Education
Core Liberal Arts Education
Fostering great ambition through the Institute for Liberal Arts (ILA)
Tokyo Tech's new liberal arts education system to be implemented in the spring of 2016 fosters individuals with ambition who can utilize their specialized knowledge in the real world with social skills and humanity. Straight after enrolling in the Undergraduate Program, students join small-group discussions and deliver project presentations. Based on high problem awareness and aided by inspiration brought on through working with peers, students develop the ability to disseminate their ideas to the world and to accomplish their aims based on excellent communication ability.
In addition, by being exposed to broad fields such as humanities, social sciences, foreign languages, and wellness studies, students become aware of their position in our modern, diverse society. By dynamically combining specialized education and liberal arts education in the Undergraduate, Master's, and Doctoral Programs, we aim to develop individuals with abundant creativity who will lead future society. The goal of Tokyo Tech's new liberal arts component is to arouse and gratify the intellectual curiosity of students, unveil their latent abilities, and leave them with feelings of accomplishment and well-being.
Two-Year Core Liberal Arts Education
Undergraduate Degree Program (100-Level Courses)
The Tokyo Tech Visionary Project is a required course for all students beginning soon after admission. This course encourages self-discovery and aims to motivate students to set individual goals so they can envision their own path throughout the liberal arts studies at the undergraduate level. The course alternates between lectures in large groups at lecture halls and work done in small groups. Through group work, students learn to think on their own, identify problems, and convey their thoughts to others, thereby advancing their communication and presentation skills.
Undergraduate Degree Program (300-Level Courses)
The Liberal Arts Final Report Course, taken in the third year, serves to complete the liberal arts education at the undergraduate level. In the liberal arts education, students are expected to envision the learning process that leads them to their individual goals. Reports are written about what was learned through liberal arts education and how it will be utilized for one's chosen path. Report writing is done with peer review by class members and Master's Program students.
Master's Degree Program (400-Level and 500-Level Courses)
The Leadership Workshop is a course for the 1st year of the Master's Program. It develops leadership for driving teams toward goals while fully utilizing the talents of other members. Among those taking the Leadership Workshop, students who meet certain requirements enhance their study by contributing to undergraduate major education by utilizing acquired skills. In the Peer Review Practicum, the students support the liberal arts final report writing of undergraduates. In addition, in the Facilitation Practicum, the students get to facilitate Tokyo Tech Visionary Project group work.
Doctoral Degree Program (600-Level Courses)
Cross-Boundary Liberal Arts Course is for doctoral students and serve as a finish line for ILA's liberal arts education. In this course, students share their potential contributions to cutting-edge research and broad cultural accomplishments through group research and presentations. The purpose of this course is to create a forum which facilitates knowledge exchange among doctoral students. Students will learn the trends of advanced and interdisciplinary research and how to collaborate with scholars in diverse disciplines.
Collaboration across STEM and Liberal Arts uses a study group structure. Each class invites a frontrunner researcher from a specific field as a guest, who will give their presentations, based on which students engage in discussion and group work. Through this course, the exploration of new domains is pursued collaboratively with the students.
