1. HOME
  2. About
  3. Message from the Dean

ABOUT

Message from the Dean

 

Welcome to the website of Graduate School of International Cultural Studies (GSICS), Tohoku University.

“Culture” is created and modified by humans, in other words, it is human activity. We are interested in the culture created and nurtured by human activity and the environment surrounding it. We believe that our goal is to explore this from an international and interdisciplinary perspective.

To this end, we promote research aimed at understanding local cultures, solving global problems that arise in cross-cultural environment, and to exploring the nature of language as the basis of culture and its application to effective language education. And, based on its international and interdisciplinary research activities, we nurture future leaders who can play an active role on the global scale, both domestically and internationally. In fact, many graduates of GSICS are active in universities, research institutes, public institutions, local governments, educational institutions, and corporations in Japan and abroad.

The international nature of GSICS applies not only to our educational and research philosophy, but also to the backgrounds and careers of our community members. In both the master’s and doctoral programs, the ratio of international students is well above the average for all graduate schools at Tohoku University, and the faculty includes both non-Japanese and Japanese staff with extensive overseas research experience. There are also two international programs in which classes, instruction, presentations, and thesis writing are conducted exclusively in English. In this environment, our students can acquire an international sense and perspective not only through class works and research guidance by faculty members, but also through interaction with classmates of various cultural backgrounds.

Furthermore, the interdisciplinary nature of GSICS can be understood from the diversity of the faculty members’ academic interests, research methods, and research results. As is the fate of academic research, segmentation of academic fields is inevitable. However, we aim to develop human resources who can create a better environment and society by understanding humans, culture, and nature from a broader and higher perspective.

John Henry Newman (1801-1890) stated in a series of lectures entitled “Ideas of a University” that the purpose of the university is to expand students’ perspective and to develop their critical ability to judge things from a broad perspective. This is the liberal arts in a broader sense—the foundation of various studies—and, at the same time, the ultimate goal of a university education. We will keep this attitude in mind as we pursue our education and research at GSICS.

 

Hiroyuki Eto, Ph.D., D.Litt
Dean, Graduate School of International Cultural Studies, Tohoku University