Project Goals

Comprehensive Project Overview

　One of the major issues noted in Waseda University’s FY2005 business plan was the “promoting the mutual efforts towards wisdom in the Asia Pacific region,” and this school, specifically our International Relations degree program, has served as a hub for studies on Asian partnerships. Of the 19 dedicated faculty members, 10 participated in the 21st Century COE Program “Creation of Contemporary Asian Studies” and 8 participated in the “joint research by ASEAN researchers from Japan, China, and Korea aimed at cultivating mutual trust in Asia and at creating a common image of ‘Asia,’” an Advancement Promotion by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Also, many of our graduate students participated as COE researchers and research assistants (RA). Furthermore, the school is expected to have a central role in the Asian Research Organization, which from July of this year will serve as a shared university research facility.
　In terms of the academic course, our International Relations program is the only graduate school for international relations in the nation that allows candidates to earn their degrees through either Japanese or English language coursework. Since the school's establishment in 1988, we have worked to improve our English language course offerings as well as our system of individual instruction in both languages. This system not only helps develop Japanese students with sufficient English language skills but also allows us to accept students from 45 countries around the world (nearly half of all master’s degree candidates are foreign students). Having fulfilled the central role the “Doctoral Degree Student Joint Development Project”, which was initiated in 2002 on basis of an agreement with School of International Studies, Peking University, among other activities, we have been a driving force behind the influx of Asian and International style into Japanese graduate school education.
　 Considering such history and tradition, we want to use the implementation of this program as an opportunity to restructure and improve our curriculum content and student guidance system. We will utilize our close relationships with universities and international organizations, both international and domestic, to create a system and environment that ensure the development of dynamic and multifaceted education and research activities.　This will enable us to construct a program that develops practical people with keen knowledge of various events in the Asia-Pacific, and regional specialists capable of managing investigative and research projects in multiple languages.

Project Plan

　Using past experience as a foundation, the master’s degree program curriculum will be re-organized into two categories: (1) An internship-based program that focuses on cultivating practical minds (Asian business, international information, mass media, international cooperation and government) with keen knowledge of events necessary to be active in the Asia-Pacific region, and (2) a field research-based program that focuses on cultivating specialists with the ability to manage various projects, particularly investigative and research projects related to the region. We also will be adding an “International Cooperation Project.”
　The post-doctoral program will focus on workshop projects. While enlisting the cooperation and support of overseas partner universities and international organizations, we will systematically develop a diverse curriculum that includes international workshops, joint research, field research, internships, student exchange programs, and more. This will include breaking away from situations that are likely to result in one-way relationships in which Japan heads into various parts of Asia. We will conduct “true bi-directional and multilateral” international collaboration projects, which will not be limited to only bilateral relationships between Japan and specific foreign countries, and dynamically link these projects to our guidance for theses and reports.
　The characteristics and faculty placements for each type are as follows:

Academic Goals of Project

　The implementation of such a program will accomplish the following goals.
　First, the style of graduate school academics that avoids the concept of “lectures” and “seminars” and instead focuses on the sharing of common group “project” goals while maintaining the importance of individual interests will be recognized widely.
　Second, graduate school academics had been educated in the past under one-way relationships, from Japan to overseas, and under bilateral relationships between Japan and specific foreign countries. However, this program will serve as a leading example to other graduate schools on how to cultivate graduate students in a “true bi-directional and multilateral” environment. In particular, active exchange with various agencies in the Asia-Pacific region will broaden students’ perspectives and support their career design.
　Third, the method of having two path selections-high-level business or research-for which students select appropriate curricula and then go on to manage individual research projects while using opportunities provided by information sharing and joint announcements to gain a dynamic understanding of their findings will serve as a reference for other graduate schools.

Conceptual Diagram of Curricular Process