Global C.O.E.

Our Global COE program will be based at Waseda University's Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies (GSAPS). We will engage in three major fields of research: Politics and Security; Economics; and Society and Culture. We believe that close collaboration across these three fields will lead to the development of a general system of research and education that will turn out researchers and highly qualified professionals who can contribute to the regional integration of Asia. In addition, a team for Cross-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary studies (including environmental protection, the prevention of infectious diseases, human rights regimes and other fields) will commit to all three of these fields and will develop a model for regional Asian cooperation.

Each field of research and each program PI will engage in its own international project. Through participation in at least two projects, young researchers will engage in unique research that meets the needs of society, acquiring the necessary qualities to be excellent researchers or highly qualified professionals. At the same time, we will cooperate with domestic and foreign organizations, particularly Asian universities, to organize workshops, forums and summer seminars. Thus, young participants will be armed with both specialized knowledge and a broad and profound understanding of the Asian region. This will help establish the intellectual infrastructure for the regional integration of Asia.

Our plan is to establish a research and educational center, unique from a global perspective, to produce talented individuals who comprehensively study issues of regional Asian integration and contribute academically and socially to Asian integration. Based on the knowledge and contacts developed through our previous 21st Century COE program "Creation of New Contemporary Asian Studies" (COE-CAS) that examined the establishment of an East Asian Community, this program will focus on training researchers and businesspersons who will support regional Asian integration. It is hoped that this proposed program will be the Asian equivalent to "ERASMUS" (the European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students).

Our attitude is that we should not only describe and construct theories concerning regional Asian integration from an external perspective, but we should also understand the process from the inside. This move to identify the obstacles to and process of regional Asian integration through cooperation with other Asian universities should be an excellent model for graduate school education in the future.

Our research and educational program will require the cooperation of overseas institutions. Originally, GSAPS served as a hub for research and educational relations with other Asian universities. There was an extremely active culture of student exchanges at the Masters and Ph. D. level. Based on this experience, our new COE plans to improve our connection with first-class academic institutions overseas (such as Peking University, Korea University, Seoul National University, Thammasat University, Chulalongkorn University, the National University of Singapore, De La Salle University and others) concerning the study of politics and security; economics; and society and culture as well as moving forward on the construction of the University Consortium on Cultivating Talents for Asian Regional Integration.

Governmental offices, official research institutions and think tanks in Japan will cooperate academically with our program. Concerning political and security issues, we would like to work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (as well as its related organizations, the Japan Institute of International Affairs and the Japan Foundation) and Japan Ministry of Defense (as well as its related organization, the National Institute for Defense Studies). For economic issues, we would like to cooperate closely with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (as well as its related organizations, the Institute of Developing Economies and the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry) and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (as well as its related organization, the Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training). For social and cultural issues, we will partner with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (as well as its related organization, the Japanese National Commission for UNESCO), the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (as well as its related organization, the Japan Youth Research Institute) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency. We plan to organize joint symposia and conferences with these organizations.

In Pursuit of Regional Interests: Training Highly Qualified Professionals with a Wide Range of Knowledge

The following is our specific approach to education:

Each program PI will launch a research project of his or her own choice, leading that project and inviting students to join that project for research and training. While these research projects will be divided into four groups described below, joint research and educational activities will be encouraged.

Concerning politics and security, we will turn out talented individuals (such as diplomats and international civil servants) with a comprehensive understanding of political and security issues in Asia. In particular, we will train security specialists with a perspective that transcends national interests.

In economics, we will produce researchers, government officials and highly qualified professionals (such as international economists and analysts) who can understand the patterns of economic development in Asian countries and can use this knowledge to draft policy proposals for the trade- and investment-driven growth.

For society and culture, we will produce professionals (such as researchers, NGO staff and international cooperation specialists) who understand the similarities and differences of values between Asian countries, and describe changes in these values. These talented individuals will address the policy issues facing Asia's multicultural population, and will help develop an international educational model that cultivates pan-Asian citizenship.

Finally, we will support a cross-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary field of study that will analyze the political and economic processes of free trade agreements (FTAs). The same group will conduct a comparative analysis of human resource management in Asian enterprises. Also, it will develop a model of public diplomacy based on the nationalism and public opinion of Asian countries, determine methods of preventing the spread of infectious diseases suitable for this region, and develop sustainable environmental policies.

All these fields will approach all these research fields comprehensively. Our future depends on identifying and analyzing cross-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary problems providing solutions that span all research fields.

Ideally, the program will produce highly qualified specialists who respect their own nationality or tribal identity but have a borderless mind, a good command of many languages and an understanding of a multicultural world. Their mission is to create an admirable future through the cooperation of not only other Asians but all people from around the world. Ph. D. students will come into contact with unique and socially significant research through participation in two or more projects.

Each program PI must launch his or her own research project and train his or her PhD. students individually. At the same time, the program PIs will take turns organizing an Asian Cooperation and Integration Seminar to collectively give research advice to the students, cultivating a wide critical perspective. Every year, at least one student initiated graduate student forum or Ph. D. student workshop will be held. It will be compulsory for Ph. D. students to present their research in a foreign language (overseas students are asked to give presentations in Japanese or in English), and the process of completing their Ph. Ds will be strictly supervised. Those foreign students who are financially supported by the Japanese Government will be obligated to earn their Ph. D. within four years, and businesspersons will also be encouraged to join the Ph. D. program and be assisted in receiving Ph. D. We are planning to link this program to the MEXT scholarship program called "Future Leader's Program for Regional Integration and Cooperation in Asia." In so doing, we hope to have 50 PhD. students (10 per year) who specialize in the regional integration of Asia.

Concrete Educational Measures

In this program the following educational plan will be adopted, consisting of these eight items:

- Students will join an individual project led by their program PI. One of the students from each project will be a research assistant and steering member of the Graduate Student Forum." Students must participate in two or more projects to bring an objective perspective to their own research.

- Every field of study and every individual project will connect with the best domestic and overseas institutions for that discipline. Ph. D. students will be exposed to leading-edge research through conferences and workshops.

- Ph. D. students will be obliged to present their research in a foreign language (overseas students are asked to give presentations in Japanese or in English) annually, either at the student-initiated Graduate Student Forum established by the 21COE-CAS program or at the faculty-initiated Ph. D. student workshop established by Systematic Development of International Joint Project (SDIJP) program, one of the programs adopted by Initiatives for Attractive Education in Graduate Schools. Our program PIs and invited scholars will comment on and thoroughly supervise Ph. D. research through completion. Top students will be selected and trained to be the COE fellows (research assistants).

- Every year, a visiting professor from an overseas institution will be hired in each study field (four persons in total) for approximately six months. These visiting professors will give master course lectures and conduct Ph. D. seminars.

- An annual international symposium will be held that covers at least one of the four study fields will be held. The Graduate Student Forum and our administrative office will together be responsible for the symposium, including all responsibilities ranging from planning to the publication of the final report.

- A program will be established to provide international experience to Ph. D. students. A maximum of ten Ph. D. students per year will be given aid to help them do fieldwork or attend academic conferences abroad. Our administrative office will carefully examine applications to ensure that such trips will bear fruit in applicants' PhD. theses. Successful applicants will be asked to submit a trip report that will be posted online to further motivate other Ph. D. students.

- An annual summer seminar will be organized concerning regional Asian integration in close cooperation with major Asian universities. We will invite Masters students from overseas institutions to motivate them into further study in the Ph. D. program. A Summer Institute will be established for this purpose. In the second year and thereafter, overseas institutions will be asked to organize the same sort of summer seminar, in which talented young individuals will be jointly trained. Research assistants will steer these summer seminars toward unique and socially significant research. This program is expected to motivate excellent Masters students to pursue the Ph. D. program.

- Ph. D. students will serve as a teaching assistant in a project for Masters students under the control of GSAPS. The Masters students will make use of this experience in the preparation of their own Ph. D. theses.

Project Steering Policy

- A weekly administrative meeting and monthly steering meeting will ensure that information is shared across the program and that the program continues to advance.

- The administrative office will hire full-time staff exclusively responsible for maintaining close contact with the Waseda University Organization of Asian Studies (OAS) and other university organizations. The presence of this staff will improve the efficiency of administrative office meetings and general meetings. A research assistant (COE fellow) will be allocated to each individual project and he or she will participate in the Graduate Student Forum along with assistants to the Waseda University Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies (WIAPS) and to the OAS. If necessary, members of the Graduate Student Forum will attend the administrative office meeting, where they will be asked to report on their studies and assist in the organization of summer seminars.

- Each study field will conduct sustainable research projects and workshops in cooperation with overseas research institutions designated as its partners. The administrative office will be responsible for all the decisions concerning partnerships.

- A system will be established for improving the educational and research activities of the project, through self-examination and third-party review.

- Since the establishment of GSAPS, students have evaluated lecturers. The Steering Committee of the Initiative for Attractive Education in Graduate Schools supervised educational performance of each member of the teaching staff. These procedures will be continued in this new program. In addition, we will invite overseas researchers to the annual Graduate Student Forum or Ph. D. Student Workshop, ask them to review our students' research and monitor the progress of the program. Research assistants working for the administrative office and COE researchers will be obliged to submit an annual report. If the results are not satisfying, they may be discharged from their positions.

- The administrative office will select approximately ten Ph. D. students per year and support their unique research financially. Thesis standards will be judged objectively and will be monitored constantly to confirm the thesis is worth supporting financially.

Each study field will receive advice on its research and educational efforts from partner institutions. At the same time, third-party reviews will be performed by the members of the University Consortium on Cultivating Talents for the Asian Regional Integration and by the International Advisory Board of WIAPS.