Various meanings of life

I first used the words "life studies" in my book An Invitation to the Study of Life (1988). Strictly speaking, this book was written in Japanese, hence, corresponding words were "Seimeigaku." I started using the English words "life studies" probably in the early 1990s. "Seimeigaku" is now becoming popular now in Japan, but "life studies" are still unfamiliar to an English audience.

The word "life" has various meanings. We might be bewildered because we come up with so many implications. Let us take a look at some examples on the web.

The words seem to have at least five meanings.

1. The study of one's personal history. See The Aphra Behn Society.

2. The study of issues of everyday life, for example, food, health, leisure, gender, race, discrimination, etc. See College of Applied Life Studies at University of Illinois.

3. The study of religious, spiritual and ethical aspects of human life. See Center for Life Studies, Sunbridge College, NY.

4. The education about wildlife and ecology, for example, Sea Life Studies,Inc., Life Studies' Homepage.

5. Curriculum of high school courses. See Buffalo Grove High School, and Stockport Grammar School. This categorizing at high schools is very interesting to me.

6. Robert Lowell, well known poet, published the book "Life Studies" in 1959, which received the National Book Award.

I propose to add new meaning to the English words "life studies," and give the words new life.

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What is Life Studies
(2004)
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