Aiming to Train High Level Specialists with a Broad International Vision
The Graduate Division of J. F. Oberlin University was originally founded as the Graduate Program in International Studies in 1993. Traditionally graduate programs are established as higher-level entities above existing departments, and this is the case at most universities even today. At J. F. Oberlin we avoided this approach, creating instead a graduate school that organically encompasses the various fields of specialization within the university. Making full use of the university’s resources, we have always aimed to train high-level specialists with a broad international vision, specialists in interdisciplinary research who are at home with various academic disciplines. We created the Graduate Division at a time when a new awareness was dawning, a broad recognition by society of the importance and potential of interdisciplinary research. Since then our society has changed and the world has globalized rapidly, and we can sense that the world we live in is moving in the same direction that we envisioned when we established the Graduate Division. Keeping in mind these trends in society, our teaching and research guidance emphasize the training of individuals who can contribute broadly to society.
In order to prepare our graduates to respond to the diversity and complexity of contemporary society, we must ensure that their solid disciplinary foundations are backed by broad and complex basic knowledge. Let us take a pyramid as an example. Broad, interdisciplinary knowledge forms its base, and advanced specialized knowledge corresponds to its upper part. A pyramid with a narrow base can hardly be expected to rise toward the sky. Modern society clearly seeks individuals with both a broad base and a high apex. Our university's Graduate Division is continually implementing measures to respond to society's demands. We are sensitive to society's needs, and as a school at the forefront of education we take pride in anticipating the demands of society at large.
Originally the Graduate Division consisted of a single program, but in 2008, anticipating new developments in society, master's and doctoral coursework was split into three programs: the Graduate Program in International Studies, the Graduate Program in Gerontology, and the Graduate Program in Higher Education Administration. In 2009 we enriched and diversified our academic offerings by adding three new programs, the Graduate Program in Economics, the Graduate Program in Language Education, and the Graduate Program in Psychology, making a total of six programs altogether. At the upper level of doctoral education, Humanities and Sociology (Graduate Program in International Studies) and Gerontology (Graduate Program in Gerontology) have two distinct program structures. With the exception of Gerontology at the master’s degree level (or at the lower doctoral level), training at the upper level of doctoral education at J. F. Oberlin is shared commonly by the other five programs in the Graduate Division, so that students are not restricted to a single discipline. In the past, there was a tendency in graduate schools to over-emphasize research, but in recent years there has been a widely-felt demand for an emphasis on teaching. From the time of its inception, however, our graduate school has placed considerable emphasis on teaching, in keeping with our policy of maintaining a proper balance between teaching and research. This fruitful tradition will continue to guide the Graduate Division in the future.
The founder of J. F. Oberlin University, Reverend Yasuzo Shimizu, taught his students to disregard the conventional saying "Do not tread on your teacher's shadow," and he told them instead to "Tread on your teacher's shadow as much as you can." That spirit is carefully passed on at our university even today. We are not content merely to transfer knowledge or information. True education can only take place in the context of human relations. We expect our students, in their relationships with faculty members, to learn and engage in their research in such a way that their original research goals are met. At the same time, we also endeavor to promote and to provide educational and research environments that facilitate student learning and make it easy to produce research results.
We at the Graduate Division strongly hope that every single student who has chosen J. F. Oberlin University will feel that "I'm glad that I came to J. F. Oberlin." I pledge to work to maintain the Graduate Division as a place where our graduates truly feel "I'm glad I went to J. F. Oberlin."
My sincerest wish is that you, the students, take full advantage of the Graduate Division's resources, that you make continual efforts and multiply your scholarly achievements, and that you achieve your original goals and then use to the fullest your talents and your skills to the fullest on the international stage.
