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Curriculum Policy of School of Letters

The Faculty of Letters, Department of Humanities, consists of eight fields of study: Philosophy and Ethics; Aesthetics and History of Art; Geography, Sociology, Anthropology, and Socio-Cultural Studies; Psychology; History and Archaeology; Linguistics and Linguistics of Modern Japanese; Japanese Linguistics and Literature; and Chinese, English, French and German Linguistics and Literature. Students will earn 30 credits in General Education courses, and 94 credits in Major courses, the latter of which includes 14 credits for the graduation thesis. In their first year, students will take, as part of General Education, courses in intellectual understanding, languages, practical knowledge and sensitivity, transferrable skills and health, and introductory education. At the same time, first-year students will also develop, through Topics in Humanities courses and the Introductory Seminar in Humanities, knowledge and skills that serve as the foundation for the rest of their university work. From the second year on, students will take, as part of Major courses, introductory courses in which students systematically learn their fields of study, seminars in which students learn more specific skills in their area of choice in practical settings, lecture courses in which students learn the forefront of academic inquiries, and research seminars in which students start to work toward the graduation thesis. Each seminar consists of a small group of students, and aims at establishing solid knowledge and skills through active participation and discussion. Students will get support from academic advisors, and plan their four years of study according to their own academic interests. Students can go deeper into one discipline or can take courses from different fields, and eventually tackle inter-disciplinary topics for their graduation thesis.