In the Graduate School of Arts and Letters, we pursue and perform research on such questions as how the history and culture of human beings have been formed, what has been handed down to the present, and what human existence is to begin with. It is an academic field with a long history and tradition, and where an enormous amount of academic knowledge has been accumulated and unique research methodologies have been established.
If the 21st century is to realize an affluent and stable world through the advancement of science and technology and the rational development of political and economic systems, a highly developed spiritual culture is required as its foundation. The purpose of the Graduate School of Arts and Letters is to contribute to society in the field of spiritual culture.
The Graduate School of Arts and Letters offers nine majors: Japanese Literature, English Literature, German Literature , French Literature, Drama and Theatre Arts, Literary Arts and Media, History, Geography and Clinical Anthropology. The history major is further divided into four specialized courses: Japanese History, Asian History, European History, and Archaeology. The Clinical Anthropology major, which had been established in 2005 as a master’s program, was reorganized into master’s and doctoral programs from 2007. In this major, clinical research is conducted on modern society in the midst of rapid social change from the sociological and psychological perspectives. The Literary Arts and Media Master’s Program was established in April 2011. Its aim is to produce specialized intellectuals in a new field who are aware of the interactive relationship between the written word and the media environment in which it is found, and to use this knowledge as a foundation to nurture professionals who work in the classroom and in mass media.The opening of these new majors is the embodiment of our efforts to enrich the Graduate School of Arts and Letters.
The curriculums for these courses and specialized courses are designed to facilitate thorough and deeper study of specialized fields. More than 80 full-time staff provide seminars and lectures, with part-time and special lecturers giving additional guidance. Small-group instruction is thoroughly practiced in all courses of the Graduate School.
The graduate students in our school are able to take lectures in other courses or undergraduate courses if necessary. There is also a credit transfer system with partner graduate schools. These programs are offered to give graduate students the opportunity to explore not only their own specialized field, but also its related fields.
Each course in the Graduate School of Arts and Letters is divided into Master’s program and Doctoral program. The master’s programs aim to equip students with advanced expertise and research methodologies that meet the needs of a highly educated society. The purpose of the doctoral program is to develop researchers and meet the needs of the students who have completed the master’s program and wish to conduct advanced research. While currently there is no course specifically geared toward working people, the subjects in our Graduate School are arranged in such a way as to facilitate their participation.
The Graduate School of Arts and Letters is now building an interdisciplinary research system that goes beyond the boundaries of individual fields. In 2004, a project called the Comprehensive Study of Letters, Iconography, Tradition, and Religion in Ancient Japanese Culture by the Center for Ancient Studies was selected as one of the large-scale research programs in the Academic Frontier Project. Moreover, we opened the following three subjects to discover and develop interdisciplinary research areas: Cultural Inheritance, Comprehensive Literature, and Comprehensive History. Cultural Inheritance is a cross-curricular subject that goes beyond the boundaries of courses in the Graduate School of Arts and Letters, where teachers and students from various courses and fields get together to explore new interdisciplinary research areas through research presentations and discussions. General Literature Studies and General History Studies were newly established as subjects in FY2007 with the aim of allowing the six literature programs and each of the specialized courses in the history program, respectively, to share research results with neighboring fields and contribute to further research.
While exploring and deepening interdisciplinary areas, the Graduate School of Arts and Letters has been striving to cater to the needs of contemporary society. Following the opening of Clinical Psychology (a specialized course), English Teaching (a specialized course) opened in 2007 with the aim of developing English teachers of high caliber with a solid background in English education theories.
The Graduate School of Arts and Letters welcome strongly motivated students.
GODA, Masato
