Annual Newsletter of the Slavic Research Center, Hokkaido University		SRC Home
	No.8 , December 2000	back to INDEX>>

From the Director

Takashi Murakami

The year 2000, which marked a turning point in history, also marked the ten year anniversary of the Slavic Research Center’s reorganization as a national coordinating center for Slavic studies. It has been nearly 50 years since the SRC was established. The last ten years has seen increasing recognition, both in Japan and abroad, of the Center’s area studies of the transforming Former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. However, adding more depth to research requires adaptation to changing times. In recent years, area studies have gained prominence around the world. Establishing relations between the disciplines as well as international networks of scholars in area studies have become a vital issue in Japan. Northern studies have become increasingly important within Hokkaido University, where the necessity of conducting interdisciplinary studies with a problem-solving approach has been repeatedly emphasized. In order to respond to these social demands, the Slavic Research Center is reorganizing its discipline-based research divisions into region-specific divisions. Challenges for the SRC in the coming years will be not only to reinforce the Center’s position as a focal point of Slavic studies within Japan but also to thrive as an internationally acclaimed organization.

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