Our Approach

Forms of Human Life and Survival

People experience bodily difference and change throughout their existence. This reality is a gift to people and a point of solidarity between them, but it is also the source of much aversion and antagonism, and it is at the root of many difficulties and crises, so it is fundamental in the making and changing of both individuals and society. To more fully understand the reality of bodily difference and change, our COE seeks create a new field of study, “Ars Vivendi: Forms of Human Life and Survival.”

Disciplines such as medicine and social welfare study this difference and change, but they only see what they are able to see within the confines of their respective fields. In fact, a person's relation to his or her body is more complex than what a single, distinct field of study can cover. Therefore, we strongly believe that the phenomena of our embodied existence should be studied afresh in a way that transcends the classical disciplines. To this end, our COE program will focus on four domains: “disability”, “aging”, “disease” and “difference.” We will accumulate the existing information related to each domain, pursue new research in each area and, most importantly, reorganize the current body of knowledge in the light of the new studies. We are confident that the research we produce will have depth and scope, and we aim to distribute our results as broadly as possible.