Overview of Class Subjects (Graduate School of Societal Safety Sciences Disaster Prevention and Reduction Major)

Disaster Reduction Policy for Resilient Society

　In order to efficiently develop disaster mitigation in the future, it is important to respond by seeing the entire disaster issue from a higher perspective. For that purpose, it is required to have comprehensive knowledge pertaining to development of policies for risk management procedures and disaster mitigation that are common in individual disasters. Then, it is required to study the details and issues of historical disaster prevention/disaster mitigation, and prioritize matters in risk management and foster the abilities to study efficient disaster mitigation policies against various kinds of natural disasters that may occur in the future. Through synthesizing of the knowledge that the teacher in charge has obtained to date and lectures of disaster mitigation theory, the students are expected to obtain knowledge required to plan disaster mitigation policies.

Engineering System Safety

　For social infrastructure systems such as nuclear power and thermal power generation, its safety/stability is especially important. In this lecture, particularly by adopting nuclear power, students are expected to recognize actual examples of engineering system safety through analysis of accidents, analysis of probabilistic safety assessments, safety analysis codes, design planning and various issues at the time of operation, regular inspection issues that have been traditionally performed, and furthermore, issues for decommission of reactors and analysis of accident cases of TMI, Chernobyl and the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Plant, and understand such issues. At the same time, by taking a view of the current situation of domestic and overseas nuclear technology, the issues on the system design for Japan and its future state shall be discussed in this lecture.

Hydrospheric Disaster Mitigation

　Large-scale hydrospheric disasters such as tsunamis in the Indian Ocean of 2004 and flooding due to Hurricane Katrina of 2005, and tsunami disaster associated with the Great East Japan Earthquake occur all over the world and cause enormous damage. In this lecture, by adopting tsunamis as the main example of hydrospheric disasters, after understanding their mechanisms, students are expected to learn the latest analysis techniques in disaster prevention/disaster mitigation. Additionally, by understanding that environmental issues involve a long-time scale, students are expected to learn the latest knowledge and trends pertaining to natural energy and ecosystem conservation related to water. In addition, the current issues related to environmental issues and their future state shall be discussed.

Applied Seismology for Disaster Reduction

　In order to mitigate earthquake disasters, it is necessary to imagine potential earthquake disasters in reality. In this lecture, students are expected to deepen their understanding of mitigation policies for earthquake disasters centering on the means of estimation of earthquake damage that are widely utilized . First of all, in order to deeply understand earthquakes, students are expected to review seismic evaluation methods and active fault evaluation methods by Headquarters for Promotion of Earthquake Research and fully examine the theories and data that provide evidence in geoscience and seismology as well. Along with understanding calculation processes for estimated results, adopting “Tokai Earthquake Third Estimation of Earthquake Damage of Shizuoka Prefecture” that has been evaluated one of the most detailed evaluations as an example. Utilization policies of estimation results in administrative offices shall be fully discussed.

Urban Disaster Mitigation

　The systematized knowledge that surrounds urban disaster prevention measures is extremely diversified ranging from natural science to social science. In this lecture, along with grasping the latest research trends related to both domestic and overseas urban disaster prevention, students are expected to organize basic knowledge to support such trends and understand mutual relationships. Additionally, students are also expected to discuss new disaster risks that modern cities have from multilateral viewpoints and foster the abilities to build up directivity of the procedures for urban disaster prevention measures in the future.

Modeling of System Dynamics Engineering

　With the development of information and communications technology and mathematical optimization techniques, the number of systems that are operated by using the results of optimization calculation has been increasing. In an optimization calculation system, the mathematical modeling of the targeted real system is incorporated. In its control parameters, there are a lot whose values probabilistically vary according to various environmental conditions. Such variation may be considered as the risks that the said optimization calculation system or the actual system that corresponds to such optimization calculation system has. It is necessary to design the system to minimize such risk or find methods for operation control.
　In this lecture, after understanding optimization issues and the nature of complementarity issues and variational inequality issues of broad classes containing such optimization issues, students are expected to learn methods to find their local optimal solutions and global optimal solutions, accompanying the practical training of the software. In addition, handling methods in the case where parameters contain uncertainty shall be considered.

Engineering System Analysis

　In engineering systems including chemical plants and traffic systems, accidents often occur. For such accidents, it is difficult or impossible to perform reproducing experiments in many cases. Because of this, there are high expectations for accident analysis by mathematical simulation. In this lecture, the relationship between mathematical simulation in an engineering system and an actual accident shall be explained. As the analysis of the actual accident, students are expected to understand probabilistic safety assessment and its meaning. Additionally, students are also expected to understand availability and limit of numerical simulation method.

Public Utility Economics

　Public utility works such as transportation, electricity, city gas, water supply, mail and telegram and telecommunications etc. are essential for the lives of people and economic activities and major business that support maintenance/development of society. In this lecture, especially focusing on transportation businesses, the current situation and issues of management and the issues for securing safety and accident prevention shall be examined from the aspects of the system and actual situations.

Risk Management

　In recent years, due to the growing expectations for risk management, approaches have been made to risk management from various specialized fields. In this lecture, students are expected to gain further specialized knowledge regarding “basic frameworks of risk management systems” that can be applied to their studies and preparation of thesis for a master’s degree in various fields pertaining to disaster prevention/disaster mitigation/safety that are developed in the Graduate School of Societal Safety Sciences. In the former part, the teacher in charge shall give class lectures, and in the latter part, the participants shall make presentations. Frameworks shall be provided. This lecture is based on the theory of traditional risk management from the viewpoint of insurance science and business management.

Legal Systems for Social Safety

　Japanese laws have been significantly changed due to technological innovation and globalization in recent years, in which various issues regarding safety and social order have become tangible. In this lecture, from the viewpoint of business law studies/information law studies/theory of corporate social responsibility, comparative studies regarding law systems of western countries and corporate compliance systems shall be performed. Through introduction of the detailed events and lawsuits that undermine safety and social order, discussion by international organizations and public research societies, and advanced research in research societies, students are expected to discuss the state of Japanese legal systems.

Transport Studies

　Transportation Systems are an extremely important social system that supports the lives of people and economic activities. Furthermore, in the event of disasters such as huge earthquakes, support for disaster afflicted areas and the progress of recovery and revitalization in the disaster areas are characterized by the fact that such support and progress are largely dependent on restoration of transportation system including logistics systems. On the other hand, the present transportation system such as railroad and aircraft etc. is a huge system. Once a serious accident occurs in such systems, they may cause a large number of casualties. Because of this, securing safety for transportation has become an important issue for society.
　In this lecture by examining the actual situation of transportation systems and their conceptual basis, students are expected to discuss the state of transportation systems essential for modern society. In this regard, students are expected to perform examination from basic relationships between market and society and also to perform basic and fundamental examination of appropriateness of deregulation policies and their relationship with social safety.

Fire defense administration

　Initially in the event of large-scale accidents/disasters etc., it is fire fighting that plays an important role for the rescue of human lives. By analyzing fire defense administration from the aspects of the system, administrative management and policies, students are expected to examine the issues in the said administrative field and their analysis policies from other administrative fields and precedent cases in foreign countries.

Public Health Policy and Management

　Public health is aimed at not only performing analysis of various social factors pertaining to protection and enhancement of people’s health, but also solving problems by using various social organizations and systems. Public health issues have a wide range from prevention of disease, food safety, control of infectious diseases, environmental health and medical administration systems. In this class, while the past disease affecting an entire nation has been socially controlled by establishment of healthcare prevention, medical institutions and administrative organizations and medical security systems, there are various difficulties in eradicating such diseases globally. Taking up tuberculosis infections as an example, students are expected to fully understand public hygiene systems and public hygiene research necessary to resolve health and health care problems via debates. In recent years, intestinal hemorrhagic Escherichia coli0157, HIV, SARS, norovirus infections and novel influenzas have become issues, and students are expected to debate regarding how such issues are coped with.

Economics of Disasters

　In this subject, in anticipation of writing a doctoral thesis, along with introducing the existing economic analysis procedures for disasters, their theoretical basis and political background which has resulted in performing such research shall be explained. In addition, students are expected to debate techniques and systems to smoothly perform economic recovery from large-scale disasters.

Psychology of Safety and Security

　Safety is examined from the standpoint of psychology. Mainly based on risk concepts, the lecture shall be performed regarding risk perception that is a response to safety for individuals, risk communication to build up safety between individuals or groups, and the characteristics of information processing of human beings that appears in human error. Additionally, for the students that mainly major in science and engineering systems and social systems, the psychological mind shall be explained.

Risk communication

　For risk governance of diversified risks, the formation of social agreements through risk communication is important. In this lecture, the recent trend of social psychology/environmental psychology related to risk communication shall be introduced. By taking up the cases of domestic and overseas risk communication and such related research, the meaning and issues of each case shall be examined. Further, the research methods to clarify the relationship between appropriate risk governance for each case and the related factors shall be debated.

Human Errors

　While it is widely recognized that there is a close relationship between human error and accidents/disasters, there are not always perfectly established countermeasures. There is a possibility that the effects of safety measures may be reduced and situations that lead to reoccurrence of accidents and disasters may occur because false recognition of human error may lead to wrong countermeasures.
　In this lecture, while seeking for background factors of various cases, ranging from familiar events to serious accidents that have significant effects on society, the problems and issues of traditional measures for human error shall be examined. Additionally, by understanding the nature of human error, concrete and practical measures to prevent accidents/disasters shall be studied.

Theory of Disaster Recovery and Revitalization

　Since the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, the concept of "revitalization" has expanded and changed in tandem with the enactment of the new laws. In this lecture, based on recent trends in recent years, we will examine how social responses relating to disaster revitalization have been formed, looking at past cases, sociology, psychology and disaster prevention documents (* 1).
　In the first half, as a general discussion, talking about what "revitalization" is, and consider the viewpoint and framework for thinking about the problem of revitalization.
　n the second half, we will consider cases of disaster revitalization in the past (* 2), relations of personal revitalizations and regional revitalizations, measures to supplement the limits and limitations of institutional measures, and so on.

　Remarks: (* 1) The thesis regarding revitalization and its list collected in the subcommittee of Japan Society for Disaster Recovery and Revitalization are used.
(* 2) In accordance with the interests in the problems/research themes of the students, they shall select the past disaster cases.

Disaster Psychology

　Experience with disasters significantly changes people in various ways. Students are expected to deepen their understanding of behaviors and psychological changes of people during disasters or after struck by disasters, and what is required to do before occurrence of disasters, while reviewing research and cases related to disaster prevention and disaster mitigation by the psychological approach.

The Concept "ANZEN" and Modern Social Issues

　The issue pertaining to safety has a long history along with the history of lives, not limited to human beings. Viewing safety at such a level, the biggest issues pertaining to safety would be the maintenance of the species. In such a process, there may be various kinds of fights, competitions and selections etc., and devices for cooperation and symbiosis as well. It can be said that formation/development of human society as cultural beings is one of our natural human actions for security. However, as the threat of nuclear war and global environmental issues have appeared, we have been driven to the situation where we should reconsider the meaning of safety. The knowledge systems that contribute to such issues have been excessively specialized and have a problem that “optimization in part does not constitute optimization as a whole”. In order to aim at safety in such circumstances, we are obliged to start from the basic matters regarding what to review and what to aim for. By combining the concept analysis that enables cultural review that leads to the present times and historical consideration, the direction of Societal Safety Sciences shall be defined. As this is the basic theory, by adopting 2 assignments (or 2 kinds) of the attendants, considerations of Societal Safety Sciences shall be examined through discussions in which the attendants can also participate.