (face-to-face only). We would like to make it a place for exchange beyond the boundaries of universities and research fields, so please feel free to join us. The venue, participation fee, etc. will be announced shortly.
Read more>>[イベント情報]February 24, 2024(Sat)Day 1: Friday, February 23, 11:00 -17:40 JST (tentative)
Day 2: Saturday, February 24, 10:30:00 -17:00 JST (tentative)Hybrid event (ARC & online via Zoom)
Presentations marked with ★ are available via YouTube live stream.
Organised by: International Joint Digital Archiving Center for Japanese Art and Culture (ARC-iJAC) & Digital Humanities Center for Japanese Arts and Cultures "Program for Supporting Research Center Formation", Ritsumeikan University
Click here for the program.
[イベント情報]February 23, 2024(Fri)Day 1: Friday, February 23, 11:00 -17:40 JST (tentative)
Day 2: Saturday, February 24, 10:30:00 -17:00 JST (tentative)Hybrid event (ARC & online via Zoom)
Presentations marked with ★ are available via YouTube live stream.
Organised by: International Joint Digital Archiving Center for Japanese Art and Culture (ARC-iJAC) & Digital Humanities Center for Japanese Arts and Cultures "Program for Supporting Research Center Formation", Ritsumeikan University
Click here for the program.
With the establishment of the International Joint Digital Archiving Center for Japanese Art and Culture (ARC-iJAC) in 2019, the Art Research Center strives to push the internationalization of research activities that transcend disciplines and geographic boundaries.NEWS
We were delighted to welcome Prof. Graeme Earl (Head of the College of Humanities, SOAS University of London), Shona Aitken (Director of Advancement, SOAS University of London), and Russell Kelty (Curator of Asian Art, Art Gallery of South Australia) to the ARC. Our warmest congratulations to Dr. Monika Bincsik, ARC Visiting Collaborative Researcher, on receiving the 2024 Marica Vilcek Prize in Art History.
Dr. Bincsik, the Diane and Arthur Abbey Curator for Japanese Decorative Arts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET), receives the Marica Vilcek Prize for her curatorial approach to Japanese decorative arts and textiles that highlights the complex interplay of the Japanese and international art market, trade, social, and political circumstances over the past five centuries.
Dr. Bincsik earned a Ph.D. from Ritsumeikan University, undertaking research on Japanese lacquerware and other decorative arts, supervised by the ARC Director Prof. Ryo Akama (Graduate School of Letters).Prof. Thawonmas, Head of the Intelligent Computer Entertainment Laboratory (ICE Lab), explains how he utilizes ARC database resources for research in artificial intelligence and Game AI.
As a certified University Ambassador with the NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute (DLI), he also runs workshops on fundamental and advanced levels of deep learning, fostering the next-generation specialists in the AI field. >> Read interview.Based on the special exhibition Chushingura Ukiyo-e from Kamigata, held at the Ako City Museum of History in 2022, this digital exhibition showcases the aspects of the development of Chushingura culture in the Kamigata region, mainly depicted in yakusha-e, shibai-e, and omocha-e.
>> Read more.Supported by the International Joint Digital Archiving Center for Japanese Art and Culture (ARC-iJAC), a research team at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), led by Dr. Pilar Cabañas, has launched a digital exhibition of shini-e (memorial prints).
It showcases the achievements of their ARC-iJAC project to digital archive the ukiyo-e collection held by the UCM. >> Read more.Video on demand! 125. International ARC Seminar Speaker: Dr. Ellis Tinios (Honorary Lecturer, University of Leeds, UK/ARC Visiting Collaborative Researcher)
Topic: Hokusai the Alchemist: an exploration of sources for his book illustrations (held in English)
The workshop was held as part of the ARC research project Visual Culture Studies in the Domestic Sphere Utilizing the ARC Database, led by ARC faculty member Prof. Yumi Takenaka.
The project aims to study arts and visual culture in East Asia related to the concept of Ie, which encompasses housing, households, family, and family genealogy within the Domestic Sphere juxtaposed to the Public Sphere.
An invited lecture was given by Professor Emeritus Jeong-hee Lee-Kalisch (Free University of Berlin). >> Read more.Upcoming Events
February 23 (Fri) & 24 (Sat), 2024
FY 2023 Annual Report Meeting of the International Joint Digital Archiving Center for Japanese Art and Culture (ARC-iJAC) & Digital Humanities Center for Japanese Arts and Cultures "Program for Supporting Research Center Formation," Ritsumeikan University<Program to be announced on our website shortly>
March 23 (Sat), 2024
13th Forum for Knowledge, Arts, and Culture in Digital Humanities
(第13回「知識・芸術・文化情報学研究会」)
Venue: Ritsumeikan University Osaka Umeda Campus
(*The time will be adjusted depending on the number of presenters.
*The event may be held in a hybrid format or entirely online depending on the spread of COVID-19.)
>> Call for Presenters
(Deadline: February 5, 2024)Previous issues:
Autumn 2023, Summer 2023, Spring 2023, Winter 2022, Autumn 2022, Summer 2022, Spring 2022, Winter 2021, Autumn 2021, Summer 2021, Spring 2021, Winter 2020, Autumn 2020, Summer 2020, Spring 2020
[イベント情報]January 26, 2024(Fri)Background:
Prof. Ruck Thawonmas, a research member of the Art Research Center (ARC), received his B.Eng. degree in electrical engineering from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, in 1987, an M.Eng. degree in information science from Ibaraki University in 1990, and a Ph.D. degree in information engineering from Tohoku University in 1994.
He is a Full Professor at the College of Information Science and Engineering, Ritsumeikan University, where he leads the Intelligent Computer Entertainment Laboratory (ICE Lab).Prof. Thawonmas, thank you very much for your time today. Can you tell us how you joined Ritsumeikan University and the Art Research Center (ARC)?
Prof. Thawonmas: After I finished my Ph.D. at Tohoku University, I worked at several places in Japan. One day, I saw an interview with a non-Japanese professor at Ritsumeikan University. Seeing that the interviewee was a full professor doing well despite being non-Japanese in an international atmosphere environment encouraged me to join the university.
I joined Ritsumeikan University in 2002 when the university was planning to establish my current college--the College of Information Science and Engineering (CISE).
While my early research focused on data mining, upon joining Ritsumeikan, I decided to slightly change my research area to set myself apart from other professors. I started to look into entertainment computing and computer games, which were not yet well-recognized research areas at that time, either domestically or internationally.
From the beginning of my tenure at Ritsumeikan, I became involved in the ARC's research activities, including the application and subsequent execution of the 21st Century COE (Center for Excellence) Program of the Ministry of Education (MEXT) "Kyoto Art Entertainment Innovation Research." Guess who added the term entertainment there!
As the Head of the Intelligent Computer Entertainment Laboratory (ICE Lab), you have been engaged in research on game AI and intelligent techniques for increasing the entertainment value of computer games. Could you give us some examples of how digital resources of the ARC have been utilized in your research projects?
Prof. Thawonmas: As part of our effort to promote Japanese culture through games, ukiyo-e prints from the ARC Ukiyo-e Portal Database have been incorporated as background images in various projects on game AI.
Read more>>On January 16, 2024, a group of students and faculty members of Sookmyung Women's University, Seoul, South Korea, visited the Art Research Center (ARC).
Besides a tour of the ARC building and digital archiving facilities, Prof. Ryo Akama (College of Letters/Director of the ARC) gave an introductory lecture on the DH research activities of the Center.
[イベント情報]January 18, 2024(Thu)Co-organized by the International Joint Digital Archiving Center for Japanese Art and Culture (ARC-iJAC), Art Research Center, Ritsumeikan University, the interactive online workshop 'Mitigation of Climate Change Impact on North Delta & Alexandria Cultural Heritage into a Global Environmental Context' was held on January 13 and 14, 2024.
>> Click here for the program.
Workshop Report (Author: Dr. Mohamed Soliman)
On January 13 and 14, 2024, an interactive online workshop on "Mitigation of Climate Change Impact on North Delta & Alexandria Cultural Heritage into a Global Environmental Context" was held. The workshop was organized by the International Joint Digital Archiving Center for Japanese Art and Culture (ARC-iJAC), Art Research Center, and the Institute of Disaster Mitigation for Urban Cultural Heritage (DMUCH) of Ritsumeikan University, as well as the International Geodesign Collaboration (IGC), JSPS-Cairo Office, and (EECE)-Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology (E-JUST).
The workshop addressed climate change impacts, promoting renewable energy and resilient infrastructure for a just transition. It highlighted activities like energy consumption, land use changes, and transportation as major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, driving climate change. The objective was to make action and understanding to mitigate these effects.
The consequences of climate change are far-reaching, encompassing rising global temperatures, water and food scarcity, biodiversity loss, health risks, extreme weather events, sea level rise (SLR), poverty, and displacement. In order to mitigate these effects, solutions must focus on reducing atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations. Implementing policies and investment strategies to decrease emissions and enhance carbon sequestration rates should consider the diverse geographic, cultural, and political contexts. Preserving and improving ecosystems, alongside other carbon-absorbing systems, are essential for maintaining consistent global carbon-negative progress, wherein the extraction of carbon from the atmosphere exceeds emissions on a daily, annual, and decade-long scale.
For these reasons, the workshop had focal objectives that included building two sustainable scenarios compatible with 2030 and 2050 SDGs strategies, identifying actionable measures for enhancing global climate challenges for urban mobility, improving environmental ecosystems, and managing cultural heritage climate resilience. Community engagement and establishing a network of stakeholders who can contribute effectively to the formulation and implementation of a mitigation plan for the climate change of Alexandria and North Delta were also one the main objectives of the workshop, as this collaborative approach ensures that diverse perspectives and expertise are included in the planning process, in addition to capacity building, to enhance the skills of interdisciplinary researchers and emerging leaders in utilizing the Geodesign methodology for addressing the Global Climate challenge (GC), as all the participants will receive a comprehensive scientific and technological support, including access to Esri and Geodesign hub software, through a series of webinars and tutorials, that enables them to apply the conceptual framework and practical tools of Geodesign effectively.
The workshop was supported by partners from various entities interested in research and keen on finding solutions to decrease the risks, sustain the resources, and save the planet. These supporters were: DMUCH and ARC at Ritsumeikan University, Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), Inc., International Geodesign Collaboration (IGC), The Liechtenstein Institute for Strategic Development GmbH, EECE-Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology (E-JUST), and The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).
The workshop was coordinated by Dr. Mohamed Soliman (Visiting Collaborative Researcher, Ritsumeikan University), Prof. Keiji Yano (College of Letters, Ritsumeikan University), and Prof. Carl Steinitz (Harvard University), with the assistance of a diverse project team led by Dr. Soliman and Prof. Yano. This team included Prof. Heidi Shalaby (Head of the Central Administration for Technical Affairs, National Organization for Urban Harmony, Egypt), Ms. Raghda El-Nezory (Department of Historic Cairo, Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities), Dr. Nermine Moustafa (National Egyptian Museum of Civilization (NMEC)), Ms. Doaa Ali (Alexandria Department, Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities), and Dr. Marwa Hafez (Alexandria Governorate), and an environmental team at E-JUST led by Prof. Mona Gamal Eldin, Dean of the School of Energy Resources, Environmental, and Chemical and Petrochemical Engineering (EECE), Egypt-Japan University for Science and Technology (E-JUST).
In order to make the best of this workshop, the supporters collaborated with stakeholders from different sectors and organizations, such as the Alexandria Governorate, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MoTA), the Syndicate of Engineers-Alexandria, and Raquda Foundation for Art and Heritage. Hence, the actual stakeholders were represented by more than 30 participants assigned in four working groups to reach the best opportunities for mitigating climate change.
The workshop had 30 participants representing several entities in Egypt and two participants from Japan, including universities, institutes, offices of the government sector, health centres, and private firms. The participating entities from Egypt were EECE, Egypt-Japan University for Science and Technology (E-JUST), Helwan University, Alexandria University, Ministry of Tourism & Antiquitis (MoTA), Ministry of Social Solidarity, Alexandria Governorate, Western District, Administration of Planning and Urban Development, German Archaeological Institute Cairo (DAI-Kairo), San Stefano Health Center, Al-Muntaza Medical Area, Tail & Partners Law Firm, and Raquda Foundation for Art and Heritage, from Egypt, while the participants from Japan were from Nagasaki University.