Graduate School of Letters, Arts and SciencesWaseda University

Today, the interchange of people and information takes place globally, making the ways cultural modalities in different regions are intertwined with each other increasingly complex and multi-faceted. As this new era is now upon us, the Graduate School of Letters, Arts and Sciences aims to develop human resources of great scholarly attainments that contribute to the future of human culture by inheriting the knowledge of cultural science created by human beings and seeking knowledge unceasingly to create new value that meets the needs of a diversifying society. The policies for realizing this are described below.

Master’s Program

Students who complete the Master’s Program are expected to have acquired the knowledge and abilities described below. In recognition of those accomplishments, the Master’s Program grants a master’s degree (in literature) to those who have been enrolled in this program for at least two years and have earned the required number of credits, submitted a master’s thesis under research guidance, and passed a final examination (oral examination).

1. An ability to read and understand highly technical literature in the field of humanities, analyze it with a sound critical spirit, and discover new themes

2. An ability to plan and conduct purposeful research in areas requiring experiments and fieldwork, accurately analyze data obtained through such research, and utilize this data in studies

3. A high-level linguistic ability capable of adding new knowledge to that gained from previous research and present this cumulative knowledge in a persuasive thesis with adequate expressions

4. An ability to realize mutual understanding with others, actively disseminate academic discoveries, and make academic contributions in order to leverage their abilities and knowledge in today’s multi-faceted society

Doctoral Program

Students who complete the Doctoral Program are expected to have acquired the knowledge and abilities described below. In recognition of this accomplishment, the Doctoral Program grants a doctoral degree (in literature) to those who have been enrolled in this program for at least three years and have submitted a doctoral dissertation and passed a review (by the Thesis Review Committee, the Degree Committee, and the Faculty Committee) after developing a research plan, presenting their research results at academic conferences, and publishing articles in academic journals under the guidance of supervisors.

1. An ability to deepen the knowledge gained in the Master’s Program, identify new issues from a broader perspective, accumulate sufficient research, and write logical and empirical papers that can contribute to their respective academic fields

2. An ability to work independently and systematically as a researcher and communicate and interact academically in a wide range of fields

3. An ability to cope flexibly with today’s complex and interdisciplinary issues while demonstrating originality

4. An ability to view social and natural phenomena from multiple perspectives with a sound critical spirit and make constructive proposals related to existing issues

Under the educational policy of “The Independence of Scholarship”, this Graduate School consists of 22 Master’s Program courses and 21 Doctoral Program courses in the Major of Cultural Sciences and offers research seminars, seminars, and research and advanced subjects designed to develop expertise in these courses. We also offer lectures and foreign language subjects as common subjects. We have concluded exchange agreements with nine university graduate schools in Japan, and students are allowed to attend lectures and research seminars offered by these graduate schools. Based on a number of agreements concluded with overseas universities and other institutions, we provide a variety of study abroad programs in order for students to cultivate their skills in these overseas graduate schools as required for their research.

To complete the Master’s Program, students must earn 32 credits as specified for the respective courses as well as submit a master’s thesis and pass a review. They are allowed to earn up to 14 credits for subjects offered by courses other than their own or common subjects (lectures) and up to 10 credits for subjects offered by other graduate schools of Waseda University, subjects designed for all graduate students, subjects open to graduate students, and subjects offered by partner university graduate schools. In the first year, students are required to enhance their ability to read literature in their research fields and accumulate and analyze research and experiment data while gaining a broad range of knowledge through these lecture subjects. In the second year, students are required to write a master’s thesis based on the abilities that they developed in the first year. Supervisors give the students guidance on their overall research and study activities to help them complete their master’s theses.

In the Doctoral Program, students are expected to acquire advanced expertise while taking a multidimensional view of social and natural phenomena from an interdisciplinary perspective, submit articles and make presentations on their research results, and complete a doctoral dissertation under the guidance of supervisors. In the first year, students are required to undergo research ethics training, submit a doctoral dissertation plan, conduct research under research guidance, and report the progress of their research in a Doctoral Program Research Progress and Achievement Report. In the second year, students are required to continue their research under research guidance and report the progress of their research in a Doctoral Program Research Progress and Achievement Report. By the end of the third year, students are required to make at least one oral presentation at a national or international conference and publish at least one article in an academic journal (a peer-reviewed journal is preferable). At least one year before submitting their doctoral dissertations, students must make an oral presentation at a dissertation plan presentation meeting held by this Graduate School to receive a decision on whether they can continue writing their doctoral dissertations. To complete the Doctoral Program, students must submit a doctoral dissertation and pass a review. We have established an advisory system, under which students can also receive objective advice on their research from secondary supervisors.

Under the educational policy of “The Independence of Scholarship”, this Graduate School admits a large number of domestic and international students who have a superior level of basic academic ability, a healthy intellectual curiosity, an enterprising spirit, and high motivation to study.

For the Master’s Program, we admit students who have the level of intelligence and education that makes them suitable to work as a specialist in the future, who have the Japanese language proficiency necessary to work in the field of liberal arts, and who are expected to be able to write a master’s thesis above a certain level in the 2-year course period.

For the Doctoral Program, we admit students who are expected to be able to write a doctoral dissertation with academic value in 3 years.