List of Departments - Humanities
Foreign LanguagesSocial SciencesHumanitiesNatural Sciences
Humanities
｜ Historical Science ｜ Japanese and Classical Chinese Literature ｜
｜ Cultural Anthropology ｜ Philosophy and the History of Science ｜
｜ Psychology and Education ｜ Human Geography ｜
Historical Science
When you hear of, say, 19th colonialism and the British Empire, you may think it is something long buried in the past that has no relevance to our lives today. Yet, to study history is to rediscover the present, and to contemplate where we are hearing into the future. What gives rise to such a heterogeneity of ideas within one age - or conversely, to other ideas that became universal across the ages? The study of history can uncover a diversity of the human experience beyond our imaginations, and the past holds much to be discovered and leant from. In the Junior Division of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Department of Historical Sciences builds on the foundations of Japanese and world history that you would have learnt in school. From antiquity to the modern age, through key incidents and encounters, conflicts, progress and change, the Department seeks to provide a comprehensive picture of the profound development of human society over time.
Department of Historical Sciences,
College of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo:
An Introduction to Historical Science
(Publisher: Iwanami Shinsho) For arts students, the Department offers Foundation Courses in History I, History II (Humanities) and Historiography (for students of Research Methods, Humanities and Social Sciences III). The Department also provides Integrative Courses for both arts and science students, including Modern History I and II, History and Culture, Comparative History, World Systems Theory, and Folk and Cultural Studies. The areas of focus are not only limited to Japan and the West, but also spans across East Asia, South-East Asia, South Asia, Russia, the Middle East, and the Balkan region. The Department's professional historians are here to invite students on to a journey of discovery of the past, and above all, to share the enjoyment of studying primary sources. For more information, please refer to the Department of History homepage
.
Japanese and Classical Chinese Literature
The name of our Department is Japanese and Classical Chinese Literature. Although Japanese Literature and Classical Chinese Literature may at first appear to be two separate disciplines, the naming of our Department is deliberate: over the years, the Japanese have not only been influenced by Chinese language and literature, but have actively sought out to integrate their elements into their Japanese counterparts. The Department houses experts across all genres and ages: starting from the classical Japanese poetry of Man'yōshū, the chronicles of Kojiki and the literature of the Tale of Genji, through to the lore and legends of the Middle Ages and the world of Noh and Kyōgen theatre, and finally to contemporary novels and plays, and the Japanese language itself. The Department also covers Classical Chinese and Sinology that you may be familiar with from your high school studies. The Department offers a diverse range of courses such as Japanese Cultural Theory, Japanese Literature I (for science students) and II, History of Japanese Thought, Classical Japanese, Classical East Asian Literature, Language and Literature I-IV, etc. If there is an area that arouses your interest, do take a closer look at the individual syllabus - it may well lead to a discovery of your niche.
Cultural Anthropology
The discipline of cultural anthropology studies the diversity of cultural practices around the globe, based on intimate empirical fieldwork such as participant observation. Subjects of research have been expanding significantly from traditional and tribal societies, to the problems of the modern world. Closely observing the human subjects from the inside, whilst at the same time observing their practice from an external perspective; considering the findings from a higher theoretical standpoint, and by employing comparative analysis - such multifaceted methods of analysis and observation are the defining features of cultural anthropology. Research at the Department of Cultural Anthropology makes full use of the richness of knowledge that the field has accumulated over the 20th century. At the same time, we are also looking into the here and now - of a modern society undergoing rapid globalisation, technological progress and changes in the way we communicate such as the Internet and audiovisual media - and in turn, into how we can shape the future of this discipline.
Philosophy and the History of Science
Increasingly, many of the phenomena and challenges that face us today are requiring a multifaceted approach: a need for not only specific expertise or knowledge, but also an all-around intellect, capable of seeing the big picture from multiple angles. Philosophy is a discipline that seeks to gain a holistic understanding of concepts from its fundamentals, with the ultimate goal of enabling the Good Life. The Department aims to build a foundation for such generic and comprehensive skills. More specifically, the Department provides courses in Philosophy, Ethics, Mathematical Logic, History of Ideas, History of Science, and Science and Technology; going beyond the traditional arena of philosophy and ethics, the Department also offers courses in the History and Philosophy of Science. In the ever-fragmented and snapshot nature of modern society, it is hoped that the courses will equip students with the skills to think about contemporary problems critically, and in their totality.
Psychology and Education
What are the systems that drive our mind and behaviour? How did the many facets of our psyche evolve over time to become the way they are? The mind is often regarded as the final frontier of scientific research; the study of psychology lies at the heart of this. Although with roots in traditional psychology, staff at our Department continually incorporates cutting-edge developments in the studies of the brain and mind into their research and teaching. The aim is to construct a new human science that integrates diverse expertise across neuroscience, sensory studies, animal behaviour, and clinical sciences. The Department offers Psychology I as a Foundation Course, as well as Integrative Courses in Modern Educational Theory, Introduction to Human Behaviour, Cognitive Neuroscience, and Adaptive Behaviour. Take these courses, and discover a new way to think about the complexities of our mind.
Human Geography
An example of Spatial Analysis using GIS.
(A 2030 demographic forecast of Tokyo) As the name suggests, the Department of Human Geography is responsible for the teaching of human geography for the Junior Division at the College of Arts and Sciences, under both Research Methods and Integrative Courses D (Human Beings and the Environment). The principal aim of Integrative Courses D is to bridge the gap between the arts and the sciences, but the Department of Human Geography seeks to make the most of the discipline's tradition of taking a holistic approach that covers humans, society, and the environment, and offers courses such as Human Ecology, Geoecology, and Social and Environmental Sciences.
Students undertaking fieldwork
for the Data Analysis course:
altimetry at Inogashira Park Moreover, in Data Analysis (under Research Methods) and parts of Geoecology, we actively include fieldwork that involves observation and analysis of real environments, as can be seen on the departmental website. The Department of Multidisciplinary Sciences, both at the Senior Division level and the Graduate School level, also participates in the teaching at the Junior Division, such that there is ample opportunity for students across all levels to interact.
Foreign LanguagesSocial SciencesHistorical ScienceNatural Sciences
