What is The International School on the Development of Graduate Students’ Ability to Communicate Ideas Overseas?

The International School (IS) is an educational association that belongs to the Urban-Culture Research Center (UCRC) (a base of MEXT’s1 COE2 program). Established in 2003, it aims to promote international-standard research education intended for UCRC research fellows, graduate students and undergraduate students by inviting world renowned researchers who are deeply connected to the institution.

In 2005, in order particularly to develop graduate students’ ability to communicate ideas overseas, the current method was introduced, including lectures by invited foreign researchers, research presentations by literature and human sciences Ph.D. students and discussions. With the help of “Kobe College Contemporary GP3”, simultaneous interpretation is provided for lectures until 2011, while the Ph.D. students’ presentations that follow are given in English, supported by the school’s English teachers. Invited researchers and visitors participate in discussions which are also held in English. These are all intended to improve the international academic communication skills.

In 2007, the International School was adopted as “Support Program for Improving Graduate School Education” by MEXT in recognition of its achievements, to become “The International School for the Development of Graduate Students’ Ability to Communicate Ideas Overseas”.

Additionally, in 2010, the International School was adopted as an “Institutional Program for Young Researcher Overseas Visits” by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. Under the program, we plan to send more than 89 researchers in total overseas, including junior faculty members, Ph.D. and master course students of Literature and Human Sciences, Osaka City University as well as UCRC research fellows over the three years from March 12, 2010 to March 11, 2013.

To foster researchers who can communicate ideas overseas, we at “The International School for the Development of Graduate Students’ Ability to Communicate Ideas Overseas” provide unique educational methods, including direct support to Ph.D. students and other junior researchers and enhancement of the quality of postgraduate education at the Graduate School of Literature and Human Sciences, which produces a new generation of researchers.

The International School is continuing its educational activities even after the completion of the “Support Program for Improving Graduate School Education.”

notes

  1. MEXT: Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science & Technology, Japan
  2. COE: Centers Of Excellence, a MEXT’s program to cultivate a competitive academic environment among Japanese universities by giving targeted support to the creation of world-standard research and education bases
  3. Contemporary GP: Contemporary Good Practice, a MEXT’s support program for contemporary educational needs

Goals

The Graduate School of Literature and Human Sciences collaborates with educational research organizations and researchers from many cities in Japan and abroad, and it is our goal to educate researchers who will promote international multidisciplinary studies in the Humanities and Behavioral Sciences.

In fields of Human Behavioral Sciences such as Geography, the subjects of study and methodology are primarily of a global nature, and it is now standard practice to present and publish research findings in English. So nurturing the international communication skills of graduate school students already plays an essential role. Also, even in local or national research areas such as Japanese History, the world eagerly awaits the presentation of research findings from Japan. So it is also true that great importance is placed on the level of evaluation within this competitive international environment in fields of the Humanities.

Reflecting such trends of the present era, the Graduate School of Literature and Human Sciences has put great effort into the fostering of international communication skills for presenting research findings in all educational fields. We give students the ability to adapt to this evolving competitive international environment in the domain of research. Through our educational programs, we strive to achieve the goal of improving education so that our students can develop an effective international communication skill set.

Administration Committee / Secretariat

The operation and administration of the projects described above are supervised by the International School Administration Committee, made up of faculty members of our Graduate School of Literature and Human Sciences.

Address:

The International School Office, Graduate School of Literature and Human Sciences, Osaka City University

3-3-138 Sugimoto Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka-shi, 558-8585 JAPAN

phone : +81+6-6605-3114

E-mail :jimukyoku@is-not.osaka-cu.ac.jpmail
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