School of Social SciencesWaseda University

This program aims to create “Social Innovators,” who will take the lead in finding more effective, efficient, sustainable, and just solutions to global and societal issues, new and old.

Feature 01:  Emphasis on a practical approach to the Social Sciences via Practicum courses

Students will gain hands-on, practical experience in the field of their choosing through our Program’s Practicum course. By allowing students to engage with the local community and its social issues first hand, students will have the opportunity to apply the theory and solutions that they studied and developed in the classroom. Having close contact with society and its problems is an important asset for future Social Innovators.

Waseda students preparing for and presenting their research results at an urban development workshop in Kawaguchi city, Saitama Prefecture with government administrative officers and specialists in attendance.

Waseda students doing field work at a local orphanage in Timor-Leste

Feature 02:  Students build general competence in Social Innovation as well as specialize in one of the four fields

Through our curriculum, students will gain fundamental (“Foundations in Social Sciences”) and interdisciplinary (“Interdisciplinary Studies in Social Innovation”) knowledge in the Social Sciences and Social Innovation.  In “Foundations in Social Sciences,” students take introductory courses in Economics, Politics, Humanities, History, Marketing, and Law. While in “Interdisciplinary Studies in Social Innovation,” students choose one of the four fields to specialize in: Peace Building and International Cooperation, Community and Social Development, Social Organization and Working, and Economic and Environmental Sustainability.

Feature 03:  Investigating Social Issues through the Japanese perspective

In this program, students will learn about contemporary Japanese society and look at domestic and international events from the Japanese perspective.  Using this knowledge and the practical experiences gained through fieldwork, we hope to create graduates who can take the comprehensive and interdisciplinary knowledge they gained and redefine it in the international context.

In order to be “Social Innovators,” students in the TAISI program will not only gain general knowledge in the social sciences (“Foundations in Social Sciences”), but also practical and specialized knowledge in the Four Fields of “Interdisciplinary Studies in Social Innovation”.

AY2021 TAISI Course List