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Curriculum

Curriculum for the students until 2018 enrollment

A Lavish and Well-Structured Curriculum

The Faculty of Global Studies offers lectures related to International Relations and Area Studies. International Relations is divided into two fields, namely International Politics, and Civil Society/International Cooperation, while Area Studies is also divided into two, namely Asian Studies and Middle Eastern/African Studies. FGS offers a wide spectrum of courses in global studies, sharing the perspectives of these two fields and four branches. This new system enables students to acquire knowledge from both global and local perspectives, an approach to education not available elsewhere in Japan.

In addition to the above, students are entitled to register for certain common courses that are offered to all in the university as well as courses in certain foreign languages, in accordance with their needs.

Courses are offered in groups of four levels, namely introductory, basic, specialized, and applied. These courses are numbered from 100 through 400, in the manner followed with reference to higher education in the United States and Europe.

This group comprises courses at the primary stage. They are oriented to enable students to acquire global literacy and cultivate their academic skills.

This group of courses offers students specified knowledge and skills. They concentrate upon emphasizing the ability to proactively put into practice what they learn.

These courses are designed to advance and deepen specialized knowledge.

These courses, as well as the graduation thesis and research project, are intended to finalize and provide the concluding touch to the education of students at FGS.

※Curriculum for the stufents who entered before 2018

Major and Minor

At FGS, students acquire knowledge via a blend of Global Studies, which is constituted of International Relations, and Area Studies. Depending on what they envision as their future career, they may shift emphasis between the two disciplines and four fields. *

* At other universities of liberal arts, Major and Minor programs permit students to attain a general education covering a broad spectrum, by choosing two fields out of a diversity of areas of specialization. At FGS however Major and Minor programs encourage students to learn while shifting emphasis between the two disciplines and four fields of study. This type of flexibility essentially differs from what is offered by other universities.

Specifically, students first choose either International Relations or Area Studies as their major, and then choose another field of study from the other discipline as their minor.
By so doing, all students graduating from FGS obtain skills and proficiency related to two areas of specialization.

This would constitute the students’ primary area of specialization, wherein they devote their utmost efforts towards attaining the expertise of their choice. They participate in seminars and submit a thesis, or conduct research in lieu of the thesis.

This constitutes the student’s subordinate area of specialization. Here the requirements must be met in combination with those of the major.