Division of Regional Development Studies

Overview – Enrollment limit : 14

The Division of Regional Development Studies aims to foster advanced specialists and researchers who possess the specialized and cross-disciplinary “regional development ability” that provides the individual solution to today’s society where it requires creating harmonious and co-existence between humans, humans and society, and humans and the environment in accordance with each regional characteristic.

Features of the Regional Development Studies Program

We will foster specialized and interdisciplinary “regional creative abilities”.

We aim to foster professionals and researchers with specialized and interdisciplinary “regional development abilities”.
Through the Regional Development Studies program, we provide a task-based learning curriculum where students learn theory and concepts while solving practical problems related to their research projects.
We also have task-based internships (long-term) that support practical learning in specific regions. We regularly hold Regional Development Research Society meetings, which use a multifaceted approach to consider regional issues.
In the Regional Development Studies Program, we place importance on the establishment of interdisciplinary and intersectional networks of teachers, students and local communities.

Philosophy and Goals

The goal of the Regional Development Studies Program is to train highly skilled professionals and researchers with specialized and interdisciplinary “regional development abilities” that lead to individual solutions tailored to the characteristics of a specific region in today’s society, where people seek to create communities in which between humans, humans and society, and humans and the environment coexist in harmony.

“Regional development abilities” are defined as the ability to:

Understand and explore a region
Manage a region
Sustainably develop a region

To improve the lives of people living in a specific region and achieve social development, it is necessary to first have a strong interest in the diverse issues of that region and to catch these regional issues. Second, it is necessary to have specialized knowledge of individuals, society, the environment, and the issues surrounding the people in the region, and be able to think about them from the perspectives of residents and society. It is also necessary to acquire the investigative and analytical techniques necessary to solve regional problems. Third, to enable the sustainability of the specific region, it is essential that you listen to the voices of the people living in that region, sufficiently engage in the exchange of opinions, form consensuses and coordinate with related organizations and groups. It is also necessary to have the communication skills for collaborative work.

The professionals with “high-level regional development abilities” that this major aim to develop are able to work to solve regional issues as a member of an organization and they also have the ability to lead organizations. They listen deeply to the situations in their specific regions and to the opinions of local residents, actively collaborate with related organizations and groups and work to identify and solve new regional issues, including unexpected issues, contributing to the sustainable development of their region.

This department’s concept of the development of human resources is as follows:

Students graduated from bachelor’s program will learn about specialized research and regional issues in a well-balanced manner and acquire advanced regional creativity skills that enable them to work as administrative or corporate employees.
Students graduated from bachelor’s program will stay in the region they are studying for a long period and deeply learn about regional development to enable them to become employees who are able to contribute to their organizations and demonstrate high-level regional creativity.
Students who are working professionals in governments or companies on leave from their workplaces for their graduate school studies will conduct research while gaining academic knowledge and learning academic methods to gain a broad perspective.
Students graduated from bachelor’s program will specialize in academic knowledge and scientific methods and advance to the graduate school’s doctoral program as they aim to work in a research position.
Students (graduate from bachelor’s program or working professionals in governments or companies) will be active as part of a team of professionals who support education, based on their studies at graduate school.

Diploma Policy

The Department of Regional Development Studies awards a master’s degree (Regional Development Studies) to those who have completed a master’s degree in the field of Regional Development Studies, which integrates fields related to people, society, the environment, the arts, and education, with emphasis on content related to regional communities, social welfare policy, social and human rights security, and other areas of regional development studies. The master’s degree is also awarded to those who have mastered specialized knowledge in interdisciplinary fields closely related to other fields, such as agro-environment, geography for disaster prevention, and health and fitness science, from economic analysis and natural science approaches, or in educational support and development, such as developing effective programs that effectively utilize regional educational resources to solve various educational issues. The Master of Science degree is awarded to those who have conducted intensive research and acquired expertise in the field.

The Department of Regional Development Studies will confer either a master’s degree (regional development studies) or a master’s degree (academic).

The Department of Regional Development Studies has established the following criteria for the acquisition of advanced “regional development skills.

Acquire advanced specialized knowledge to understand the people, society, and environment living in the region, as well as the various problems surrounding them.
Have the desire to contribute to the sustainable development of the region, both domestically and internationally, with flexible thinking skills in order to discover and solve regional problems.
Have a strong interest in people, society, and the environment, and a desire to contribute to the sustainable development of local communities in Japan and abroad from an international perspective.
Highly interested and motivated in pursuing specialized research and acquiring interdisciplinary insight.
Respect for others and the ability to proactively contribute to the community as a member of society.
Acquire the scientific research and analytical methods necessary to discover and solve regional issues.
Acquire advanced communication skills for information gathering, discussion, and reporting results.

Requirements for students who want to become researchers

To have mastered the advanced specialized scientific research and analysis methods necessary to discover and solve local issues.
To have a strong academic spirit and the motivation to continuously engage in research.

Degree requirements

（1）Master’s degree（Arts in Regional Development Studies）

Students must complete the required number of credits and pass the examination for the Master’s thesis (or research paper for students in the short-term (one-year) program) or the Doctoral Qualifying Examination (QE) on the content of the education and research listed above, on the premise that education and research related to the field of Regional Creation Studies (regional communities, social welfare policy, social and human rights protection, etc.) is carried out.

（2）Master’s degree（Philosophy）

Students must complete the prescribed number of credits and pass the examination for the master’s thesis (or research paper for students in the short-term (one-year) program) or the doctoral thesis research basic skills examination (QE) for the content of the educational research listed above, on the premise that education and research related the field of regional development studies, interdisciplinary education and research is conducted that is closely related to other fields, such as agricultural environments, disaster prevention geography, and health and physical science, through economic analysis and natural science approaches that are also closely related to other fields ,or educational research related to the field of educational support and development is carried out.