SCHOOL'S MISSION STATEMENT
The Mission of the Faculty and the Graduate School of International Studies, Utsunomiya University
The Faculty of International Studies and the Graduate School of International Studies, Utsunomiya University, is the first and sole faculty and graduate school in this field at a Japanese national university.
Utsunomiya University is situated in Tochigi Prefecture, where the site of Japan's oldest school, Ashikaga Gakko, was founded some 1,000 years ago. Tochigi Prefecture has a long tradition of education. International studies education at Utsunomiya University is, however, still in the early phase of its development. The Faculty of International Studies (FIS) at Utsunomiya University was established in October, 1994 and enrolled its first 117 students in April of the following year. As of March 2003, 611 undergraduate students have obtained a Bachelor of International Studies degree. In April 1999, the Graduate School of International Studies (GIS), Utsunomiya University, was established with the aim of raising national educational standards. 67 graduate students have obtained a Master's degree in International Studies as of March, 2003.
Contemporary human societies and cultures are rapidly being internationalized and globalized. As this is happening, friction is mounting among different states and nations, and among different social and cultural systems. Human societies are confronted with such global issues as environmental destruction, widening disparities between the rich and the poor, intercultural conflict and ethnic strife among others.
To meet the challenges of these impending but complicated issues, the Faculty and the Graduate School of International Studies of Utsunomiya University endeavor to establish a comprehensive, interdisciplinary methodology of education and research, linking social, human and information sciences organically. The Faculty and the Graduate School of International Studies, Utsunomiya University, both consist of two departments, namely the International Social Studies Department and the International Cultural Studies Department. It is our belief that international affairs education, a very comprehensive and interdisciplinary field, should comprise both social and cultural studies.
In our school programs, education is inseparably connected with research. The faculty members carry out researches independently and jointly, publishing books and contributing papers to various academic and professional journals in Japan and abroad including our own semi-annual "Journal of the Faculty of International Studies." The FIS and GIS have autonomy in education and research.
The mission of the Faculty and the Graduate School of International Studies, Utsunomiya University, is to foster students who actively work to cope with the global challenges. Furthermore, as our school motto says, Chikyu-shakai Keisei; Chikyu-bunka Keisei, we should contribute, at the grass-root level, to "building a peaceful and diversified global society," in the 21st century.
Our 678 graduates have been warmly accepted in various fields in both the domestic and international community, dedicatedly working as professionals for the fulfilment of the school's mission. Every year, the number of domestic and foreign applicants seeking admission to the Faculty and the Graduate School of International Studies of Utsunomiya University has totalled at least 593 applicants and at the most, 747. However, the number of incoming students is still limited to 100 freshmen and 10 transfer students for the FIS, and 20 graduate students for the GIS. The Faculty and the Graduate School of International Studies, Utsunomiya University, have drawn up a mid-term plan to enlarge international studies education programs especially at the graduate level and to establish a doctoral program.