Message from the Dean of ISGS
Cultivating professionals who can bridge the gap between academia and social issues
OHNO Masao
Program Director and Dean of the Graduate School of Integrated Sciences for Global Society
Graduate schools are places of learning. As a student at a graduate school of Kyushu University, you will decide on your own research topic in your major program. You will most likely be working hard every day towards writing your master's thesis or doctoral dissertation. On the other hand, the Graduate Program of Interdisciplinary Policy Analysis and Design, which is a minor program, is designed for you to become an advanced researcher or professional who can put knowledge to practical use. In today’s increasingly sophisticated and complex world, professionals with advanced expertise are expected to play active roles. At the same time, an increasing number of fields require researchers to not only master their academic discipline but also pursue their research by connecting their acquired skills to practical problem solving. Whether you wish to become a researcher or an advanced professional after completing graduate school, you will always benefit from gaining experience in applying academic knowledge to tackle concrete social issues while you are a graduate student.
But there is more. In addition to research in your own specialization in your major program, you can expect to broaden and deepen the scope of your research by working on other issues in your minor program. The program also offers students and faculty members the opportunity to study in local communities. It also includes classes in which students and faculty members visit local authorities and work together on current issues. The discussions in which students from completely different academic backgrounds take part are stimulating and create new perspectives. In addition, the connections with faculty members and students from other faculties can be a great asset in itself in the future. The program also covers travel expenses for fieldwork outside the university and the curriculum is designed in such a way that students are not overburdened by the minor program.
I hope that many students will get a better grasp of the real world through this program, and grow into individuals who can put their advanced knowledge to good use.
Message from the Program Leader
Why not enjoy your fieldwork?
ARAYA Kunio
Program Leader and Professor of the Graduate School of Integrated Science for Global Society
The Graduate Program of Interdisciplinary Policy Analysis and Design connects academic learning with real-world problem-solving. It also encourages fieldwork. Fieldwork refers to the act of collecting and compiling information on a certain topic. It requires you to head out to a site to directly observe, survey, and investigate it. When you get out in the field, you will often discover many things that will leave you curious.
Perhaps more than ever, we are now facing global challenges, including large-scale climate change, frequent widespread natural disasters, declining biodiversity, ethnic conflicts, terrorism, and a worldwide pandemic. These challenges cannot be solved through the single-discipline approach that has been valued in conventional undergraduate and graduate education and we have to look beyond makeshift technical solutions. That is why we need to develop an attitude and mindset of tackling challenges with a long-term perspective, using a combination of various approaches.
There are so many clues to specific solutions to be found while you are out in the field, instead of sitting at your desk. So, get out in the field, explore new things, familiarize yourself with the wider area’s characteristics and historical background, and challenge yourself to think holistically to work out solutions. Such persistent efforts in the fieldwork are key to solving the issues at hand.
However, fieldwork also involves various risks. Having a hard time seeing good results and not getting the results you have wanted are only temporary setbacks. External factors, such as bad weather, disasters, and social changes, often make it hard to conduct a survey, and sometimes it may even feel your life is at risk. That is why the results of hard efforts in fieldwork can be irreplaceable treasures.
While you should always stay alert during fieldwork, why not also enjoy it? Just by taking in the nature, creatures, people and culture of a place you have just visited for the first time, you will feel something different from your everyday life. We invite you to take part in this program and do your own unique fieldwork!
PROGRAM Outline
Humanity has always been confronted with various challenges. The 21st century has witnessed disasters such as the Great East Japan Earthquake, the spread of infectious diseases such as SARS and COVID-19, societal changes brought about by progress in science and technology such as artificial intelligence, and changes in the global political and economic order due to the rise of emerging countries such as China. Universities are now expected to help solve these challenges by offering academic expertise and producing capable professionals. To that end, taking an interdisciplinary approach, universities need to build models of research and human resource development that can better respond to real-world challenges so that knowledge generated by universities can contribute more directly to society.
In response to this need, this program was established to provide scientific support for the development, implementation and evaluation of policies to solve challenges. This program aims to produce researchers and highly-skilled professionals who can envision a future society with their extensive expertise and can use their collaborative problem solving, decision making, and policy making skills in any setting.
The program’s curriculum includes courses offered by collaborating graduate schools. A certificate of completion will be granted to students who have earned the credits required to complete the program.
This is a minor program that lasts up to five years from the master’s program to the doctoral program. Participating students are expected to conduct practical research to solve complex real-world problems that span different areas of specialization, using the expertise they have gained at their graduate school.
Students can pursue their research effectively through problem-based learning, fieldwork, general training in policy analysis and policy making, and tutorials given by instructors from diverse fields according to their research theme.
As clues to understanding the perspectives unique to specialized fields that are required to pursue students’ research, three agendas (areas of specialization) - “Convivial Community,” “Risk Management” and “Culture and Health” - are offered as a broad framework. Each agenda covers specific research areas.
Students are recommended to conduct research on an issue that spans multiple research areas and multiple agendas.