International Christian University

This course explores a specific theme of a broad range of topics in Japan Studies representing humanities, social science, natural science, and environmental science perspectives. The course involves substantial out of classroom work, including fieldwork, interviews, and first-hand observation.

This course approaches history in an unconventional way, namely, through the study of everyday objects. By analyzing thirty objects ranging in time from the ice age to the current times, this course presents history as a kaleidoscope of cultures, languages, and ways of thinking that shows the world as constantly shifting, profoundly interconnected, and unfailingly fascinating. An anonymous and ordinary-looking stone pillar, for example, will tell us the story of a great Indian emperor preaching tolerance to his people; a series of luxury Spanish coins will introduce us to the troubled history of colonization; and an early Victorian tea set will speak to us about the idea of empire.  

The goal of this course is to explain the key stages in global history through the study of everyday objects.  

This course provides readings on Musicological fieldwork theory and practice, considering different approaches to writing musical ethnographies. During the second half of the term, students are expected to participate in several fieldwork trips in Tokyo, later writing up the results as a group project. Students are expected to have taken several music and/or anthropology courses at ICU.   

This course covers the field of life science that describes underlying molecular genetic mechanisms by which biological traits are generated in life and are inherited throughout generations. It includes topics such as the genome, genes, control of gene expression and DNA replication that contribute to generation of biological traits in an organism and their inheritance throughout generations. The course also includes how research in recent genetics or molecular biology is performed, introducing recently developed techniques that rapidly advanced our knowledge of this field of study.  

This course examines the history of music-making in Japan from the 20th century onward. By considering genres such as Western classical music, jazz, and pop genres, as well as new innovations based on Japanese traditions, it considers how modernity and Westernization have influenced Japan’s musical culture. 

The course includes topics such as: School songs; Japanese composers in Western music idioms; Japanese pop music, etc. It also considers the intersections of music with questions of gender, politics and other societal issues. 
 

This course focuses on international refugee law and migration law, mainly in the realm of forced migration, as it is one of the pressing and large-scale challenges facing global society. The course introduces students to law, institutions, policies, practice, and contemporary debates concerning global refugee and migration governance. It adopts international law, international relations, and politics as general disciplinary frameworks.  

It is highly recommended (though not required) for students to have taken the courses on International Law I and II before registering for this course.   

This course covers a variety of environmental issues and how international law addresses them. Students will understand different treaties and customs and how States interact regarding environmental issues. The course utilizes lectures, discussion of case studies, and presentations to consider the extent to which environmental law is effective, current challenges, and the future of environmental protection. 

As many natural and social phenomena are described by functions, fundamental laws are formulated through differential and integral calculus. This course covers the basics of differential and integral calculus for single-variable functions. It is recommended to take this "Introduction to Mathematics" course first, followed by the study of more general multivariable calculus in the subsequent “Calculus 1, 2". No prerequisite knowledge of Mathematics III in high school, IB Higher Level, or AP Calculus is required.  

This course outlines basic ideas of business administration and management. Business enterprise is considered the main subject of production, and a major creator of values and wealth in a society. The focus of this course is on management, which is required to operate such business enterprises and other organizations. Then the course looks at several sub-fields of business administration (corporation, organization, corporate strategy, innovation, small-and medium-sized enterprises, international business etc.), forming a whole picture of management. 

This course is designed as an introduction for students who hope or are considering a major in business. Previous knowledge is not required. 

This course provides an overview of key concepts, models, and strategies for effective teaching and learning from contemporary psychological perspectives. Students are expected to identify and address relevant “Big Ideas in Education” for promoting effective teaching and learning in today’s educational scene in Japan and beyond.  It focuses on various issues in school education and the theoretical knowledge to solve them. Furthermore, the students examine specific case studies, learning the necessary ways of thinking in education and schools.