The Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence conducted a mini symposium for Kinran Senri High School students on Tuesday February 18, 2020. The event, held at Kinran Senri High School, featured EU-themed lectures given by three speakers and was attended by 157 students.
　First, Mr. Richard KELNER (Delegation of the European Union to Japan) gave an overview of the EU and the EU-Japan relationship in his English language lecture on "EU in the world and EU-Japan Relations". The second lecture was entitled "Geant4, a radiation simulation project, and its applications" given by Prof. KURASHIGE Hisaya (Organization for Advanced and Integrated Research). At the beginning of his lecture, Prof Kurashige introduced the international project Geant 4 and, using concrete examples, gave an easily understandable explanation of aspects from basic knowledge of radiation to applications of radiation in medical treatment. Lastly, Assoc Prof. NIIKAWA Sho (Graduate School of Intercultural Studies) delivered a lecture on "The Rise of Populism in Germany: Challenges to the European Integration". Focusing on Germany, he presented the issues surrounding and views towards immigrants and refugees in the country. He concluded the lecture by offering a detailed explanation of some solutions for the topical issues affecting present day Germany.
　Prior to the symposium, Mr. TSUJIMOTO Ken (School Director, Kinran Senri Gakuen) gave a pre-lecture on the EU. Thanks to such advanced preparations and the school's strong emphasis on English language education, students actively listened to the lectures and raised many relevant questions in English during the Q&A sessions. Kobe University's Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence will continue to regularly organise mini symposia for high school students.