About the Graduate School of Intercultural Studies

1 April 2022 Last updated

Dean’s Message

The Graduate School of Intercultural Studies at Kobe University was established in 2007 from what was formerly the Graduate School of Cultural Studies and Human Science. Since the new graduate school shares its name with the Faculty of Intercultural Studies which was established in October 1992 and was succeeded by the Faculty of Global Human Sciences in April 2017, it allows students to learn and research systematically from the undergraduate to the graduate level.

People and culture have continued to blend together as a result of the spread of globalization, particularly following the collapse of divisions created during the Cold War. We ask ourselves how we should understand changes in a globally developing society and what we should make of the significance of those changes. We want to know about changes in phenomena but at the same time ask broad questions about the frameworks through which we view those changes. Above all, there is a pressing need to reconsider thought patterns and recognition based on the nation-state paradigm. Put another way, we should strive to redefine the paradigms of the humanities and social sciences.

The education and research in our graduate school adopts a cultural standpoint to explore transformations and continuities in the contemporary world. Intercultural Studies is not a single discipline. It is a new area of research that approaches the common theme of how various cultures exist and relate to each other across a number of different disciplines. The fifteen courses that make up our graduate school show that providing viewpoints from various disciplines subjectively promotes that very theme.

Ours was the first national university in Japan to have a graduate school specifically designed to advocate intercultural studies. It focuses on cultural standpoints while critically examining the effectiveness of such frameworks and strives to break through to leading-edge research fields and analytical methods.

The door is open for you to develop new frameworks for knowledge. We sincerely hope to work together in this endeavor with intelligent, inquisitive young researchers like you.

Our Goals and Principles

The philosophy of the Graduate School of Intercultural Studies is to cultivate advanced fields of cultural studies, with an eye towards intercultural coexistence, and to construct new paradigms for understanding human culture. To this end, we have formulated the following five research aims:

1. Pursuit of cultural research that understands culture to be a complex entity and incorporates concepts of intercultural relations into such research.
2. Dynamic research into culture as a complex entity with attention to intercultural interaction in such forms as conflict, fusion, and interchange.
3. Multifaceted studies of cultural transformations amid the globalization of contemporary society.
4. Development of advanced communication research related to language and information.
5. Execution of a shift from monocular, single paradigms that apply over-simplistic dichotomies such as central / peripheral, civilized / uncivilized, and advanced / backward to pluralistic, multiplex paradigms, and the creation of research methodologies adapted to the cultural dynamics of contemporary society.

 

Admission Policy, Diploma Policy

	Admission Policy	Diploma Policy
Master’s Program	The objective of the Kobe University Graduate School of Intercultural Studies is to nurture individuals who have deep intercultural understanding and flexible communication skills,as well as profound scholarship and creative research skills. In view of this educational goal, the Graduate School seeks students who have the following characteristics.	The objective of the Kobe University Graduate School of Intercultural Studies is to nurture individuals who have deep intercultural understanding and flexible communication skills, as well as profound scholarship and creative research skills. In view of this human resource development goal and the four objectives prescribed in the universitywide degree conferral policy, the graduate school awards degrees to students who have successfully completed the curriculum in line with the following two policies. Students shall study at the Graduate School of Intercultural Studies for two years in principle, earn the credits required for completion, and pass a review of the master’s thesis or research report. Students of the Graduate School of Intercultural Studies are encouraged to achieve the following learning goals by the completion of the program.
	● Have a keen interest in understanding culture as a complex entity and pursuing multifaceted studies of intercultural correlation. Have the fundamental capabilities required to achieve this.	● Understand culture as a complex entity and pursue multifaceted studies of intercultural correlation.
	● Have a keen interest in understanding the dynamics of language and information communication and addressing various problems confronting the contemporary global society. Have the fundamental capabilities required to achieve this.	● Understand the dynamics of language and information communication and address various problems confronting the contemporary global society.
	● Have a keen interest in carrying out interdisciplinary research with high standards of expertise. Have the fundamental capabilities required to achieve this.	● Carry out interdisciplinary research based on high standards of expertise.
Doctoral Program	The objective of the Kobe University Graduate School of Intercultural Studies is to nurture individuals who have deep intercultural understanding and flexible communication skills, as well as profound scholarship and creative research skills. In view of this educational goal, the Graduate School seeks students who have the following characteristics.	The objective of the Kobe University Graduate School of Intercultural Studies is to nurture individuals who have deep intercultural understanding and flexible communication skills, as well as profound scholarship and creative research skills. In view of this human resource development goal and the four objectives prescribed in the universitywide degree conferral policy, the graduate school awards degrees to students who have successfully completed the curriculum in line with the following two policies. Students shall study at the Graduate School of Intercultural Studies for three years in principle, earn the credits required for completion, and pass the doctoral degree review. Students of the Graduate School of Intercultural Studies are encouraged to achieve the following learning goals by the completion of the program.
	● Have a keen interest in clarifying the structure and dynamics of culture as a complex entity and proactively exploring an advanced field of cultural research. Have the fundamental capabilities to achieve this.	● Clarify the structure and dynamics of culture as a complex entity and proactively explore an advanced field of cultural research.
	● Have a keen interest in pursuing various language and information communication issues and conducting multifaceted studies on the increasingly globalized contemporary world. Have the fundamental capabilities to achieve this.	● Pursue various language and information communication issues and conduct multifaceted studies on the increasingly globalized contemporary world.
	● Have a keen interest in carrying out cross-disciplinary research based on superior expertise. Have the fundamental capabilities to achieve this.	● Carry out cross-disciplinary research based on superior expertise.