Fostering Citizens to Shoulder the Public Nature of Urbanized Society
Politics targets not only issues relevant to the modes of existence of central governments and governments of self-governing bodies, but also any and all spectrums of issues--from issues covering multiple countries such as war and peace, trade frictions, ethnic conflicts--to close-at-hand issues such cities, the aging society, declining birthrate and urban planning. Politics consists of studies to elucidate the mechanisms and structure of the occurrence of these issues, and to search for measures to solve and dispose of them.
In the structure of society today, which has become complex and diversified and information ebbs and flows, political phenomena represent various phases, moment by moment, in response to trends of society, and moreover, there are many cases of phenomena on a worldwide scale that cannot be resolved via the old viewpoints and ideas. To study Politics means to raise the eyes to properly perceive such movements of society and the dynamics of living politics, and also to equip oneself with sociological thinking to deal with the changes in the world. For these purposes, four mindsets are required for those who study politics: 1) to cherish the intellect, 2) to learn from history, 3) to respect the local, and 4) to have global vision.
In the Department of Politics, we foster citizens equipped with cultural breadth, love of intellect and who learn from history and take on public political issues. The Department of Politics is a department where talent is developed for active participation in such various fields as local community, NPOs, corporations, self-governing bodies and public agencies.
Free Selection across Wide Range of Major Subjects
In the Department of Politics, effort has been put into course creation so that the independence of students can be emphasized and students can, to the maximum extent possible, freely construct their own curricula.
For the first-year, the subjects that are required to be taken are “Basic Concepts of Social Science I” and “Basic Concepts of Social Science II”. The former consists of relay system lectures in which a number of lecturers act as guides to the major fields of politics, while in the latter, through Q&A with students, understanding of politics unquestionably deepens. Other compulsory subjects include the second- and third- year seminars, wherein more specialized themes are studied in depth in small groups.
Subjects offered by the Department of Politics can be broadly divided into the Theory, History and Thought Subject Group and the Policies, Urban and Public Administration Studies Group; students may also freely choose subjects offered by the Department of Global Politics, so the four areas of mental readiness mentioned above can all be put in practice. In short, both introductory subjects for understanding modern politics and applied subjects for taking on various issues in modern society are on offer. Additionally, a distinctive feature of the Department is its Public Policy Internship. This internship provides practical training in self-governing bodies or NPOs, etc., with the results to be summarized in reports.