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About the Symposium

It is said that of the 7,000 languages spoken in the world today, nearly half will cease to exist within a 100 years. In 2009, the Ainu language has been registered by UNESCO as an endangered language. However, many minority languages are spoken by indigenous peoples and the loss of a minority language not only means the simultaneous loss of the culture that a people has transmitted for centuries, and the traditional knowledge concerning the ecosystem that this people possesses, but it also has an impact on biodiversity.

Moreover, if a traditional culture vanishes, this not only harms cultural diversity, but may also mean the loss of the foundation for innovation emanating from tradition, may have an influence on future creative endeavors, and may affect economic activities.

On the other hand, the preservation of cultural diversity is inevitably related to issues such as the occurrence of ethnic conflicts and other forms of social friction that arise from specific lifestyle habits like, for example, the wearing of the veil by Muslims. The preservation of cultural diversity also depends on the resolution of these forms of friction.

Cultural diversity is a multilayered and multifaceted academic field straddling the humanities and social science and, therefore, it is a matter of interest for international organizations like UNESCO and the United Nations.

This symposium aims at contributing to the academic analysis of these issues by inviting foreign researchers internationally active at the cutting edge of linguistics, ethnomusicology, political science and cultural economics to deliver lectures and participate in discussion with Kyushu University staff of various fields. Moreover, this symposium intends to highlight the international presence of Kyushu University as a leading comprehensive university.

 

Toshiyuki Kono

Professor, Faculty of Law, Kyushu University
Symposium Coordinator