School of International Liberal StudiesWaseda University

One-Year Program/Double Degree Program to Waseda

Features and Curriculum

Accurate as of January 2023

Features of the SILS One-Year Study Abroad Program

What is the One-Year Study Abroad Program (SAP) at SILS?

SILS offers a One-Year Study Abroad Program (SAP) to international students. In this program, students from around the world will take classes with our regular (four-year) SILS students.

A wide range of thought-provoking themes and topics, which include Asian culture, history, society, politics, economy, geography, arts, and literature, are offered at SILS.

The majority of the SILS courses are taught in English. Thus, our doors are open to all students without advanced Japanese language knowledge.

Our One-Year Program students will be required to attend Japanese language classes as part of the curriculum. These enriching language classes will aid them in acquiring the Japanese language. Understanding the local language will also enhance their experience in Japan.

Students can also take “Other Foreign Language” courses offered at SILS and the University-Wide Open courses.

Language of Instruction

  • Japanese Language Courses: Japanese
  • SILS Lecture Courses: English
  • Open courses offered by the Global Education Center: Almost all of them are conducted in Japanese.
  • Open courses offered by the other schools: Most of them are conducted in Japanese. Some are available in English.

Curriculum and Requirements of the One-Year Program

Students participating in the One-Year Study Abroad Program (SAP) at SILS are required to take SILS Lecture Courses and the Japanese Language Courses offered by the Center for Japanese Language every semester. All SAP students are expected to fulfill the following requirements.

(1) Length of study

  • Fall Semester (September to end-January/ early-February)
  • Spring Semester (April to end-July/ early-August)

Note:Students are strongly encouraged to apply for a full-year (Fall and Spring Semesters) program.

(2) Requirements

Please refer to this website.

(3) SILS Lecture Courses (Intermediate and Advanced ONLY)

SILS offers seven thematic clusters (groups of courses).

  1. Life, Environment, Matter and Information
  2. Philosophy, Religion and History
  3. Economy and Business
  4. Governance, Peace, Human Rights and International Relations
  5. Communication
  6. Expression
  7. Culture, Mind and Body, Community

Students must take at least EIGHT (8) credits of SILS lecture courses every semester.
Please kindly note that One-Year Program students can only take lecture courses at the Intermediate (300 level) and/ or Advanced (400 level) level.
Unless otherwise stated in the course descriptions, all courses are conducted in English.

Note: Seminars and Introductory Courses (100-200 level) are NOT open to One-Year Program students. For the available courses, please refer to the Course Information page.

(4) Japanese Language Courses

Before the semester starts, students who would like to take Japanese language courses at level 2 and above are required to take the CJL Level Check Test. Students can determine the level of courses to take based on its placing, ranging from beginner to advanced levels.

Please kindly note that the level categorizations (1 to 7) used by the Center for Japanese Language (CJL) may not correspond to those at your home institution. For example, level 3 at Waseda University does not necessarily correspond to the 3rd year or the 3rd semester at your university.

Successful applicants are expected to understand basic Japanese (hiragana/ katakana/ basic kanji) for the beginner classes. Studying the language prior to arrival is strongly encouraged.

SILS One-Year Program students are required to take at least SIX (6) credits of Japanese language courses each semester. The maximum number of Japanese language credits a student can take per semester is SEVEN (7).

(5) University-wide Open Courses (Optional)

University-wide Open Courses are offered by various schools and institutions at Waseda University and are open to all students. There are two categories of University-wide Open courses:

a) University-wide Open Courses offered by the Global Education Center
b) University-wide Open Courses offered by the other faculties/schools

*One-Year SAP students are not allowed to take summer courses, courses conducted abroad, and courses offered by other universities.

a) University-Wide Open Courses offered by the Global Education Center
Most of the courses are conducted in Japanese.
As these courses are designed for Japanese college students, applicants are expected to be fluent in the Japanese language. Taking these classes will further develop one’s Japanese language proficiency.

b) University-Wide Open Courses offered by the other faculties/ schools
Most of the courses in this category are conducted in Japanese. Some classes are available in English.

The University-Wide Open course credits are not included in the minimum required number of SILS lecture course credits. They are added to the maximum-allowed number of credits.

(6) Other Foreign Language Courses offered by SILS (Optional)

Students are allowed to take “Other Foreign Language” courses offered by SILS if there are vacancies.
Please kindly note that SILS regular (full-time) students have priority to register for “Other Foreign Language” courses as they need the credits to fulfill the graduation requirements.

Please also note that many of the “Other Foreign Language” courses are taught in Japanese. Some classes are conducted in English or with the direct method.

“Other Foreign Language” credits are not included in the minimum required SILS lecture course credits but they count toward the maximum number of credits.

Double Degree Program

Actual Class Hours

(a) Japanese Language courses, Other Foreign Language courses by SILS, Foreign Language courses by the Global Education Center, and Physical Education (PE) Courses by the Global Education Center

< ~ Fall 2022 >

1 credit = 90 minutes (1 class) × 15 weeks (1 semester) = 1350 minutes

< Spring 2023 ~ >

1 credit = 100 minutes (1 class) × 14 weeks (1 semester) = 1400 minutes

(b) SILS lecture courses and University-Wide Open Courses (excluding Foreign Language and PE courses)

< ~ Fall 2022 >

2 credits = 90 minutes (1 class) × 15 weeks (1 semester) = 1350 minutes

< Spring 2023 ~ >

2 credits = 100 minutes (1 class) × 14 weeks (1 semester) = 1400 minutes

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