Course Introduction

What You Can Learn Here (Official Curriculum Policy)

The Graduate School of Language and Society (GENSHA) aims to produce expert researchers and educators with creative knowledge who can contribute to the development of humanistic issues. It also aims to train highly skilled professionals who have the ability to solve problems in contemporary society with deep humanistic culture through research and education on languages, society, cultures, and so on. To achieve this goal, we provide two divisions: the "Language and Society Division (1st division)" and the "Japanese Language/Japanese Culture Division (2nd division)." Although the entrance examinations are held in each division for the Master's program, and the educational courses basically follow each framework, both divisions belong to "Language and Society Major."

Both divisions organize their curricula based on seminars (Enshu). Every student shall register for the seminars held by advisors and acquire a basic foundation on topics. On the basis of these seminars, students choose and take classes that conform to their own research themes. The seminars provide a place for interactive research and education between teachers and students in small-sized educational settings, where students can try to gain an in-depth understanding of the humanistic culture, improve their practical skills, and develop the research ability to write their thesis.

The specific contents of the 1st and 2nd division curricula are very different.

In the 1st division, students can acquire both in-depth and advanced knowledge and learn methods related to general humanities such as languages, schools of thought, literature, and art in "Specialized Courses." They can also learn basic thought processes and methodologies in each academic field in "Basic Courses." It becomes possible for students to gain a better understanding of culture and advanced knowledge about various humanistic fields by taking "Specialized Courses" and "Basic Courses" for their research purpose. Moreover, with "Basic Courses," we offer "Intensive Reading Seminars" with the aim of fostering high linguistic ability, so that students can enhance their basic skills to advance their own research. We provide a Curator Qualification Program under which many students become qualified curators every year. Furthermore, there is a subject called Internships through which students intern at publishing companies, newspaper companies, and museums as well as a subject in which they can get English Language Training Certification. There are courses that involve "Collaboration with Tokyo Gakugei University," and students can request instructors or teachers from Tokyo Gakugei University to teach the courses.

The 2nd division, "Japanese Language/Japanese Culture Division," aims to train specialists in Japanese language education, Japanese linguistics, and Japanese Cultural Studies through advanced perspectives derived from the rich environment of Hitotsubashi University as a university specializing in social sciences. The main characteristic of the 2nd division is that it is "a cooperative course" between the GENSHA, Center for Global Education and Exchange, and National Institution for Japanese Language and Linguistics (NINJAL). The subjects in the 2nd division are classified into "Teaching of Japanese Courses," "Japanese Linguistic Courses," and "Comparative Cultural Studies Courses" according to the characteristics of these three organizations and lecturers' own fields so that each student can conduct research corresponding to his or her own theme. Students who complete the Master's program of the 2nd division shall be awarded the "Japanese Education Program Completion Certificate" in addition to the standard diploma, after fulfilling certain conditions, as the proof of mastering high specialty.

Both divisions in the Master's program have a "Long-term Course System" for working students.

To achieve the aim shown in the Official Diploma Policy, we verify the outcome of the curriculum via a strict Thesis Examination, grade evaluation, by holding FD conference, and by improving the curriculum as necessary.

December 2016