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Outline

The disciplines

The Centre for Advanced Research on Logic and Sensibility (CARLS) is dedicated to facilitating interdisciplinary research on the logic and sensibility of the human mind.  This will be accomplished by working together with researchers and educators across the humanistic and experimental sciences.

The disciplines covered in the CARLS include psychology, logic, philosophy, cultural anthropology, linguistics, and neuroscience, each of which provides its own unique perspective on logic and sensibility. Within the discipline of psychology, the areas directly involved are evolutionary and comparative psychology, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, and behavioral genetics. Within logic and philosophy, the areas of modern logic, ethical judgment, and aesthetic judgment are included. Within cultural anthropology, the area of medical anthropology are especially important because the cultural contribution to logic and sensibility will be examined by using the methods of medical anthropology. Within linguistics, the areas include language theories, experimental studies of language acquisition, and neuronal studies using functional brain imaging techniques.  In the discipline of neuroscience, the neural mechanisms of logic and sensibility are studied from multiple approaches, including neuroimaging of living brains, cellular-level physiology, and field observations of non-human primates. These diverse lines of research have already been extensively conducted at Keio University and the affiliated institutions both domestic and foreign, which participate in the CARLS.

 

Objectives

This CARLS has two main objectives:

 

1) To study the relationship of logic (or rationality) and sensibility (or emotion) as the means to resolve conflicts, which are often the main cause of today's most pressing mental health problems.   By resolving these conflicts, a more harmonious relationship may be created; and

2) To build a premier education and research center for logic and sensibility, where young researchers will be trained to understand and increase their knowledge of diverse disciplines in both the humanities and experimental sciences.

 

Concepts

Our previous 21st Century COE Program "Toward an Integrated Methodology for the Study of  the Mind" was an attempt to incorporate advanced research programs into higher education systems to cultivate internationally competitive young researchers. As a result, it became clear that graduate students and young researchers were most effectively trained by the experience of actually participating in collaborative research across different disciplines. Furthermore, such interdisciplinary research often facilitated the exploration of new promising research fields and the development of ground-breaking technology.

Based on this experience, the CARLS continues to promote interdisciplinary collaborations involving young researchers. This is realized by five teams of the Education and Research Programs at Keio University, each of which focuses its activities on a specific theme shared by different disciplines.  These themes are: 1) Brain and Evolution, 2) Genetics and Development, 3) Language and Cognition, 4) Philosophy and Cultural Anthropology, and 5) Logic and Informatics.  Through close collaborations with researchers at the domestic and foreign affiliated institutions, each team develops a global partnership to emphasize international education and research.

To facilitate the research projects by Education and Research Programs, four main infrastructures are implemented: Research Facilities, Support Program for Publication of Research, International Education and Research Program, and External Evaluation Committee.

 

Research Facilities of the CARLS encompass brain research, animal research, digital data analysis, and logic and information analysis. In particular, a new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system is added to the brain research facility. With this addition, the facility becomes a state-of-the-art research center utilizing the new neuro-imaging approach in addition to other high-quality systems already in place.  These systems include a near-infrared spectroscopy machine and a transcranial magnetic stimulation system, both of which were obtained through our previous 21st Century COE Program.

 

Support Program for Publication of Research aids researchers in presenting and publishing their accomplishments. In this program, dedicated instructors are ready to provide graduate students and young researchers with technical advice for presentations and publications. Although faculty advisors are traditionally involved in every aspect of this process, the quality of such supervision can vary significantly among individual advisors. By implementing this program, all students are able to receive an equally high-level of practical and technical guidance, which enables faculty advisors to focus their advice specifically on aspects of research content.

 

International Education and Research Program is designed to foster young researchers to be actively involved in international settings. The program coordinates and facilitates short-term and long-term international collaborative projects, and intensive workshops and symposia, involving participants from across the world. Students also have the opportunity to frequently and closely collaborate and interact with researchers from the foreign affiliated institutes. Our past experience with implementing a similar program for our previous 21st Century COE produced successful results.

 

Finally, External Evaluation Committee consists of Japanese researchers and foreign researchers, who involved in all aspects of the CARLS, including education, research, budget, and management, by providing assessment, advice, and general guidance.


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