Philosophy

Educational Principles of the GSAL

Educational Ideals

The complex and troubling problems facing the world today cannot be solved by science and technology alone. More than anything else, what is needed is the expertise of the humanities and social sciences that is rooted in deep insight into human nature. In response to this demand from society, we pursue the goal of training talented people who can make active contributions to the development of international society founded upon a keen sensitivity towards humanity and a lucid understanding of social realities and who have both intelligence and the passion to take action.

Policy Concerning Degrees

The Graduate School of Arts and Letters at Tohoku University will award bachelor's degrees to students meeting the following conditions:

Possession of solidly empirical knowledge concerning humankind, its languages and cultures, and its societies and history, as well as expertise in the humanities and social sciences based on deep insight into human nature.
Development of a keen sensitivity toward humanity through a specialized field of study and mastery of deep knowledge about social realities. Possession of the intelligence and passion to take action with these as a foundation to make active contributions to international societies.
Ability to pursue an autonomous and critical understanding of humankind and to contribute actively to solving the various problems that face contemporary society.

Policy Concerning Curricula

In order to cultivate students who can achieve the goals described in the Policy Concerning Degrees, the Graduate School of Arts and Letters at Tohoku University will formulate and implement curricula based on the following objectives:

Fostering Education:The achievement of an understanding of the methods of the humanities and social sciences, different from those of the natural sciences, through extensive study of foundational information concerning a variety of aspects of human culture, including literature, thought, language, history, and society.
Cultivating Specialization: The mastery of the abilities to think and express yourself universally and creatively that make it possible to discover and formulate solutions to your own challenges though deep specialized learning in accordance with the solemn academic traditions of the GSAL.
Language Training:The learning of two or more foreign languages and development of the ability to effectively communicate internationally in order to respond to an internationalizing society.
Pursuing Your Calling: The awareness of the duties you must fulfill as a professional or a graduate student possessing specialized knowledge in the humanities and social sciences and the construction of a solid outlook for the future.

Policy Concerning Admissions

Please see the admission test information "Admissions Policy"

GSAL Yearly Learning Objectives

Based on these ideals, the following learning objectives have been established in the GSAL for each year of the program:

Year 1 Learning Objectives

Basic training in the humanities/social sciences and natural sciences in order to manage the various problems of contemporary society(University-wide courses)
Grasp of the overview of GSAL disciplines, an understanding of the issues in the humanities and social sciences, and a mastery of the fundamentals of its concepts and methodology(General theories of the humanities and social sciences)
Reading ability in English in order to study in the disciplines of the GSAL(Introductory training in reading English sources)
Introductory knowledge and methodologies in the disciplines of the GSAL(Basic Introduction to Specialization)
Ability to express oneself in Japanese necessary for the study of the humanities and social sciences(Basic seminars, basic introductory courses in specialization, etc.)
Fundamentals of processing information in the humanities and social sciences (Information courses)
Basic abilities in a minimum of 2 foreign languages in order to respond to an internationalizing society (University-wide language courses)

Year 2 Learning Objectives

Basic training in the humanities/social sciences and natural sciences in order to manage the various problems of contemporary society (University-wide courses)
Foundational knowledge and methodologies in the separate disciplines of the humanities and social sciences (Basics and fundamentals)
Medium level of competence in a minimum of 2 foreign languages in order to respond to an internationalizing society(University-wide and GSAL specialist foreign language courses)
Abilities to read specialized texts and present results in order to go on to do research in the humanities and social sciences (Fundamentals)

Year 3 Learning Objectives

Deepened specialized knowledge in the humanities and social sciences and mastery of methodologies(Theory, development)
Development of skills in reading texts, gathering and analyzing sources, and presenting results for the completion of a graduation thesis or the conducting of graduation research(Development)
Development of skills in many foreign languages as an international scholar(GSAL specialist foreign language courses)
Development of a rich humanity with a vision of a future career (Individual guidance counseling, etc.)

Year 4 Learning Objectives

Deepened specialized knowledge in the humanities and social sciences and further mastery of methodologies (Theory, development)
Development of skills in reading texts, gathering and analyzing sources, and presenting results for the completion of a graduation thesis or the conducting of graduation research (Development, individual supervision of graduation thesis/research)
Development of skills in many foreign languages as an international scholar (GSAL specialist foreign language courses)
Completion of a graduate thesis or graduate research as the result of 4 years of study
Decision on future course and aiming toward developing into a person who is aware of the duties that must be fulfilled as a professional or a graduate student possessing specialized knowledge in the humanities and social sciences