Department of Sociology

Looking at relationships between the individual and society from different perspectives

Sociology is a discipline that seeks to understand “the other.” It is through “the self” acknowledging the existence of, and coming to an understanding of, “the other” that students are able to explicate the mechanisms of society. Furthermore, students also learn how to pursue knowledge and communicate their findings back to “the other” in their own words. We nurture students who accept the pursuit and understanding of “the other” as their own task, and who have the intellectual curiosity, inquiring mind, flexible thinking, creative ideas, and experience-based powers of imagination and expression necessary for this task.

Curriculum overview

Faculty and course quality and quantity are at the top level nationwide. There is an extensive selection of basic courses as well as a rich and diverse range of specialized courses. Students can prepare their own original study plan conforming to their own interests and concerns.

In the first year, students take basic seminars and learn the basics of social research. From year two, three courses are offered: “Media and Culture” seeks to develop understanding and creativity of expression with respect to other people as well as one’s own culture; “Life and Body” explicates the true nature of contemporary society, which is built on a foundation of sophisticated scientific technology (medicine, etc.); and “Environment and Community” cultivates practical abilities that lead to the creation of new communities through a refined understanding of others. Real-world experience is also indispensable for an understanding of society. In the Department of Sociology, via fieldwork in which students communicate with actual “others”, we provide experiences by which they can thoroughly master the theories learned. In years three and four, students further deepen their pursuit of knowledge in seminars and practical training, with the results being brought to completion as a graduation thesis.

There is also a curriculum aimed at enabling students to acquire qualifications (social education coordinator qualifications, teacher certification, etc.), and many small-class courses (text reading and specialized-book reading) are held for students who want to deepen their studies.