Academics
Graduate School of Letters
The program consists of 13 courses: Japanese Literature, English Studies, German Studies, French Studies, Chinese Studies, Japanese History, Asian and African History, European and American History, Philosophy, Sociology, Socio-Informatics, Education, and Psychology. Students can take a wide variety of courses beyond the boundaries of their own major in addition to specialized courses in their own major. This enables students to acquire an advanced and deep education from a broad perspective through a combination of courses in their own specialized fields and courses across majors. In addition, as a substantial research support system for degree acquisition, each major has its own "Joint Research Office" with a large collection of related materials, journals, books, and other specialized periodicals, as well as a variety of journals for each major, research presentation meetings, and other opportunities to present research and publish their research findings. The Graduate School of Letters fosters human resources who can contribute to the globalized and highly information-oriented modern society, from local communities to international society, by focusing on the inner life, society, and history of human beings as research subjects. Our alumnae and alumni are active in their fields, using their highly specialized knowledge.
The Graduate School of Letters is a comprehensive graduate school consisting of 13 majors (Japanese Literature Course, English Studies Course, German Studies Course, French Studies Course, Chinese Studies Course, Japanese History Course, Asian and African History Course, European and American History Course, Philosophy Course, Sociology Course, Socio-Informatics Course, Education Course, and Psychology Course).
With a variety of full-time faculty members who have in-depth knowledge of various academic fields, languages, cultures and regions, we cover extensive research fields ranging from humanities to social sciences, some of which are close to natural science. There are traditional fields, such as Philosophy and Literature, and cutting-edge fields, such as Socio-Informatics, but the goal of all faculty members is to nurture researchers and highly-skilled business professionals. To date, more than 200 students have earned doctoral degrees and many of these individuals are making notable achievements as researchers, as well as making significant contributions as educators to guide and nurture future generations of researchers. As highly-skilled professionals, many other graduates are active in practical fields, including education, business, and civil service, with the practical skills they have developed.
At the core of the Graduate School of Letters is the cultivation of "culture," which is essential to the future of society. In other words, the cultivation of imagination and creativity, in order to gain insight into the nature of problems, conceptualize them, and formulate new questions by learning from the classics and recognizing their creative ideas, in order to exercise responsibility and responsiveness regarding various problems facing people and society today.
It has been 20 years since 9/11 and 10 years since 3/11, and we live in a society where the COVID-19 pandemic has become the norm. We are unable to readily tackle the global issues responsible for the climate crisis, and we continue to face an “unfathomable future.” What is needed in this current age is not only the ability to solve problems based on acquired knowledge, but also comprehensive “wisdom” that enables individuals to raise questions and address problems across various fields.
The Graduate School of Letters takes pride in offering a place where students can acquire knowledge and wisdom that can be valued across generations, rather than simply following the changing times -- a place for full-scale learning incorporating past research that might seem outdated but has the potential to move beyond trends into the forefront. Based on this perspective, and in an attempt to seek new directions, we are now working together with the Faculty of Letters to proceed with “Comprehensive Educational Reform” in which we will structurally combine the knowledge that has been vertically accumulated in each major in order to realize the establishment of inter-disciplinary wisdom.
Please join us and expand your thoughts beyond the horizon of what is known, to learn about and embrace the unknown.
Hidehiro NAKAO Dean, Graduate School of Letters
