Graduate School of Social SciencesWaseda University

Today, society as an interdependent system for human beings has become increasingly complicated and the globalization of our world in such fields as the economy, information, politics, culture and environment has proceeded further, resulting in drastic changes in modern society. The reality of our new society reveals a complex aspect in which globalism, localism and regionalism are intermingled. Nowadays, it is thought that one of the major issues facing us is to find the root of such societal reforms and to establish rules for a global society where all human beings will have a common prospective future. The objective of Major in Global Society is to conduct basic researches to clarify the possibility of new living community in the global society, with a clear view to this new trend of modern society, which are complexity, globalization, and reach for meaning derived from there, and to train specialist researchers with broad views.

Students will be constantly engaged between the humanities and social sciences which will train them to integrate the diverse knowledge that has been building since the start of modern Japan. With such training, students become researchers and specialists that can transform Contemporary Japanese Studies into a universal commodity and who can spread such knowledge globally.

Students will examine the current situation of each country’s civil society from the legal, political, and cultural aspect. While considering what would be the ideal system for civil society, students will engage in theoretical and practical research on popular opinion and the policy tools necessary for consensus building. In this way, students will be able to consider from a global perspective what 21st century civil society should be.

International Cooperation has traditionally been a field that focuses on the relationships between nations. However, in our research field students will learn to study international relations from a global perspective. Students will not only gain theoretical knowledge but also practical experience from the global community and engaging in interdisciplinary research on the international conditions necessary to achieve world peace, conflict resolution and peace building, and international cooperation.