Social Sciences and Family Studies

Social Sciences and Family Studies

Child-Rearing, Families, Consumers, Welfare, and Gender Studies
Clarifying Socioeconomic Problems and Proposing Solutions from the Perspectives of Ordinary People

A variety of problems are occurring around us.
Problems related to the family are too numerous to list completely, and include increasing numbers of temporary workers and other forms of irregular employment, employment problems during economic recessions, the healthcare and elderly care systems of societies with declining birthrates and aging populations, and the question of what to do about social and economic divides.

We focus on social and economic problems from the perspectives of ordinary people, including problems related to families, women, the elderly, education, consumers, and other aspects of life.

Students consider problem-solving methods based on interdisciplinary analyses from the perspectives of law, political science, economics, and other social sciences.

Objective: From the Basics of Social Science to Applications and Interdisciplinary Research

The goal of this department is complete mastery of everything from the basics to applications of law, political science, economics, and sociology. Courses start from the specific problems that lurk in everyday life while fostering the ability to deeply analyze problems in a multifaceted fashion. For instance, let us consider the issue of support for child-rearing. The findings of sociology are necessary to clarify the optimal family and social environment for raising children. The issue of covering the costs of paying for actual services is an economic one, and considering the rule-of-law implications and systems that must be implemented is the job of law and political science. In this way, the department cultivates a multifaceted and interdisciplinary perspective in students so that they can consider the problems that surround us.

Career paths for graduates include national and regional civil service, education, financial institutions, media, manufacturing, and a wide range of other fields.

Features: Small Classes Centered on Seminars and Practical Training

The curriculum is designed to prioritize fostering the ability in students to investigate, think, present, and debate for themselves. Students master the basics of law, political science, economics, and sociology in lectures and seminars with small class sizes to acquire skills including reasoning, deductive reading, investigating, writing, presenting, and debating. In addition to classes about observing and analyzing actual society through investigation, reading of literature and documentation, and fieldwork, students also have the opportunity to take complete practical training courses that teach data analysis using computers and other methods of social investigation.

Third- and fourth-year students select seminars, conduct full-fledged research into a theme of their choosing, and summarize the results in their graduation theses. Excellent research papers are awarded prizes (the Social Sciences and Family Studies Research Society Prize and the Kakeikai Prize). Come on an intellectual adventure with us.

Family Sociology

Students learn about various topics related to families from a sociological perspective, including sociological theories, methodologies, cohabitation, spouse choice, declining birthrates, marriage, divorce, remarriage, pregnancy, childbirth, childcare, and child-rearing.

Social Welfare

Students consider the directions that should be taken by welfare societies by studying systems and mechanisms for providing services, the employment environments of welfare specialists, the relationship between social welfare, social value, and culture, and other topics.

Consumer Economics

Students research various problems involving consumers from an economic standpoint (consumer protection, monopolies and oligopolies, healthcare and nursing care, the environment, distribution, etc.), and master the economic fundamentals required for social life.

Introduction to Labor Economics

Students consider the advantages and disadvantages inherent in the Japanese system of developing human resources with a focus on the gender divide issue, including outlooks for employment, family relationships inside the home, job transfers, overtime work, and employment customs.

Everyday Economics

Students seek to clarify how work and life should interact for people to live well and independently for their entire lives, as well as seeking methods for “living well” in the future.

Politics and Social Life

Students reassess various problems that occur between the dichotomy of “private life” (the self) and “politics” (the public) as established in modern political science, from the standpoints of ordinary citizens.

Citizens and the Law

Students discuss topics such as basic judicial precedents in constitutional law, civic law, and criminal law from the perspectives of ordinary people. Students form groups, select judicial representatives, investigate and present decisions and related doctrines, and debate these topics with the rest of the class.

Family Law

Students broadly analyze specific case studies in family law of various countries in order to attain basic knowledge in the field, starting with the issues facing family law in modern Japanese society.

Social Sciences and Family Studies