Japan

The creation and implementation of public policy is fundamentally political. Every policy, whether it be economic, social, about health and wealth, or security, comes at the end of a political calculation. The leaders and bureaucrats who write, pass, and enforce public policies operate within political environments that shape and constrain their behavior. The study of public policy, then, is the study of optimal public policy, taking seriously the mitigating effects of the political process. This course is designed to introduce you to this area of study and practice. 

The first half of the course explores the main issues and theoretical frameworks within the field of public policy while developing methods in which to analyze, explain, and predict such phenomena (e.g. assessing the probability that a government provides programmatic as opposed to particularistic goods). The second half of the course utilizes these tools with which to understand actual policy in Japan, going through topics such as the politics behind budget processes; energy politics in light of the 3/11 disaster; constitutional change, and Japan's response to the COVID pandemic. 

This course covers the basic concepts of information science. The first part of the course focuses on how information is represented and stored in binary numbers, characters, images, music and sound, as well as information compression techniques. Next, the class learns the basic concepts of information processing and gains an understanding of logical operations, memory and circuits such as half adder and full adder. The course then focuses on the building blocks of a computer - CPU, RAM, secondary memory and input/output - and covers file systems and operating systems (OS). Finally, students learn about the basics of the internet / artificial intelligence and gain an understanding of concepts related to the transmission of information.

This course explores the relationship between the history, culture, animals, and physical environment of Japan over the twentieth century, particularly topics often overlooked in history, such as forests, mines, pollution, animals, birds, and protest. The course covers important events, issues and texts related to the environmental history of modern Japan. 

This course equips students with the basic facts about the Japanese economic developments and economic policies, as well as the basic economics theories required to analyze these facts.
 

The course first reviews basic concepts such as GDP, business cycle, economic growth, inflation/deflation, as well as fiscal, monetary, and structural policies. Then, the course provides an overview of the economic history of the postwar period, analyzing special features of the Japanese economy, as seen from the business cycle and economic growth aspects. The problems that economic policies at that time tried to address, and whether they were successful in dealing with the problems, will also be discussed. Finally, the course addresses the future of Japanese economy: the outdatedness of the current Japanese economic system; stagnated economic productivity; the deterioration of fiscal situation, and the negative impacts of aging and declining population. 

Throughout history, but more so in recent years, forced displacement has been one of the most difficult challenges facing the international community. To be effective, any efforts to address forced displacement need to be multi-sectoral. While refugee and forced migration studies have evolved over the years, contributing to a range of philosophical, political and interpretative theories, this course focuses on the protection and assistance of displaced persons in multilateral setting, through the lens of a former UNHCR staff member.  

As "Refugee and Forced Migration Studies" I and II are closely interlinked, it is strongly recommended for students to take both courses. These courses are useful for students who wish to pursue a career in the humanitarian field (UN, NGOs, NPOs etc.) in the future.

Systematic theology seeks to think and speak both faithfully and carefully about God -- and everything in relation to God. Whereas biblical studies often focuses on the original meaning of individual biblical texts, systematic theology unpacks key Christian ideas and investigates how they relate to each other. It asks questions like such as, How can God be truly sovereign and humans truly free? Does God choose or elect some people -- and if so, for what purpose, and how does God remain fair and just? How can God be both the one God and the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? How can the execution of an innocent person (Jesus) lead to the salvation of others? How can there be so much suffering in this world if God is truly good?

This course introduces Christian systematic theology by exploring key questions like these in conversation with excerpts from important texts in the Christian tradition. Along the way, the class considers the nature of the academic discipline of "systematic theology." How should it proceed, methodologically? How does it relate to other disciplines? What kind of knowledge can it produce? How does it relate to the Christian life? The ultimate goal is that all participants in the class, whether Christian or non-Christian, sharpen their thinking about Christianity and Christian theology through careful engagement with texts and discussions with one another.

This course illustrates mastery of disc throwing techniques as a foundation for enjoying flying disc as a lifelong sport. The course also covers the rules of Ultimate, including self-officiation, to cultivate a spirit of fair play.

This course familiarizes students with basic conceptual frameworks that underpin the study of English language in use, which constitutes useful knowledge for their future teaching practice. The course explores the intricacies of English language practices in diverse regional, social, cultural, and interpersonal contexts, with emphasis on practical knowledge and skills acquisition that enables students to develop research designs, collect and analyze language data, and apply theoretical frameworks to their findings. Through student-led discussions, presentations, and mini research projects, the course deepens one's understanding of the complexities of English language use and its practical applications in language education. This course is recommended for the students who are considering a graduate thesis project in the field of English language studies, as well as those aspiring to become English language teachers. 
 

This course addresses various dimensions of social problems both theoretically and empirically using a social constructionist perspective.  The course begins with brainstorming social problems, categorizing them by its nature, extracting common features of these various problems, as well as discussing key concepts of social problem construction such as “claims-maker,” “audiences,” “constructing victims/villains,”  "objectivism vs constructivism" by the text book. The class then engages in a “social problems game," addressing their own topics, or following big issues: Anthropocene, Domestication, Zoonosis, Climate change, One health approach, SDGs (contradiction or compromise), Sufficiency economy, Green new deal, etc.

The second half of the term focuses on problem solving, particularly poverty alleviation. Students are invited to one mountain village in an Asian country, virtually, where they analyze the problems in that village and formulate the development project using PCM (Project Cycle Management) tools. After this practical exercise, the class further studies the theoretical base of social deviation, or the formation of social order, reading Adam Smith on moral philosophy and Amartya Sen's capability approach. 

Throughout the course, participants are expected to consider: i) whose social problems we address; ii) causes and consequences of them; and iii) what changes needed. The contents of the course are subject to change according to participants’ interests and progress.

The course examines how meaning is socially constructed through media. Semiotic analysis reveals the meanings of various signs which may be overlooked in everyday life and to open up the possibility of different interpretation.
 

As an introductory and interdisciplinary course to the study of media and culture, classes will incorporate academic approaches from both the social sciences as well as the arts and humanities. The primary goal of the course is to broaden perspectives to become effective citizens who can critically engage various issues pertaining to contemporary media and culture.