Kyoto University published a six-week MOOC offered by President Juichi Yamagiwa from October 29, 2016. This MOOC covers the historical development of primatology at Kyoto University － the cradle of the field in Japan － and discusses details of research that President Yamagiwa conducted on gorillas in the field in Africa, while also delving into the origins of human sociality.
Although there are already more than 6,000 courses currently available on major worldwide MOOC platforms, such as edX and Coursera, "Evolution of the Human Sociality" wasl be the first MOOC taught by a sitting president of a major research university as part of the institution's official online curriculum at the time.

Related Link:
Kyoto University Official Website's article: "President Yamagiwa's MOOC to begin on edX in October 2015 (8 July 2015)"
edX blog's article: "Why the President of Kyoto University Decided To Teach an edX MOOC"

In the opening of this event, President Yamagiwa gave his opening address, in which he expressed his appreciation for participants' in his MOOC and his expectation for active discussions in this competition.

Next, the video of the congratulatoly address from Dr Anant Agarwal, the CEO of edX was played. In the video, Dr. Agarwal congratulated the success of the President's MOOC and expressed his hope of continuous collaborations with the faculty, staff, and students at Kyoto University to further advance innovation in higher education through KyotoUx.

In the video presentation, fainalists presented their research proposals on the question from Homework 1 "Explain one of the features that are only unique to humans in comparison to other primates by showing detailed examples and explaining why you think it evolved in the human history?"Their presentations were judged by following selection committee members: President Juichi Yamagiwa, Professor Naoko Tosa of the Center for the Promotion for Excellence in Higher Education, Vice President of Education Services at edX Kathy Pugh, Assistant to the Executive Vice-President and Director of the Center for the Promotion of Excellence in Higher Education Toru Iiyoshi, Professor Satoshi Hirata of the Wild Life Research Center.

After Strict judge, two winners were selected, Ms Rachel Ahn, a high school student from South Korea, and Mr Gaspard van Hamme, a field guide from South Africa.

Ms Ahn's proposal pointed out that the history of clothing (to wear clothes and cover their bodies) is only seen in the human species and also made assumptions with four possible reasoning; protection, attention, identification, and modesty.
Mr. van Hamme made a good argument about humans blushing behavior as a way of communication, which may have derived from the sociality of feeling embarrassed.

This event also has a presentation on the research proposal by Mr. Ryoma Otsuka, a student of the Faculty of Agriculture at Kyoto University, and presentation by two young primatologists (Mr. Shun Hongo and Tomoyuki Tajima) as answers to questions asked in the President's MOOC.

Ms Rachel Ahn said, "Though I had little knowledge of primatology before taking this course, now I aspire to study further on the social structure of primates after listening to the lectures by President Yamagiwa and visiting Kyoto University."

Related Link:
edX blog's article: "Rachel Ahn: My Trip to Kyoto University"

Mr Gaspard van Hamme said, "When I visited the Primate Research Institute, I experienced cutting-edge research experiments first-hand, which I had seen on TV. That was far more than I had expected. If Kyoto University delivers another lecture course related to primatology, I will definitely take it."