School of EducationWaseda University

The Department of Social Studies is divided into the Geography and History Major and the Civil Society and Citizenship Studies Major. Both majors aim to give students basic learning in a broad range of perspectives on society, while developing human resources equipped with advanced knowledge and judgment, who are capable of filling leading roles in society.

Overview

After learning the basics of academic fields spanning both geography (human geography and physical geography) and history (Japanese history, Asian history and Western history), in the third year students choose to specialize in either geography or history, and pursue specialist research through lectures and their graduation thesis.  This allows students on the Geography and History Major to acquire a broad range of specialist skills.  Accordingly, in addition to fostering human resources capable of working in a variety of different fields, including industry, the civil service and journalism, the Geography and History also caters to the needs of students who want to become junior high school or senior high school teachers, or to pursue specialist research.

Please see the Geography and History Major website for more details.

Characteristics

• After acquiring basic knowledge of both geography and history, students select one subject and pursue specialist research.
• Specialist selective courses and seminars are both available. A wide selection of courses is offered to meet the broad range of students’ interests.  In the third year, students are able to sit two full seminar courses.

Overview

The objective of the Civil Society and Citizenship Studies Major is to understand today’s world from a socio-scientific perspective, using the key concepts of “civil society” and “citizenship.” It aims to help students develop into individuals with the requisite qualities for participating in the process of creating a better society through both mutual dialogue and criticism, which are exchanged by various individuals and groups.

The major primarily focuses on the academic disciplines of sociology, media communication, political science, law, and economics, and allows students to examine current issues in an interdisciplinary context with a central focus on the above-mentioned two concepts rather than adhering more narrowly to the traditional principles characterizing the studies.

Please see the website for the Civil Society and Citizenship Studies Major for more details.

Characteristics

• Help students become individuals capable of creating a better civil society with a broad range of knowledge in the social sciences.
• Students must capture the essence of “Civil Society and Citizenship Studies;” that is, they must adopt a proactive and analytical approach to addressing various issues in today’s world.
• The curriculum is designed to encourage students to obtain a teaching license for civics at the high-school level.