In June 2015, the education ministry sent shock waves through Japan¡¯s academic humanities community when it issued a notice urging national universities to restructure their humanities departments and shift their focus to fields that have greater social demand.
Since then, the value of humanities studies at state-funded institutions has been a hotly debated topic, with some questioning the need for such classes in the modern age.
But Karen O¡¯Brien, head of the humanities division at the prestigious University of Oxford, said that such studies are indispensable and play crucial roles in today¡¯s society.
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