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2004 >> COE International Symposium COE International Symposium
Panelists
The International Symposium took place at Sendai International Center with world's famous experts in gender and law, politics, and education invited from the United States, South Korea, France, and Japan. The Symposium is one of the main events of our program besides the second international symposium to be held in 2007. On Nov. 4th, the symposium started with a greeting session, expressed by Prof. ONISHI Jin (Vice president of Tohoku University), Prof. UEKI Toshiya (Dean of Graduate School of Law, Tohoku University), and Mr. ASANO Shiro (Governor of Miyagi Prefecture). The greeting message from the Governor was read by Ms. WATANABE Mitsuko (Vice-director of department of living and environment, Miyagi Prefecture) who has been praised by the participants for her excellent speech in English. The reports on the latest research in Gender Law were introduced by Prof. Daniel BORRILLO (Paris University X-Nanterre, France), Prof. KIM Sun Uk (Ewha Woman's University, South Korea), Prof. Frances OLSEN (University of California, Los Angeles, USA), and Prof. KAINOU Tamie (Ochanomizu University, Tokyo, Japan). Since the reporters wrote their papers respectively in their own languages, the COE Program's fellows and assistants translated them beforehand in Japanese and English, and handed out to the audience. The number of participants was beyond our expectation, and many experts in the area took part in the symposium from Tokyo, Kyoto, Sapporo, and others. They positively expressed their opinions and asked questions during the discussion period; therefore there were not enough time to discuss them all. If the situation in the United States and in Europe is generally well known by the public, many participants were quite unfamiliar with the issue of feminist jurisprudence and gender equal policy in South Korea. The report of Prof. KIM Sun Uk gave new insights to them. Moreover, the experimental way of letting all the reporters speak in their mother-tongue was highly appreciated by the reporters, especially those from Korea. The reception in the evening was held lively, being the occasion for the participants to enjoy the Japanese tradition of "KAGAMIWARI". On Nov. 5th, the reports on the latest research in Gender Politics and Education were introduced by Dr. Janine MOSSUZ-LAVAU (Research director of the National Center for Scientific Research, Paris, France), Prof. CHUN Kyung Ock (Sookmyung Women's University, South Korea), Prof. Clyde WILCOX (Georgetown University, USA), Prof. Emerita Jane Roland MARTIN (University of Massachusetts, Boston, USA). Many participants showed deep interest in the topics the reporters dealt with, and the discussion was as vivid as the day before. During the panel discussion, the following topics were discussed : the difference between "parité" in France and the quota system in South Korea, the election systems and women's participation to the politics. Prof. TERAO Yoshiko (Tokyo University) pointed out the importance of comparative studies in gender issues. Prof. OLSEN put emphasis on the importance of equality in law and historical development of Feminist Jurisprudence. Prof. BORRILLO, on the other hand, pointed out that equality can suppress sexual orientation, emphasizing the rights of lesbian and gay. Prof. MARTIN, as a specialist of feminist education, proposed new research on school climate, archiving case studies of women's researchers. The discussion has proceeded successfully; the panelists have presented features in their countries along with the universal issues we must cope with. We deeply appreciated the many contributions of the reporters and participants to the symposium which lead it to success. For all those who have great interest in Gender Law, Politics, and Education, we are going to publish the results of the symposium in the 3rd volume of the COE Gender Law & Policy Series, as well as in our Annual Review. You could also get information and see the pictures of the symposium in the Newsletter, No.5. 
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