For three days from September 20 to 22, “Social Change: New Sociological Imagination for 21st Century” was held simultaneously onsite and online as the last of all seven courses of Hokkaido Summer Institute (HSI) 2022 course offered by School of Humanities and Human Sciences. The course was co-hosted by Professor Yoshihide SAKURAI and Assistant Professor Koki SHIMIZU at the Laboratory of Sociology, Faculty of Humanities and Human Sciences, Hokkaido University, and the invited lecturer Professor Hong Jung KIM of Seoul National University.
While students attending the classes either via Zoom or onsite at the Sapporo campus, Hokkaido University, Prof. Kim gave online lectures from Seoul.
The course kicked off with Prof. Sakurai introducing Prof. Kim to the class and giving an overview of the course, followed by Prof. Kim’s online lectures.
Beginning with the definition of sociology (“What is sociology?”), the lectures introduced the classic work of Jean – Gabriel de Tarde and his social theories, digging deep into how his theories resonate to what extent with modern and innovative theories such as the actor-network theory by French philosopher / sociologist Bruno Latour, and assemblage theory by French philosopher Gilles Deleuze.
The course covered themes such as platform capitalism, the concept of anthropocene and the impact it brought about on sociology. Through numerous slides introducing scenes from movies including I live in Fear by Akira Kurosawa and Land of the Dead by George Andrew Romero, participants learned about surveillance, algorithm, and emotional labor using specific case examples.
Participants from overseas and other areas in Japan all gathered in the same classroom to attend the lectures, making it a great opportunity for students from Hokkaido University to interact with their international and domestic peers.
