Dr. Ludger Kuenhardt, a Professor at the Center for European Integration Studies (ZEI), Bonn University, was a JICUF Visiting Scholar at ICU this past May. The Visiting Scholars Program was initiated in 2002 in response to an ICU request for assistance in inviting influential scholars from abroad to ICU for short periods of time, ranging from several days to two weeks.

The visiting scholars are hosted by ICU faculty members and stay on campus at the Kiyoshi Togasaki Memorial Dialogue House. While actively interacting with the ICU community, the Visiting Scholars also deliver lectures, participate in classroom discussion and meet informally with students, faculty and staff. ICU and the Japan ICU Foundation jointly cover transportation costs, housing and an honorarium.

JICUF: Thank you for agreeing to be interviewed for our website! Could you start by telling our readers a bit about you and your background?

Ludger Kuenhardt: I was born in Münster, the city of the Westphalian Peace Treaty, and raised a Roman-Catholic Christian. Social responsibility as taught by my parents, my father being a doctor, led me early on to get engaged with developing countries. Initially I became a journalist, reporting from Africa and Asia. Then I wanted to deepen my understanding of global complexity and became a scholar – I studied about the world’s refugees and the universality of human rights. While I always thought that the transformation of Japan since the Meiji era was substantial in its experiences for other parts of the world, I was interested to deepen my post graduate studies in Japan.

JICUF: When did you first hear about the Visiting Scholars opportunity at ICU?

LK: I was so thrilled to be invited as a Visiting Scholar. Professor Jeremiah Alberg, who has been my good colleague and partner of a very important scholarly project on global dialogue among civilizations, was so kind to invite me to ICU for which I remain very grateful. ICU is blessed to have Jeremiah on their faculty, as he is a fantastic person and an extremely learned scholar.

JICUF: What were your main academic activities at ICU, and did you get involved with anything else while you were on campus?

LK: I was on the ICU campus for about one week in May of this year. The ICU program kept me very busy teaching several classes on campus and engaging with students, faculty and the ICU leadership in very substantial conversations. So, not much time was left for anything else this time.

JICUF: Were there any classes or professors in particular at ICU that made an impression on you?

LK: Professor Takako Ueta and Professor Wilhelm Vosse, each in their own right, are most distinguished colleagues from whom I learned so much during my stay this time at ICU. I therefore think that I have taken new ideas and insights, based on their wisdom, with me, surely matching my own little contribution to ICU.

JICUF: You actually studied at ICU earlier in your academic career, which is quite interesting. How did that previous experience compare with your time there as a Visiting Scholar?

LK: I felt immediately at home at ICU, where I first attended Japanese language classes in 1984-85. My linguistic abilities were never really good, but I recall vividly the many hours I spent on learning hiragana and katakana and a good number of kanji. Beside, I studied Japanese philosophy books and related issues at the ICU library. The works of Kitaro Nishida and of Mircea Eliade are still very clear in my mind, having read them at ICU more than thirty years ago! My life at ICU wold not have been half as inspiring as it was without the wonderful guidance and positive radiation of our then-Rotary Advisor, Masako Okada, whom I had the pleasure to meet again when I was at ICU.

JICUF: What are some of the most pressing social or economic issues where Japan might be able to learn from Germany’s experiences, and vice-versa?

LK: I think all of our advanced industrial societies need to understand the fundamental meaning of “globality.” All countries, rich and poor, big and small, can become actors in their own rights. And we are all developing countries in some sense. We need a new global understanding of development and its meaning for human dignity and happiness. It is here that both Japan and Germany ought to engage with as many countries of the southern hemisphere as possible to exchange ideas on the meaning of life in the age of globality. This in my view is the most fundamental issue of our time. What the UN has recently formulated as its “Sustainable Development Goals” is neither clear in terms of priorities nor does it explain how such noble goals may be achieved in cases of conflicting aims and clashes of interests. Here lies a huge terrain for further academic work.

JICUF: What do you think is the EU’s biggest challenge now? The ongoing refugee crisis seems to be a major consideration for Germany in particular.

LK: Europe has to combine the definite consolidation of an EU government with the readiness to become a global power in all its aspects. What is already the base economically has to develop culturally, socially and strategically. This includes robust global actions for the sake of preserving or restoring peace elsewhere, and this also includes openness to welcome legal migrants and help to cope with the current refugee problem. It’s really a global challenge and must be dealt with by all countries in the world.

JICUF: What are some similarities and differences you have observed in German and Japanese education systems?

LK: The stereotypes of the past are dead. Both systems must become learning societies in this global age. We need more cooperation in support of this new direction.

JICUF: That certainly sounds like ICU and the “University of Tomorrow”! What would be your advice for current students at ICU, in terms of academic and future career direction?

LK: Fly high with your dreams and visions, stay modest and rooted on the ground with both your legs, aim for a better world and realize the limits of your ability. In other words: accept responsibility, wherever your future life will take you. And never give up or become cynical. Life is too good to all of us and we should give back always with a smile, at least.

JICUF: Thank you once more!

LK: My pleasure. Thank you to ICU and JICUF for making this possible!