On January 14, the School of Arts and Letters hosted a special lecture by Dr. Oleksandr Komarenko, Associate Professor and Vice-Dean of the History Faculty at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (Ukraine). Titled “Ukraine – The Long and Winding Road to Europe,” the lecture was held at the Global Hall on the Surugadai Campus.
The interchange with the National University of Kyiv grew out of the joint research undertaken by the Meiji University Center for Obsidian and Lithic Studies (located in Nagawa-cho, Nagano Prefecture; Director: Dr. Akira Ono, Specially Appointed Professor of the Organization for the Strategic Coordination of Research and Intellectual Properties) with it on Carpathian obsidian in 2013. In April 2014, Meiji University and the National University of Kyiv concluded a partnership agreement centered around on obsidian studies and archaeological research. Dr. Komarenko was invited to deliver this lecture in return for the invitation extended by the National University of Kyiv to Dr. Ono to give a lecture and course in the field of archaeology there. On January 13, the day before the lecture, Dr. Komarenko paid a courtesy call on President Kenichi Fukumiya, and Dr. Yoshikatsu Hayashi, Dean of the School of Arts and Letters.
