Research and Educational Objectives
The Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies aims to deepen fundamental understanding of humans and nature through an interdisciplinary approach. The school conducts research to develop new concepts regarding civilization and nature that will contribute to a better relationship between humans and their environment. While pursuing this objective, the school strives to instill professional and technical excellence in its students so that they become researchers, leaders, and practitioners who can tackle social and environmental problems through broad perspectives, knowledge, and insight.
Characteristics
The most prominent characteristic of the school is the wide range of research fields it covers, which span the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. This interdisciplinary approach enables the school to reevaluate and redefine traditional scholarship into new paradigms focused on establishing a harmonious coexistence between humans and nature, and facilitating a more sustainable society.
Another characteristic of the school is its extensive cooperation with other academic institutions. Its faculty members work closely with 15 other institutions, both within and outside of Kyoto University. Such cooperative work enables the school to achieve its research and educational objectives more dynamically and effectively.
Faculty of Integrated Human Studies
The Faculty of Integrated Human Studies is the undergraduate college of the Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies. The faculty was founded in 1949 as a liberal arts college at Kyoto University, and was named the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in 1954. In 1992, the college was reorganized and renamed the Faculty of Integrated Human Studies, and in April 2003, it was integrated with the graduate school in order to reach for yet higher academic goals.
The faculty consists of five divisions (Human Sciences, Multi-Disciplinary Studies of Civilizations, Cultural Environment Studies, Cognitive and Information Sciences, and Natural Sciences) that educate students through interdisciplinary curricula.