About

History

The Graduate School of Global Studies embodies the cosmopolitan and humanistic principles of Sophia University, founded in 1913 by the Jesuit Order of the Catholic Church. These include respect for human dignity, equal rights and social justice, cultural diversity, and responsibility for the shared destiny of all human beings.

From its founding, Sophia University has been a leader of the internationalization of higher education in Japan. It pioneered the study of foreign languages, international and area studies, conduct of courses in both English and Japanese, and welcoming of international exchange students. Today, it is a top-ranked, medium-sized research university with a culturally diverse faculty and student body. It is one of the few institutions to receive funding from the Japan Ministry of Education for the “Top Global University Project” to deepen the internationalization of higher education.

The idea to found the Graduate School of Global Studies began in 1999 with discussions among faculty members in area studies and international relations. They were attracted to the emerging field of global studies that transcended the methodological nationalism in the humanities and social sciences to enable holistic perspectives on the complexity of phenomena in the world. In 2002, they took the first step to set up the new graduate school by receiving a competitive grant from the Japan Ministry of Education for a project titled “Towards an Area-Based Global Studies (AGLOS)”

Opened in 2006, the Graduate School of Global Studies brings together three pre-existing programs: the Graduate Program in International Relations, Graduate Program in Area Studies, and Graduate Program in Global Studies (formerly Comparative Culture). Their combined international reputations and more than seventy years of institutional experience have been a solid foundation for the school’s development. In 2021, the school will open a fourth program, the Graduate Program in International Cooperation Studies.