Faculty of Policy Studies

The globalization of the world and the complexity of the problems facing humanity calls for a new multidisciplinary education that cultivates communicative skills and international collaboration. To meet this call, the Faculty has started Challengers' Program from April 2010, which is a multi-disciplinary English-mediated program supported by active international collaboration in teaching and research. The program aims at turning out English proficient and professionally-minded individuals who will be willing to serve humanity with the spirit of caring and cooperation. The program is open to all students, domestic or foreign. The Faculty hopes that students, trained in this program, will be able to make significant contributions to the well being of mankind by initiating collaborative efforts at resolving humanity's problems with their multidisciplinary knowledge and communicative skills.

In Professional Studies, students focus on legal studies on the role of law in our society and economy as well as in world community. Drawing on Chuo University's prestigious reputation in the discipline of law, the Faculty of Policy Studies promotes interdisciplinary approaches to problem solving, borrowing ideas from social sciences, business management and administration, anthropology, and other disciplines to broaden and deepen students' insight into the function of the law in the contemporary world. Professional Studies follows four main strands: Law and Economics, Modern Contract Law, Policy Making, and Diplomacy.

Policy sciences aim at making the world and the society in which we live a better place by understanding problems and developing the methods and the art of solving them. Because the world is a complex order, policy sciences need to integrate diverse knowledge to cope with this complexity. For this reason, the policy sciences that this Faculty advances draws on Integrative Practical Knowledge that combines (1) mathematics and computer science, (2) social sciences, and (3) humanities. The idea is to apply this integrative knowledge in solving complex problems facing humanity, and to propose policies that are based on good understanding of human values as well as on scientifically sound reasoning. This is the guiding principle that runs through policy studies of the Faculty.

In Management and Policy Sciences, students focus on complex problems facing communities, governments, business firms, and humanity in general. They study how national and local governments are managed and administered, how business firms are managed to survive in this fast changing world, and how the problems facing humanity on a global scale have emerged. As to public management, students learn how the public sector manages food security, social security, national security (including environmental protection), natural disasters, urban planning, and population control, education, and scientific research, as well as how the public budgets are allocated to achieve the socially desired ends. As for business management, students learn how to manage business firms by developing an innovative mind and acquiring the required skills. Management in the globalized world, public or private, is made more effective when combined with cross-cultural awareness of the interconnections between organizational decisions and the culture in which such decisions take place. The global issues facing humanity are another important group of problems that are discussed and analyzed in many courses and seminars, both scientifically and in reference to human values. Integrative Practical Knowledge is particularly useful in addressing such issues as the power of multidisciplinary thinking comes to full force in apprehending them. Equipped with such knowledge and power, students can learn how to examine the efficacy of policy proposals through hypothesis testing and the art of model building and simulation.

This department offers cross-cultural and regional studies. Culture is a major force in the globalized world, defining a field in which political, economic, and social changes take place, and providing spawning grounds in which human values are created. For this reason, this Faculty places equal emphasis on policy sciences and cross-cultural studies. Because all human activities take place within a cultural context, policy-related decisions are better made if cultural understanding is combined with scientific thinking. Cross-cultural studies are becoming increasingly important as the globalization of the world brings with it new projects on a grand scale for building partnerships or communities that stretch over many regions and cultures. With this awareness, students acquire knowledge in cross-cultural and regional studies as well as in a broad spectrum of topics from anthropology, and learn the richness and the diversity of human cultures. Because Asia is the main focus of the Faculty's engagement in cross-cultural studies, Asian studies is a particular strength of this faculty, with experts in Japan-China relations, Western Asia, South East Asia, and Russia. Students can learn the history and the culture of many regions of Asia as well as the impact of Westernization and globalization on Asian nations from historical and cultural perspectives. Students can also pursue their studies on the rapid changes that are taking place today in Asian countries in the midst of globalization. With this knowledge of Asian cultures, students can also reexamine Japanese culture and history from the perspectives that help redefine Japan's new role in the region. Acquiring cross-cultural knowledge and competence, students become ready for jobs in business, governmental, or non-governmental organizations, both in Japan and overseas.