Kiyoshi Nakamura
(Professor, Sc.D.)
Seminar on Communication:
Seminar on Economy and Business 07
(School of International Liberal Studies)
Office: Waseda Campus Bldg #11
Discovering the role of new media
Yue Shen (Singaporean)Having spent a year in Columbia University (NY) as an exchange student, Yue Shen now aims to be a journalist.
Sho Okazaki, a senior'I'm from a Japanese high school and never had any experience abroad till then. I decided to come to SILS because I wanted to increase my English ability and open up my views by meeting different kinds of people.'
digital innovation. The emerging new businesses like Google, Yahoo and Amazon were not expected about 10 years ago,' explains Prof. Nakamura. 'This is the new phenomenon in the business world, and we're focusing on these industries which are changing our daily lives as well as our society as a whole.'
Yue Shen says 'The new media such as Google is very closely related to what I want to do in the near future. I'm interested in finding out how the new technology of online new media crosses with print media.'
Sho Okazaki sees the importance of new media as follows: 'With the new technology of the Internet, we are given more information and opportunities in creating new businesses. It's a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to learning more about what we can do with the internet.
Build your analytical skills - make me say "Wow!"
One of the students was giving her presentation on Instructable.com. 'It's a web-based documentation platform where people share what they do and how they do it, and learn and collaborate with each other online.' However, there is also a problem.'The source given may not be reliable. People may deliberately give low ratings. Therefore, we need more reliable opinions,' concludes the student.
'Finding out how reliable information is, is a big issue,' points out Prof. Nakamura. 'Therefore, I always ask my students to "go extra miles beyond the textbooks" so that they can find new things. Make me say "Wow!" so the students can have incentives to find new things which I may not know. This is the most important dynamic of this seminar.'
Presentation on "Instructables.com"
How do the students see Prof. Nakamura ?
'He is easy-going and invites his students to his home party once a year. He has friends all over the world. We are very lucky because we are given such rare opportunities to meet a number of top professors and corporate figures.'
About the Seminar
The advanced seminar focuses on the impact of new media on society from an economic point of view. Traditional media such as broadcasting and telecommunications as well as newspapers are converging over the internet. The emerging new media such as Google, YouTube and Twitter are deeply affecting the supply of information and cultural goods. Technology changes, but media firms' behaviors are ruled by the law of economics. The seminar emphasizes the development of analytical skills through reading internet-related books.
In order to have a balanced view on the role of new media in an economic society, students are required to build analytical skills. You are expected to go'the extra mile' and read beyond the assigned textbooks. After all, students have to be positive in finding out what the problems and their solutions would be. This is the main purpose of studying at university.
Kiyoshi Nakamura (Professor, Ph.D.)
'One of the reasons I chose SILS is to strengthen my English skills. Thanks to the supporting system such as academic advisors and many English courses, I can now speak English well, compared to when I entered as a freshman. I'm interested in working abroad and what I experience there will help me in many ways including communicating with people from different backgrounds. Come and join us and be a part of this exciting school!'
Shiho Matsugi, a senior
- Surowiecki, J. 2005. The Wisdom of Crowds, Anchor Books
The book's main point is that the masses of people are smarter than a few elite in terms of innovation, decision makings, and prediction of the future. Surowiecki takes examples from such various disciplines as psychology, biology, economics, and politics. - Carr, N. 2008. The Big Switch, W W Norton & Co.
The digital revolution is changing the industrial structure on a global scale. Carr picks up many historical examples to discuss how computing systems have been making the big shift in business organization.
Be international!
Prof. Nakamura in his office
'I can see The Sky Tree Tower under construction from here, and I can't wait to see it completed,' says Prof. Nakamura, who enjoys a grand view of the city through his telescope.Prof. Nakamura gives further advice to students, 'The essence of internationalization, in my opinion, is to have as many overseas friends as you can make in your life. This is the starting point of internationalization. In my case, I have quite a number of friends in and out of Japan; I just send emails to them and they accept my invitations. My seminar students spend a year abroad to make lots of friends, which is a treasure on a global scale. I learned a lot through my duties. I hope the students will learn from my openness.'