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College of Arts and Sciences Senior Division

Education in the Senior Division of the College of Arts and Sciences transcends the traditional disciplines of the arts and the sciences to build a truly 'interdisciplinary intellect'.

The College of Arts and Sciences not only oversees the liberal arts education undertaken by all students of the University in its Junior Division, but also provides its own specialist education in its Senior Division. The Senior Division, which comprises both the arts and sciences, further develops the spirit of the Junior Division. Based on the key concepts of 'interdisciplinary', 'internationality', and 'innovation', the Senior Division has been striving to develop individuals with an 'interdisciplinary intellect' - those who actively seek to challenge themselves in multilingual and multicultural environments, and who have a cross-disciplinary interest and a pioneering spirit to develop new fields of research. Since its establishment in 1951, the College of Arts and Sciences has been among the first to bring in disciplines such as International Relations that go beyond the traditional academic fields. In 2011,, the College underwent further reorganization to deal with the demands of modern society and changing times, and has made bold changes to its existing departments.

The newly reorganized Senior Division of the College of Arts and Sciences is composed of three departments, each of which provides a distinctive education. The Department of Humanities and Social Sciences consists of three courses: Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies, Area Studies, and Societal and International Relations. The Department of Interdisciplinary Sciences, which integrates the humanities and the sciences, consists of four courses: Science and Technology Studies, Geography and Design Sciences, Informatics, and Earth Systems and Energy Sciences, and a sub-course, Evolutionary Sciences. The Department of Integrated Sciences has four courses: Mathematical Sciences, Matter and Materials Sciences, Integrated Life Sciences, and Cognitive Behavioral Sciences, along with a sub-course, Sports Sciences.

The College of Arts and Sciences boasts a large number of faculty staff, with their research encompassing a variety of disciplines. Class sizes can therefore be kept small, providing for an ideal learning environment. Each department of the College of Arts and Sciences is divided into several courses, all 18 of which are organically linked to each other to create a unique curriculum. This also includes foreign language programs that enable students to gain a high level of communication skills, which in turn will allow them to express themselves freely in international contexts and develop a creative mind that transcends the boundaries of traditional academic disciplines.

In addition, the science departments offer unique programs that are not bound to traditional disciplines, where students are able to gain in-depth knowledge and insight across a broad range of disciplines as a foundation for progressing onto cutting-edge academic fields in the future.

Furthermore, in the area of interdisciplinary sciences, students are taught to be flexible thinkers and to use appropriate methodology to tackle new challenges from a holistic perspective.

In addition, the College of Arts and Sciences provides an interdisciplinary curriculum for fields of study that do not fit into any of the fields above, offering programs such as Global Ethics, Evolutionary Cognitive Neurosciences, Barrier-free Studies, and the Science Interpreter Training Program.

The provision of such frameworks to encourage cross-disciplinary thinking is the defining characteristic of the Senior Division of the College of Arts and Sciences.

Departments and Programs

Curriculum applicable to students admitted to the Senior Division in 2012 or before

An overview of the departmental structure (consisting of 6 departments: Department of Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies, Department of Area Studies, Department of Social and International Relations, Department of Basic Science, Department of General Systems Studies, Department of Life and Cognitive Sciences) applicable to students admitted to the Senior Division in 2012 or before is available here (only in Japanese).

Related Links

For information about admission to the Senior Division (shin-furi) in general, please refer to the following:
'Guidance on Proceeding to Senior Division' 2012 versionicon_window.gif *In Japanese
Academic Guidance Centericon_window.gif *In Japanese

Past data on Senior Division Admissions such as numbers of applications/admissions and average and minimum grades for each department are available on UTask-Web. After logging on to UTask-Web, go to '進学振分け [Admissions to Senior Division]', then go to 'See Number of applicants/admissions', and select the table you wish to see.

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