JEA Senior Division

Curriculum Overview

The curriculum of the JEA program consists of the following parts. The number indicated in parentheses shows the number of credits students need to take before graduation. In principle, 2 credits are granted for each semester-long course.

In order to graduate from the University of Tokyo, a student must earn 76 credits in the Senior Division of the College of Arts and Sciences.

Foreign Languages (10 credits): Courses on Japanese or other languages. In principle, students are not allowed to take courses on English or their native language. Students should consult the Program Director before enrolling in language courses.

Advanced Liberal Arts (4 credits): Three introductory courses to the academic fields in the Department of Arts and Sciences, namely, Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies, Area Studies, and Social Sciences, will be provided in English under the course title “Liberal Arts for Advanced Students.” In addition, there are other courses that are conducted in Japanese.

JEA Core Courses (12 credits): Core courses especially arranged for JEA senior students. Students are required to take 4 (8 credits) out of 6 core courses which offer advanced, essential knowledge in issues related to Japan and East Asia.

In addition, students are required to take “Supervised Readings I” and “Supervised Readings II” (4 credits in total) in their 7th and 8th semesters (in their 4th year). “Supervised Readings” are designed to assist students in writing their graduation thesis. Students are required to participate in a mid-term workshop where they will present on their progress and receive feedback from professors.

Elective courses (22 credits): These courses deal with various aspects and topics about Japan, East Asia, and the global society from the approaches of Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies, Area Studies, or Social Sciences, which aims at broadening and deepening the knowledge and understanding of Japan in East Asia. JEA offers at least seven elective courses each semester.

Other courses (18 credits): As for the remaining 18 credits, students can take courses offered by any of the senior division programs at Komaba as well as other faculties in the University of Tokyo (in order to take a course offered by other faculties, a student must obtain official approval from the course instructor). Students, for example, can take two JEA courses and two courses from the Japanese Intercultural Studies major at the Department of Arts and Sciences, and two courses from the Faculty of Economics (or any other department) at the University of Tokyo.

Senior Thesis (10 credits): Students are required to submit an academic thesis. Each student will have an advisor for his or her thesis.

Please also visit the JEA homepage.

The table below can be used to obtain course descriptions from the University of Tokyo online course catalog, which can be accessed using the following link (https://catalog.he.u-tokyo.ac.jp/index).
(Please note that the information is subject to change.)

Curriculum Structure

Courses

 Subjects

Credits

per course 3

Credits Required

Foreign Languages1

 

1 or 2 for each class

10

Advanced Liberal Arts

Liberal Arts for Advanced Students

Other “Advanced Liberal Arts” courses

1 or 2 for each class

4

JEA Core Courses

East Asian Thoughts

2

8

 

12

East Asian Cultures

2

History of Modern Japan

2

History of International Relations in East Asia

2

Society in East Asia I

2

Society in East Asia II

2

Supervised Readings I

2

2

Supervised Readings II

2

2

Elective Courses

Foundations of Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies I

2

22

Foundations of Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies II

2

Seminar in Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies I

2

Seminar in Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies II

2

Topics in Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies I

2

Topics in Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies II

2

Special Seminar in Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies I

2

Special Seminar in Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies II

2

Foundations of Area and Historical Studies I

2

Foundations of Area and Historical Studies II

2

Seminar in Area and Historical Studies I

2

Seminar in Area and Historical Studies II

2

Topics in Area and Historical Studies I

2

Topics in Area and Historical Studies II

2

Special Seminar in Area and Historical Studies I

2

Special Seminar in Area and Historical Studies II

2

Foundations of Social and International Studies I

2

Foundations of Social and International Studies II

2

Seminar in Social and International Studies I

2

Seminar in Social and International Studies II

2

Topics in Social and International Studies I

2

Topics in Social and International Studies II

2

Special Seminar in Social and International Studies I

2

Special Seminar in Social and International Studies II

2

Special Topics: Japan in East Asia

2

Seminar: Japan in East Asia

2

Other Courses2

 

 

 

18

Senior Thesis

Senior Thesis

10

 

10

Total Credits

 

 

76

1 Students should consult the Program Director before enrolling in language courses.
2 Students can take courses outside of the JEA program by obtaining permission from the respective programs (courses), departments or faculties.
3 Courses offered in a semester may be divided into two terms. Students can enroll in a term course which carries 1 credit for each term