A major challenge facing the world today is how people with diverse and different cultural and historical backgrounds and values can coexist in harmony. This necessitates a deep understanding of the various elements of each local culture and varying aspects of human beings. The Graduate School of Culture and Information Science conducts analysis of various cultural phenomena as expressions of human spiritual and intellectual activities from new perspectives. Additionally, it pioneers new academic fields that meet the needs of the times by organically combining the humanities and sciences in interdisciplinary, high-level education and research activities.

Significance of Establishing the Graduate School of Culture and Information Science

Culture and Information Science for the creation of new knowledge

The progress and development of academia has led to the subdivision of academic fields. However, this subdivision tends to impose the lack of a multifaceted and comprehensive perspective upon students. In recent years, the need for integrating knowledge from various fields and conducting comprehensive research has become increasingly recognized. In April 2005, Doshisha University established the Faculty of Culture and Information Science to meet such contemporary needs.

The research interests of the Faculty of Culture and Science include literature, archaeology, linguistics, art, music, traditional performing arts, and various other cultural and social phenomena. It is a new discipline that uses research methods and analytical instruments employed in the field of natural science to elucidate these phenomena. The Graduate School of Culture and Information Science was established to further deepen this Culture and Information Science and conduct advanced education and research activities.

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The Philosophy of the Graduate School of Culture and Information Science and Research Guidance

Cultivate human resources with flexible thinking and people who can be active in any field

The Graduate School of Culture and Information Science perceives human cultural activities from a scientific perspective based on theory and data, rather than simply on intuition and empirical rules. It organically combines knowledge from different academic fields in order to construct new methodologies for understanding human culture. Further, it also conducts research activities that optimize the transmission of cultural data as well as contribute to the creation of human culture that meets the needs of the times. As such, the philosophy and objectives of the Graduate School and its research are to cultivate interdisciplinary research skills and to develop the abilities needed to pioneer novel academic fields.

In order to fulfill these objectives, we have designated four specialized courses as priority frontier fields: (1) Cultural Resources Studies, (2) Linguistic Data Science, (3) Behavioral Data Science, and (4) Fundamental Data Science. Through interlinking each of these courses, we conduct advanced educational and research activities targeting various cultural phenomena and events.

Specifically, the educational and research activities of the Graduate School integrate different academic fields in various ways, such as by consolidating the relationships among diverse information held by cultural resources, clarifying complex and ambiguous linguistic phenomena, explaining, predicting, and designing diverse human behaviors, and constructing methodologies for mathematical, information, and statistical sciences. The Master’s Program aims to nurture highly skilled professionals who possess a broad perspective that allows them to think flexibly and have the agile conceptual capabilities to respond precisely to the diverse and complex issues that arise in society. The Doctoral Program aims to nurture researchers who will be active in international society and can analyze cultural phenomena from a variety of perspectives, developing new research methods related to culture, and pioneering and developing entirely new academic fields.

Graduates of the Master’s Program can play an active role in all areas of society. In particular, they will have acquired a deep understanding of various cultural phenomena as well as the ability to analyze information, which means they can expect to be active in public institutions, corporate research and analysis departments, news media such as newspapers and TV stations, and museums and art galleries. In addition, graduates of the Doctoral Program can expect to work as researchers in advanced university departments integrating humanities and science, institutions that conduct research and analysis for decision-making and planning, departments related to spatial information analysis and cultural heritage protection at universities and national or local governments, as well as at research institutions such as museums and art galleries.

In order to materialize these outcomes, the following research guidelines are provided in each program.

Master’s Program

In the Master’s Program, students are required to take a wide range of subjects among the four specialized courses: (1) Cultural Resources Studies, (2) Linguistic Data Science, (3) Behavioral Data Science, and (4) Fundamental Data Science, in order to acquire not only specialized knowledge in their research fields but also a broad range of advanced knowledge and abilities. In addition, students must also take Research and Experiments in Culture and Information Science, which is a research guidance subject. They must also take the symposium subjects, which focus on research presentations and related discussions, in order to receive research guidance for their master’s thesis.

Students should cultivate an understanding of issues in their field as well as how their research positions them in their field. The ability to conduct research activities independently, with the intent to participate in joint research and industry-academia collaboration in order to receive research guidance in a practical environment is also essential. To this end, guidance is provided to enable students to acquire foreign language skills, literature reading comprehension skills, paper writing skills, presentation material preparation skills, presentation techniques, and problem solving skills in addition to specialized skills. As a result, students make at least one presentation at an academic conference in Japan and one submission to a bulletin or academic journal.

Doctoral Program

In the Doctoral Program, in addition to doctoral thesis research guidance, students can take a balance of specialized and common subjects related to the education and research content of the Cultural Resources Studies, Linguistic Data Science, Behavioral Data Science, and Fundamental Data Science courses, in addition to taking Special Studies in Culture and Information Science under the primary supervisor and the symposium subjects for giving and chairing research presentations. The Doctoral Program aims to nurture researchers of rich academic attainment by cultivating basic knowledge not only in one research area but also in its related fields, as well as by providing training in research methods based on a fusion of the humanities and sciences.

In addition to incorporating objective evaluations such as presentation at an annual conference in Japan, one oral presentation at an international conference before completion, or acceptance of one peer-reviewed academic journal article, guidance is provided to help students acquire not only research skills, but also foreign language writing and presentation skills, discussion skills, and problem discovery and solving skills.

Graduate School Information

Graduate School Course NameCulture and Information Science at the Graduate School of Culture and Information Science
Year EstablishedApril 2007
DegreeMaster’s Program: Master’s (Culture and Information Science)
Doctoral Program: Doctorate (Culture and Information Science)
CapacityMaster’s Program: 30 students per academic year
Doctoral Program: 5 students per academic year
LocationKyotanabe Campus