Graduate School of Policy Studies

Aiming for "the fusion of policy and culture, and the fusion of the humanities and sciences," we are nurturing individuals who can understand and solve social problems from an interdisciplinary perspective. In our "cross-border society," where people come and go across the boundaries of academia, nations, culture, religion, industry-academia-government, etc., the Graduate School of Policy Studies cultivates individuals eager to achieve expertise in "policy research," such as legal policy, public policy, and management policy, based on cultural perspectives. The scope of these individuals’ activities is not limited to traditional educational and research institutions, but also extends to the fields of corporate planning and strategy formulation in companies and to policy development in government agencies, reflecting the needs of domestic and international society. In response to such societal demands, the Graduate School of Policy Studies offers an interdisciplinary seminar (Seminar for Policy Studies II) that provides students with opportunities to conduct interdisciplinary research that incorporates not only the theories of existing specialized fields, but also incorporation of a wide range of related fields. This is a team-taught seminar in which faculty members with different areas of expertise come together to facilitate work on specific themes. The aim is to encourage students to conduct research from multiple perspectives, and at the same time, to cultivate a wide range of critical thinking skills by bringing together students from different research fields to focus on a single theme, allowing students to stimulate each other's work.