The Open Education Center was founded in December 2000 as an inter-departmental organization of undergraduate schools at Waseda University, aiming to provide students with the comprehensive knowledge and experience needed to help them solve the new and complex problems facing the world in the 21st century. All of the programs offered by the Center are open to all undergraduate students regardless of their major, providing them with increased opportunities to use 'inter-disciplinary', 'practical', and 'diversified approach Programs:
About 1000 courses in undergraduate schools, graduate schools, and research & educational centers at Waseda are now open to all undergraduate students. Every Waseda student can benefit from the huge scale and wide range of research fields provided through these courses.
Different from the "College" system in the United States and Britain, our "colleges" provide only academic programs, not residential activities. Each "college" has a single academic "theme", and offers several introductory seminars, lecture courses, and extracurricular activities relating to its "theme". The seminars, the main part of the Theme College System, give all freshmen (second year students can apply if a place becomes available) the chance to work in small-group settings with teachers and students from various schools.
Theme College (2002 academic year)