School of International Liberal StudiesWaseda University

About the School

From the Dean

Message from the Dean

School of International Liberal Studies Dean
Prof. Satoshi INABA

Nowadays, the world continues to be difficult to predict even a moment ahead. We are still coming to terms with the social situation due to COVID19 that has continued from December 2019 to the present, and with the Russian military invasion of Ukraine that began in February 2022. In this complex and ever-changing world, the School of International Liberal Studies (SILS), based on the Waseda University mission set forth by 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, and make the best choices at the time.

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. 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. At present, about 30% of our students come to SILS from all over the world to engage in lively discussions and friendly competition. In addition, around 300 exchange students from partner universities around the world join the school each year, an experience that offers them many opportunities to advance their goals in the world.

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 must take introductory courses from at least three of the clusters. Furthermore, through small-group training such as introductory, intermediate, and advanced seminars, students are trained to share their opinions, evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each opinion, and search for the best possible answer at that point in time. Since quantitative views are important in discussions, Introductory Statistics is set as a compulsory course 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 also learn about academic writing. In addition, students are trained in academic writing through assignments in lecture courses, where they develop skills they will use when writing a graduation thesis.

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, and 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.

We will continue to make reforms to meet the needs of students and the changing times. As we celebrate 20 years since the establishment of our school, we would like to put even more effort into educating students who can become future world leaders.

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