School of International Liberal StudiesWaseda University

School of International Liberal Studies Dean
Prof. Satoshi INABA

The School of International Liberal Studies (SILS), based on the founding principles set forth by the founder Shigenobu Okuma, is committed to educating students who will contribute to the world. Specifically, we aim to educate students who can look at things from a broad perspective, consider various possibilities, think quantitatively, share diverse values, consider what they can do for the world, and act beyond their own preferences and in the best interests of the world as human beings living on the earth.

The School of International Liberal Studies was established in 2004 as the first school at Waseda University to offer a bachelor’s degree in English and celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2024. Students whose native language is Japanese are required to study abroad for one year, and every year numerous students leave to study at universities around the world. Waseda University has been actively accepting international students since 1899 and established the Qing Dynasty Foreign Student Department in 1905. Presently at SILS, approximately 30% of the incoming students are international students from all over the world, and for four years they engage in lively discussions and friendly competition with Japanese students. In addition, around 300 exchange students from partner universities around the world join the school each year, providing valuable exposure to the many opportunities for global success.

Our education is a liberal arts education that does not specialize in a particular field of study. Specifically, our courses are divided into seven clusters, and students first take introductory courses from several clusters to absorb knowledge from different disciplines and build horizontal connections between fields of study. Subsequently, by taking intermediate and advanced courses, as well as concentrations, they strengthen the vertical connections within each discipline and enhance their expertise. Through this educational framework of weaving knowledge horizontally and vertically, we aim to cultivate students who know something about everything and everything about something. Furthermore, through small-group training such as introductory, intermediate, and advanced seminars, students engage in discussions on complex issues that cannot be resolved through binary, black or white choices. They share their opinions, evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each opinion, and train to seek the best possible answer at that point in time. Since quantitative views are important in discussions, Introductory Statistics and Introductory Data Science are set as compulsory courses in order to improve students’ quantitative skills. Shigenobu Okuma, the founder of Waseda University, also realized the importance of statistics and established the Statistics Institute, becoming its president. Programs are also available to strengthen students’ English language skills both for our school and for study abroad education, and students will learn about academic writing. In addition, through assignments in lecture courses, students receive training in academic writing, culminating in the completion of a graduation thesis in their respective areas of specialization.

Our school has continually reformed itself in response to the changing times. These include the “Concentration Program,” introduced in 2016, which enhances specialized courses within liberal arts education; the “APM Program,” launched in 2017, which provides language acquisition in French, Spanish, Chinese, and Korean, as well as multifaceted studies of the culture, history, economy, and politics of these countries; and the mandatory implementation of “Introductory Data Science,” begun in 2025.

We will continue to make reforms to meet the needs of students and the changing times. We would like to put even more effort into educating students who can become future world leaders.