Department of Humanities and Social Sciences - Undergraduate program in Social and International relations
Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies SectionArea Studies SectionSocial and International Relations
International Relations Course
The activities of social actors, not least in their political, economic, and cultural dimensions, are not confined to national spaces. As people, things and information are moving back and forth across national borders with increasing speed and in increasing numbers, our world is witnessing an age of transnational interdependence unprecedented in scale. While, on the one hand, institutional organization of international relations has progressed, complex conflicts requiring resolution continue to break out across the globe. At a time, when a clear line between domestic and international issues can longer been drawn, expectations directed toward research studying international relations in an integrated manner are high.
The predecessor of this Course, the undergraduate program in International Relations offered by the former Department of Social and International Relations, dates back to 1951. Prior to that, “International Relations” did not exist as a field of study by that name in Japan. Together with the International Relations major of the Graduate School, the program thus played a groundbreaking role in the history of this field in Japan. In the more than half century that has since passed, a long record of achievements it build a strong reputation in both education and research. Many outstanding graduates from this program have gone on to serve in ministries and government agencies, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as international organizations and international enterprises.
The field of international relations is more than simply a conglomerate of separate research areas such as international politics, international law, international economy, the history of international relations, or area-based studies. The importance of each of these fields as a distinct area of research requires no further emphasis. However, International Relations as a field seeks to join these areas together into an encompassing academic discipline. In other words, it aims to combine the insights yielded by applying the different cognitive lenses of these various fields to arrive at a fuller, more complex picture of so-called “international relations phenomena”, that cannot be meaningfully analyzed from the perspective provided by any of these separate fields in isolation.
The curriculum of this Course is built around a core of three required courses – “International Politics,” “International Law,” and “International Economy” – to be completed over the course of four to six semesters. Each of these courses is awarded six credits and rich in educational content. While the level of these compulsory courses is high, requiring considerable study effort, they are specifically designed to enable students to acquire a firm basis in the knowledge, ways of thinking and research methods forming the backbone of International Relations studies. In addition, the curriculum features a broad array of special lectures, seminar courses, topical research and area-based studies, as well as elective courses including “History of International Relations,” “International Institutions,” “International Organizations,” “International Finance,” “International Cooperation,” “Environmental International Relations,” “World Models,” etc. Students are thus given the opportunity to further explore various applied fields in line with their own interests and subjects chosen for research.
Interdisciplinary Social Sciences Course and International Relations Course: Common Subjects
A number of common courses between the programs, such as Law, Political Science, Economics, Sociology and Quantitative Social Science are offered to effectively impart basic knowledge in the conventional disciplines, in addition to classes on cutting-edge subjects such as “Community Studies,” “International Cooperation,” “Economic Development,” etc. The Department of Advanced Social and International Studies in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences has Divisions on “International Relations” and “Interdisciplinary Social Sciences,” together with “International Cooperation” and “Public Policy.” In response, this Program has set up additional courses such as “International Cooperation Policy” and “Global Environment Studies” to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing contemporary society. Students in this course are also offered many opportunities to study abroad at universities overseas through programs such as AIKOM.
Both courses require completion of a graduation thesis, to which high importance is attached as the culmination of a student’s undergraduate experience. The fourth year includes a program offering support toward completion of the thesis (Graduation Thesis Research Guidance I and II). Although it is a hard struggle, writing a thesis leads students to make rapid strides in developing their academic skills. Bearing this in mind, the program is devised to offer students strong support by all members of our teaching staff.
This program is devoted to training intellectually and internationally well-versed individuals who are capable of approaching a wide range of concrete problems facing the contemporary world in a comprehensive manner, equipped with precise social scientific methods and a broad perspective. Graduates of the previous Department of Social and International Relations have typically continued on to careers in major enterprises (especially in the finance, service and manufacturing sectors) or government institutions (such as foreign service), as well as in international organizations and journalism. Students who wish to move on to more advanced research in Interdisciplinary Social Sciences and International Relations, may choose to continue their studies in the Department of Advanced Social and International Studies (comprising both an Interdisciplinary Social Sciences and an International Relations course) of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. In addition, the “Graduate Program on Human Security” was launched in 2004 to further promote interdisciplinary cooperation. Numerous graduates of these programs have gone on to careers as researchers at universities throughout Japan and the world. The undergraduate program in its present shape has been designed to both continue this legacy and develop it further into new directions.
[Courses]
| Interdisciplinary Social Sciences | International Relations |
For matters common to both Interdisciplinary Social Sciences and International Relations, please refer to the International Relations course introductory page.
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Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies SectionArea Studies SectionSocial and International Relations
