Learning about Humans and Society through Multi-Disciplinary Courses to Engage in Research on Various Issues from Modern Society.

“Where Do We Come From? What are We? Where Are We Going?”This is the title of one of the most famous works of the nineteenth century French painter,Eugene Henri Paul Gauguin, and represents the foundation of this division.The division pursues integrated research related to the relationship between humans and society.In the increasingly complicated modern age, investigating the past, present and future of humans and society requires us to take wider perspectives that draw from multiple fields of study.Carefully designed multi-disciplinary programs allow students to have a certain degree of flexibility in developing their own interests and engaging in individually selected areas of study.This Department offers three courses: Human Sciences,Socio-Human Studies, and Regional Sciences. In the second year,students are required to select one course as their specialized research field,yet may still focus on one specific study or learning from multiple areas, depending on their interests.Students will develop logical thought processes through reading of related manuscripts and documents,analyzing data through experiments, and through interpreting on-site information obtained during fieldwork.

What is the Department of Integrated Human Studies?

The mechanisms of our daily life and of society are changing rapidly, always showing new and diverse facets. This department is dedicated to comprehensive and diversified studies that focus on these various facets. As the term comprehensive suggests, our education system offers a wide range of flexible methods for learning, from theory to practice, and from analysis to field work, allowing students to develop and pursue their own interests related to the world and human relations. We require our students to not only absorb new methods and ideas but also to consider and discuss these new concepts while continuing to ask questions and find new solutions with a flexible and proactive attitude.
A wide range of options
The Department of Integrated Human Studies offers 3 types of courses: Human Sciences, Socio-Human Studies and Regional Sciences. Students can choose courses based on their own interests and areas of study. Our education system is more flexible than ever, offering a multitude of opportunities to learn over and above the content of the courses. One of the main benefits of our department is that students have the freedom to organize their own course activities and degree paths by choosing which courses best fit their needs, all under the guidance of our caring faculty.

Human Sciences

Through study of Human Sciences, students understand the workings of human intelligence and sensibilities. Through studying the logic of Philosophy, discussing and experiencing the Theory and History of Art, and empirically analyzing Psychology, students will learn to understand the relationship between people and the world. The main areas of education and research in this course are Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Philosophy, and Theory and History of Art.

Socio-Human Studies

Here, students study man as a social being. They learn through comprehensive methods that go above and beyond the required courses, such as conducting fieldwork in and outside of Japan, to truly understand the social phenomena that tie us together as human beings. The main areas of education and research in this course are Ethics, Sociology and Anthropology.

Regional Sciences

Here, students study human life as the subject of the community. They conduct empirical research based on in-depth fieldwork to systematically study the various regional phenomena that occur in modern society. The main areas of education and research in this course are Regional Sociology, Folklore Studies, and Geography.