Ms Keiko Kawaguchi (completed EU Studies Graduate Diploma Programme in Fall 2021)
■Affiliation at the time of completion of the programme: Graduate School of Integrated Frontier Sciences, Kyushu University
I majored in User Kansei Science at the Graduate School of Integrated Frontier Sciences, and I wanted to seek new knowledge across various fields. In the EU-DPs Master’s Course, there are many highly specialized classes offered by the other graduate schools. I told my supervisor at an early stage that I wanted to take this programme, and I decided to start my master’s research and EU-DPs in parallel.
Since I wasn’t sure which class to take, I consulted with the Kyushu University EU Centre and decided to study German literature after seeing the syllabus. The literary journey through the EU made me feel the expansive world and enriched my heart, even though it was a time when COVID-19 was sweeping the real world.
In my master’s research on the subjective well-being of children, I was given one direction: to look at the growth of children in the EU as a mirror of the subjective well-being of Japanese children. The two studies came together as one. In other words, with the analysis of UNICEF’s Innocenti Report Card(*) 16 as the core, the conclusions and new questions that emerged from it were qualitatively deepened by observing participants on the ground and listening to the stories of people who have lived in the EU. As a result, I was able to learn a profound lesson about the potential of adults to contribute to children’s subjective wellbeing. I would like to continue deepening this research and use it to give back to society.
Thinking about the EU leads to thinking about the world. This programme may be a forum for us to broaden our horizons when thinking about complex issues with no apparent answers. Why don’t you join this programme and broaden your learning?
(*) Innocenti Report Card: A series of reports published by UNICEF Innocenti to monitor and compare the performance of economically advanced countries in securing the rights of their children.