Colleagues from Durham University and Kyushu University have reaffirmed their shared commitment to international collaboration in the humanities following a workshop in Japan exploring the future role of the humanities in research, teaching, and public life.
The workshop Transformative Humanities: Purposes, Pressures, Possibilities, held on 24 March 2026 at the JK Choi Cultural Centre, brought together colleagues from both institutions to reflect on a number of key questions facing the humanities today, including interdisciplinarity, curriculum development, public engagement, and the impact of emerging technologies on teaching and learning.
The visit provided an opportunity to deepen ties between Durham and Kyushu and to highlight the value of international partnership in addressing shared academic challenges. It also marked an important moment in the development of collaboration around Transformative Humanities - an approach that connects humanities scholarship and teaching to questions and issues that matter beyond the university.
One outcome of the workshop is a Kyushu-Durham Statement from Durham University and Kyushu University, which sets out shared priorities for the future of the humanities. The statement identifies a number of common challenges, including the need to communicate the value of the humanities more clearly, support collaboration across disciplinary boundaries, and respond thoughtfully to rapid technological change.
It also affirms a shared commitment to intellectually serious, outward-facing humanities work, and to strengthening interdisciplinary and intercultural dialogue. In doing so, the statement reflects both institutions’ interest in creating the conditions for the humanities to flourish in changing academic and social contexts.
The workshop and resulting statement also underline the significance of the wider relationship between Durham and Kyushu, and the role that international partnerships can play in opening up new conversations, strengthening research and teaching, and encouraging collaboration across cultures and academic traditions.
The joint statement will now provide a foundation for further discussion and future collaboration between the two universities in the field of transformative humanities.
Read the full Kyushu–Durham Statement on Transformative Humanities: Kyushu-Durham Statement.
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