The Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences:
A Guide to the Graduate Studies Program
Distinctive Features of the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences
The Hirosaki University Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences (master’s course) offers a well-rounded educational program in the humanities and the social sciences that prepares students to become highly skilled specialists and researchers.
The Importance of Specialized and Cross-Disciplinary Research
Today, as the reach of globalization continues to expand, the entire world is becoming a place where cultures and values must coexist. At the same time, the challenges that we face every day in the real world have grown more complex and diverse, demanding that we respond with a strong sense of our inter-connectedness.
On the other hand, there are also moves to educate the upcoming generation through the active application of academic knowledge that can be employed to protect and sustain distinctive and unique cultures. These autonomous and symbiotic approaches to education are beginning to gather momentum across the globe.
In order to better understand this complexity and diversity, it is imperative that we start by considering the fundamentals of human history and cultures. We must also strive to keep up with the transformations that are occurring throughout the world by exercising a deeper understanding of culture and art and an historical and global awareness of how human beings have coexisted. To meet these needs, analytical tools necessary to grasp policies and institutions and a flexibility to utilize the theories and methodologies that traverse specialized disciplines are of great importance.
Distinctive Features of the Curriculum
There are four distinguishing features of the curriculum
The Graduate School offers specialized skills coursework that prepares students for specialized research in the humanities and social sciences. More than 100 systematically organized specialized courses are provided.
The Graduate School has also introduced “cross-disciplinary courses” that transcend specialized areas of study to present to the student a multiplicity of theoretical and methodological approaches to issues in the humanities and social sciences.
Special project research courses provide students with opportunities to receive personalized guidance
An "Interim Master's Thesis Presentation Forum" and a "Final Master's Thesis Presentation Forum" offer all students in the master’s program the opportunity to present their research at an open forum.
Three Courses/Majors
| Major | Course (faculty) | Research Guidance Fields |
| The Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences | Cultural Arts Course | Cultural Properties Japanese Language・Japanese Literature Intellectual Thought and the Arts |
| Modern Inter-Cultural Studies Course | Linguistics Regional Histories Global Studies Modern Law and Politics |
|
| Policy Science Course | Economics and Statistical Analysis Policy Assessment Accounting Information |