Geography, Sociology, Anthropology, and Socio-Cultural Studies
Geography, Sociology, Anthropology, and Socio-Cultural Studies consists of fields relating to how human beings interact within the society and culture in which they live.
Geography
Geography involves study of the spatial differentiations and organizations of human activities and their interrelationships with the physical environment. This field explores the dynamics of regions and environments. Students learn the regional systems of cities and farming communities, the economic and industrial structures of space, and the mechanisms of the natural environment that surrounds human beings. Essentially, the goal of this field is to understand the diverse regions of the earth and help contribute to solution of modern-day issues, such as urbanization and global environments.
Sociology
Sociology is the systematic study of social interactions and structures. In this field, we approach problems in the contemporary society through field research, including study of issues such as aging, population decline, community development, and globalization. Students in our field focus on topics such as family, welfare, and lifestyle by learning both qualitative and quantitative research methods.
Anthropology
Cultural Anthropology is the study of people and their cultures; cultures, in the anthropological sense, include a variety of aspects of human lives, ranging from language, religion, social institutions such as marriage and work, to daily practices. Anthropologists typically carry out fieldwork by immersing themselves in unfamiliar cultural settings for an extended period of time. The main aims of this area are to explore similarities and differences among people throughout the world and to deepen our understanding of the unique nature of humanity.
Socio-cultural studies
Socio-cultural studies deals with social phenomena in the world, particularly the aftereffect of Imperialism and Colonialism and World War II. Using familiar materials such as TV programs, advertisements, animation, manga, SNS, and films, the field aims to investigate the system of representations of “others”: the image of those who belong to different racial/ethnic groups, genders and social-class category, against which people unite and fight. Historical processes, as well as cultural and social factors, are important in this area. In order to understand the relation between those who represent and those who are represented, oral history, field works, and postcolonial theories are applied as a research and analytical method.
Geography area homepage [Japanese]