The first graduates from the College of Community Human Sciences take off into society!

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College of Community and Human Sciences
The first graduate
Spread your wings and fly into society!

Four years have passed since the establishment of the Faculty of Community Human Sciences in 2019. From its inception to the present

The School of Community and Human Sciences has adopted the catchphrase "Utilizing the community, living in the community, practical knowledge," and places the community and the activities of the people who live there at the center of its learning. Now that the first class is graduating in the spring, we would like to introduce the history of the school from its inception to its current achievements.

The origins of the School of Community Human Sciences

Dean of the College of Community Human Sciences, Professor of the Department of Community Human Sciences

Mitsuhiro Oda

He left the Graduate School of Education at the University of Tokyo after completing his doctoral studies. His specialty is library and information science. In 1998, he became an assistant professor in the Department of Education, Faculty of Letters, Aoyama Gakuin University, and later became a professor. He was involved in the establishment of the Faculty of Education and Human Sciences in 2009 as part of the reorganization of the Faculty of Letters, and the establishment of the Faculty of Community and Human Sciences in 2019, and is currently a professor and dean of the same faculty. He serves as a planning associate for the National Diet Library Reference Collaborative Database Project, a member of the Tokyo Metropolitan Library Council, and a standing committee member for the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions' Continuing Professional Development and Workplace Learning initiative.

The Faculty of Community and Human Sciences is the university's newest faculty, which academically approaches the "local community" that is the foundation of our lives. Under the catchphrase "Utilizing the local community, living in the local community, practical knowledge," we are nurturing human resources who can take the lead in forming a rich community.

When we conceived the idea of opening a new faculty, we focused on "regional" in contrast to the traditional feature of our university, "internationality." However, in any country or region, there is a community that serves as the basis of people's lives, so we believe that by dealing with issues in the Japanese local community, we can connect with communities around the world.

When the new faculty was launched, it was decided that the academic approach would be based on "social education," a field of "education." As for methodology, the aim was to conduct practical and scientific research, placing emphasis on the "survey methods" used in the field of "sociology." Thus, the shape of the faculty, based on "education" and "sociology," was established.

The name of the faculty, "Community," also has a lot of meaning behind it. Initially, there was a proposal to use the word "region," but because "region" could be misconstrued as a geographical "region," "Community" was chosen as it is more appropriate to the essence of the faculty, which is to "focus on the actions of people living in local communities."

Students head out by sea kayak to a fish farm for red spotted grouper, a brand fish of Fukui Prefecture.

■ Characteristics of learning

With the goal of understanding the community and learning methods for community development, our faculty has established a course of study in five specialized fields. We use the word "program" to indicate that students do not study only one of them, as in the case of a "course." Students use one program as a base while also learning the content of other programs in a cross-sectional manner. If you think about life in a community, for example, when you try to study activities supporting children and young people, you can gain a deeper understanding by being aware of the challenges faced by the elderly and the various resources in the local community.

The curriculum also requires three courses on "Introduction to Community Research Methods," which serve as the foundations of research methods, and allows students to learn literature surveys, statistical surveys, and qualitative survey methods. Furthermore, the "regional field training," which covers approximately 30 regions across the country, is perhaps the most distinctive feature of this faculty. In regional field training, students identify their own interests, then place themselves in various regions and become involved in efforts that address the issues of each region, providing experiential and practical learning. Another key point is that classes are kept small, with a maximum of eight students per class, in order to provide detailed learning.

The locations of the internships are varied, including children's adventure playgrounds, schools on remote islands, marginal villages, and local government offices. I believe that the important thing about this regional internship is that each student will grasp the vague feelings and questions they have through the internship. In the realm of social life, it is rare to find an absolute answer to something, so rather than simply seeking an answer, it is important for students to get an opportunity to think, "Why is this happening?" Our department has prepared a curriculum that fosters basic skills so that students can proactively face these questions that they have identified.

For example, in terms of research skills, in addition to what is learned in "Introduction to Community Research Methods," students are also taught how to search for previous research papers, read materials, and give research presentations in seminar courses. Attention was also paid to developing "attitude and behavioral skills," such as the awareness of trying to discover problems on one's own and the desire to continue working on research. Four years have passed since the establishment of this department, and it seems that the department's efforts have taken shape to a certain extent. Students are familiar with research methods, and many of the fourth-year "graduation research" projects incorporate questionnaires, interviews, and fieldwork. We hope that graduating students will be equipped with such knowledge and be able to contribute to the local communities in which they live.

The curriculum system of this faculty is designed to foster practical knowledge by dividing five specialized fields into individual programs and learning across the programs.

■ The future of the faculty and expectations for students

There are two things that seem important when considering the future of the faculty. One is that, as our faculty will send out its first class in March, we need to further enhance the student support system within the faculty, taking into account their career paths and employment destinations. Incidentally, as of December 2022, 177 of the 241 fourth-year students expected to graduate have reported their career paths. The reporting rate is comparable to other faculties, and it can be seen that students are making good progress in choosing their career paths. Of the 177 students, 151 have found employment in companies, which is a similar trend to the university and each faculty. When it comes to human resources who are active in the community, it is certainly easy to imagine local government officials, but we also place importance on employment in companies as a career path for our faculty graduates. No matter what occupation you have, you will live in the community, and there are various examples of lifestyles such as participating in social activities in the community when you are off work. On the other hand, there are 14 public servants, the third highest number among the 11 faculties of the university.

Secondly, as the four-year curriculum is coming to an end, we will need to look back and review whether the learning process was effective. There are already plans to make minor changes to the positioning of the "community internship" in the curriculum to be applied to students entering in 2023. In the medium term, we would like to carry out these evaluation activities accurately and ensure that the curriculum is aligned with the educational goals of the faculty and the needs of students.

Although it is something to look forward to in the future, I believe that in about 10 years from now, our graduates will have grown into a generation that supports their communities. At that time, I would be delighted if these graduates could become role models for current students and mentors for learning in their respective communities.

I recently read a passage in a book that reminded me of a phrase I like: "Learning at university is a series of periods." When you finish a lesson and put a period on it, a sentence (gaining power) is created. The next lesson awaits you immediately, and you put another period on it to create a new sentence. By repeating this process, the sentence will eventually be complete, and finally, a book will be completed. After that, the next volume may be compiled.

The period of learning at university is a series of periods, but each student's learning is different. However, the repetition of periods is common, and learning should continue even after graduation. Social education, the pillar of our faculty, is "lifelong learning to change and adapt one's abilities as needed." This also means that we are learning about the learning that all people do in their daily lives.

Interview with the first batch of students

Utilizing his wide range of learning and karate experience,
We want to create a rich community.
Miyu Sekiguchi, 4th year student, Department of Community and Human Sciences, School of Community and Human Sciences

With the desire to "contribute to the community" at the core, I have studied for four years, each time deepening my knowledge of the field that most interested me. The first topic I tackled was issues related to women's employment. I learned that full-time employment for women is not progressing very well in my hometown, and I wanted to explore the reasons for this and learn how to solve the problem. I did my local internship at Dream Play Woods, a children's adventure playground. This was because I was interested in the management policy that respects children's autonomy to the maximum extent possible. During my internship, I maintained the playground and planned and ran events, and had the opportunity to hear the thoughts of the NPO staff who run it.

The theme of my graduation research was the "town library," an initiative run by a private library. I love books, and I was also attracted to the idea of an activity run by local residents. My main focus is on resolving current issues so that library managers can continue to enjoy their activities in the long term. In the future, I would like to participate in town library activities and become involved in town development.

After graduating from university, I worked for the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, a national research and development organization, where I felt I could contribute to society by spreading new technologies that can enrich people's lives.

I am a member of the Karate Club, and I believe that the appeal of karate is that it can be practiced by people of all ages, from children to adults, so I would like to connect generations and regions through karate. Even after graduating from university, I would like to work with various people to create a rich community through books, sports, new techniques, and more.

Practical training at Dream Play Woods

A fulfilling four years of learning and ski club activities aimed at revitalizing the local area
Masaki Saito, 4th year student, Department of Community and Human Sciences, School of Community and Human Sciences

Having grown up in a tourist area rich in nature, I wanted to work on revitalizing my hometown someday. Also, since I have been devoted to competitive skiing since I was young, I wanted to study about regional revitalization while also pursuing skiing, and I enrolled in this faculty, which allowed me to achieve this dream. I served as captain of the ski club. Although we also traveled overseas for competitions, I was able to pursue both academic and athletic pursuits under the meticulous guidance of my teachers. I am grateful to the teachers for their support.

During my field training in Hida Takayama, I learned about the inheritance of landscape resources. I found it interesting that the local area holds landscape conservation workshops that involve tourists, and incorporates exchanges with the outside world to promote the strengths of the local area. The theme of my graduation research is "Utilizing hot spring resources and regional revitalization." The skills I learned in the basic seminar classes, such as how to search for previous papers and statistics, have been useful. With regard to "regions," I was able to deepen my thoughts by taking a wide range of classes on topics such as earthquakes and war.

The thing that had the biggest impact on me after entering university was meeting my classmates. I was greatly inspired by my friends who were the same generation as me but who were already involved in social activities through NPOs and other organizations.

I feel that these experiences have broadened my horizons greatly. As for contributing to the local community, I have come to believe that in order to make my activities more meaningful, it is effective to go out into the wider society, develop an objective perspective, and gain a firm grasp of the local area's strengths and weaknesses before undertaking them. After graduation, I will get a job at a local bank and will first devote myself to work as a member of society. I would like to make use of the many learnings and experiences I have had in the future, with the feeling of giving back to the local community that has taken care of me since I was a child, including their support for competitive skiing.

Regional training in Hida Takayama

Linking on-campus learning with off-campus practical experience leads to significant growth
Mizuki Hosono, 4th year student, Department of Community and Human Sciences, School of Community and Human Sciences

Since I was a child, I have loved working together with my peers to get things done, and I decided to study at this university to learn how to collaborate with the local community.

Immediately after enrolling, I jumped into "Action Port Yokohama," a local student group and NPO that supports local community activities. I was impressed by how my university studies and these extracurricular activities often linked. For example, Action Port Yokohama's activities involved many opportunities to collaborate with government and companies, but by learning about the roles each organization plays in the undergraduate class "Community Activity Support Theory," I think I was able to gain a deeper understanding of the significance of these activities and proceed with them. When I was planning my own projects, the cases I learned about in class also provided great hints.

During the field trip to Kamaishi City, Iwate Prefecture, I learned about community-led urban development. In my second year, I participated in a meeting of local residents online and listened to their talks, and in my third year, I was able to learn more about their real-life activities through on-site visits.

My graduation research focuses on the job of a "coordinator" who creates mechanisms for improving the lives of residents and resolving local issues. After graduation, I would like to take up that position myself and work on creating mechanisms to foster mutual support in the community. Just as I was able to meet various people and communities in the city during my four years at university, I would like to become someone who can create a field for the next generation.

Hearing from a person in charge of disaster prevention at the government about the time of the earthquake