About the Graduate School of International Relations
In the present age, when connections among the world’s peoples only continue to grow stronger and stronger, it is more important than ever to foster the development of international perspectives and professional know-how. To this end, the Graduate School of International Relations, with its carefully designed interdisciplinary curriculum and diverse 60-member collaborating faculty, distributed across its Divisions of International Relations and Comparative Culture and dedicated to fostering individualized learning, challenges students to explore a wide range of essential issues affecting our global and local communities and, thus, prepares them to play an active role in their chosen fields.
Division of International Relations
International Politics and Development
Our program offers highly-interactive small seminars and individual tutorials on various interrelated social sciences, including politics, economics, management and law, thus enabling students to acquire outstanding skills in order to analyze the international society from a macro perspective. Equipped not only with an in-depth understanding of basic principles of their specialization but also with a broad knowledge of major discoveries and methodologies in the adjacent disciplines, students will be fully prepared for an effective participation in decision-making processes of companies or governments, which in turn will lead to an active and valuable contribution towards the sustainable development of both international and local communities.
Our program offers highly-interactive small seminars and individual tutorials on various interrelated social sciences, including politics, economics, management and law, thus enabling students to acquire outstanding skills in order to analyze the international society from a macro perspective. Equipped not only with an in-depth understanding of basic principles of their specialization but also with a broad knowledge of major discoveries and methodologies in the adjacent disciplines, students will be fully prepared for an effective participation in decision-making processes of companies or governments, which in turn will lead to an active and valuable contribution towards the sustainable development of both international and local communities.
Socio-Cultural Studies of Global Issues
Our program is an interdisciplinary field that addresses global issues from the perspectives of sociology, anthropology, social psychology, and communication studies. Through methods such as social surveys, fieldwork, and quantitative analysis, students and researchers empirically explore how people act and interact across national and cultural boundaries. By examining these dynamics, this program aims to deepen our understanding of key challenges facing global society, including minority rights and human rights, multicultural coexistence, and the relationships among development, culture, and the environment.
Our program is an interdisciplinary field that addresses global issues from the perspectives of sociology, anthropology, social psychology, and communication studies. Through methods such as social surveys, fieldwork, and quantitative analysis, students and researchers empirically explore how people act and interact across national and cultural boundaries. By examining these dynamics, this program aims to deepen our understanding of key challenges facing global society, including minority rights and human rights, multicultural coexistence, and the relationships among development, culture, and the environment.
Division of Comparative Culture
Japanese Culture
Our program seeks to promote research and education in the foundations of comparative culture through the lens of Japanese language, literature, and thought, specifically by including study of Japanese education, analysis of classical and contemporary Japanese, and research on classical and modern literature and thought. The program is particularly suited to students who are willing to work persistently with primary sources, formulate their own research questions, and continue thinking critically, as well as to those who are interested not only in education and research but also in local cooperation. We also offer an advanced licensure program for prospective Japanese language teachers.
Our program seeks to promote research and education in the foundations of comparative culture through the lens of Japanese language, literature, and thought, specifically by including study of Japanese education, analysis of classical and contemporary Japanese, and research on classical and modern literature and thought. The program is particularly suited to students who are willing to work persistently with primary sources, formulate their own research questions, and continue thinking critically, as well as to those who are interested not only in education and research but also in local cooperation. We also offer an advanced licensure program for prospective Japanese language teachers.
Asian Culture
Our program aims to holistically examine the diverse regions of China, the Korean Peninsula, South and Southeast Asia, and Russia from a multiplicity of disciplinary perspectives, including international relations, political science, economics, sociology, cultural anthropology, history, philosophy, and religious studies. By comparing and analyzing intercultural interactions, bridging the past and the present, and highlighting the voices of minorities and grassroots actors, students develop multifaceted and critical perspectives.
Our program aims to holistically examine the diverse regions of China, the Korean Peninsula, South and Southeast Asia, and Russia from a multiplicity of disciplinary perspectives, including international relations, political science, economics, sociology, cultural anthropology, history, philosophy, and religious studies. By comparing and analyzing intercultural interactions, bridging the past and the present, and highlighting the voices of minorities and grassroots actors, students develop multifaceted and critical perspectives.
British and American Culture
Our program offers a broad and rigorous exploration of linguistic theory, history, literature, sociology, and communication studies through comparative perspectives across the English‑speaking world and between past and present. Students develop strong academic English skills and a solid grounding in research methods, enabling them to pursue scholarly inquiry with confidence. Through the critical analysis of cultural materials, they gain the ability to interpret global issues from multiple angles. We also offer an advanced licensure program for prospective English language teachers.
Our program offers a broad and rigorous exploration of linguistic theory, history, literature, sociology, and communication studies through comparative perspectives across the English‑speaking world and between past and present. Students develop strong academic English skills and a solid grounding in research methods, enabling them to pursue scholarly inquiry with confidence. Through the critical analysis of cultural materials, they gain the ability to interpret global issues from multiple angles. We also offer an advanced licensure program for prospective English language teachers.
European Culture
Our program provides students with an extensive overview of European comparative studies focusing specifically on Spain, France, and Germany. It explores the interpretation and criticism of literary works, the expansive history of culture, religion, and the arts, the formation of just social orders based on liberty, justice, and rights, and the influence of mass media and visual culture on politics and warfare. By incorporating perspectives from the human sciences, we reconsider culture from a wide-ranging viewpoint to investigate the continuity and transformation within European society.
Our program provides students with an extensive overview of European comparative studies focusing specifically on Spain, France, and Germany. It explores the interpretation and criticism of literary works, the expansive history of culture, religion, and the arts, the formation of just social orders based on liberty, justice, and rights, and the influence of mass media and visual culture on politics and warfare. By incorporating perspectives from the human sciences, we reconsider culture from a wide-ranging viewpoint to investigate the continuity and transformation within European society.
