A new place for intellectual creation, nurturing policy planners (highly skilled professionals) who can use information techniques
Today, in the 21st century, humanity faces a major challenge. This challenge involves readjusting and reconstructing the relationships between humans and the natural environment, society, culture, economy, science, and technology. We must not forget the issues of conflict and disputes between ethnic groups, cultures, and religions amid globalization. In other words, the challenge is to ensure "coexistence, cooperation, and participation" amid diversity and heterogeneity, on the one hand, and to develop "individual possibilities" on the other.
Science and technology in the 20th century have brought great achievements to humanity, but at the same time they have given rise to a number of unprecedented challenges. In order to effectively address today's complex and multifaceted challenges and to propose, implement, and evaluate appropriate solutions (policies), it is essential to develop and create transdisciplinary or cross-disciplinary "knowledge and methods" that go beyond the traditional closed-off individual sciences. The Faculty of Policy and Information, which is the parent institution of this course, was conceived to develop, create, and communicate this new "knowledge and methods," and opened in April 2000. It offers a practical and diverse curriculum with the aim of acquiring two literacies (basic abilities): policy literacy and media literacy.
In this course, the two literacies taught in the faculty will be upgraded and expanded to evolve and develop into two competencies (highly specialized abilities). These are "Policy Competence" and "Communication Competence". The curriculum is loosely divided into four problem areas, namely, administrative, environmental, business, and cultural studies, with the two highly specialized abilities as its pillars. In each problem area, the aim is to develop new types of highly skilled professionals, such as policy planners, policy evaluators, producers, coordinators, designers, architects, and communication experts. In various fields facing difficult problems, what is most needed today is people who possess the above two competencies.
To this end, we are implementing various new initiatives and innovations in our curriculum. The teaching staff are comprised mainly of faculty Professor with diverse and varied backgrounds, and we also invite excellent experts from outside the university.
This course must be an open forum for developing and sharing new, practical "knowledge and methods." For this reason, we are seeking participants not only from the undergraduate program, but also from a wide range of fields in society. This is because we believe that the "knowledge and methods" surrounding new 21st century policies will be created through exciting dialogue and collaboration among heterogeneous and diverse participants, regardless of age, gender, field, or nationality. We look forward to the participation of people who are eager to create new "knowledge and methods."