This program is designed to be completed as part of an integrated 5-year program. Here, we describe the basic framework of the curriculum shared by each partner university:

Five-year program

To clarify the continuity and phasing as an integrated 5-year program, the study period is divided into three stages: 1st stage (1–2 academic years), 2nd stage (3–4 academic years), and 3rd stage (5th academic year). Graduate students must pass gate screenings to advance to a higher stage. However, these are the standard required years for the study; if the graduate student completes the prescribed requirements and passes the gate screening, they can shorten both the first- and second-stage periods by following the early completion system provided by their home university.

First Stage of the Program

Subjects in the program

Graduate students enrolled in this program must earn 12 credits during the first stage. Of these 12 credits, “Asian-Eurasian Studies methods” (1 credit) and “Digital Humanities 2.0 research methods” (1 credit) are introductory compulsory subjects designed to give students the ability to gain an overview of the program. The “Integrated research exercises I & II” (4 credits), which graduate students take in the first and second academic years, are positioned as compulsory developmental subjects to provide the practical skills needed to conduct presentations, discussions, and so on. To gain the other six credits, they must select 2–4 credits each from the Asian-Eurasian Studies and the Digital Humanities 2.0 subjects’ groups. Graduate students must consult the academic advisory team before deciding on the most appropriate combination of subjects.

Joint Colloquium

Once every academic year, in principle, an intensive joint discussion will be held that brings together graduate students registered with this program at each graduate school in the form of a training camp named the ‘Joint Colloquium'. At the Joint Colloquium held in the second year, participants are required to report the results of their research, the problems they encounter, and the potential for use of data science methods. They must also report their writing plan for their research paper, which is a completion requirement for the 1st stage. (They can substitute it with their master's thesis for the completion of the master's program managed by each university.) In addition to the Joint Colloquium, this program actively promotes interactions among graduate students at partner graduate schools. For example, they are recommended to attend partner graduate schools for a certain period to receive guidance or take courses there.

Gate Screening

After submitting their research paper, two types of gate screening will be conducted. Graduates who pass the two screenings will proceed to the next stage. The first gate screening is the Qualifying Examination (QE). The QE consists of a language proficiency test in which students can choose either English, Chinese, or Russian, and a test related to fundamental knowledge of cultural science and specialized knowledge in a particular field of cultural science. Language proficiency examinations are conducted in these three languages for the time being. However, once the examination criteria are established and the examination system is in place, the range can be expanded to include other Asian languages.
Regarding the QE of cultural sciences, the possibility of a unified QE system is yet to be adequately examined because of its academic characteristics, in which each specialized field requires individual and diverse specialized skills. This program also aims to create a QE system shared by the five universities (Chiba, Okayama, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, and Sôkendai) and the inter-university research institute (the National Museum of Japanese History) through collaboration and further expansion of the inter-university network.
The second gate screening consists of an evaluation of the research paper and an interview test regarding the future research plans of each graduate student. The interview test will be relayed to all partner universities via the Web. Participants must submit a summary of their research paper written in a foreign language (for the time being, in English, Chinese, or Russian, but the scope will be expanded to other languages if the conditions are met) before the interview meeting. The submitted summary will be reviewed along with the research paper. After conducting all these screenings, the decision is made on who will proceed to the second stage.

Second Stage of the Program

In the second stage, graduate students registered in the program must formulate a 2-year research plan and a field research plan in consultation with the academic advisory team and their mentors. Based on the research plan, they must choose one subject from each advanced subject group, Asian-Eurasian research and Digital Humanities 2.0. At this stage, in principle, they must undertake an in-depth cross-cultural understanding program that takes a certain period (a long-term program). After completing the advanced subjects of Digital Humanities 2.0, they must make their own decisions on their research theme in the target area and report their research results, acquired using one or more of the following methods: social statistical analysis, text mining, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). For the gate screening to complete the second stage, similar to the 1st stage screening, a Joint Colloquium will be held to be attended by the program’s registered graduate students. Participants are required to perform a presentation and discussion in English, Chinese, or Russian. (The scope will be expanded to other languages if the necessary conditions are met.) They must then mutually discuss their final concepts for their doctoral dissertations. After passing these screening tests, they will be qualified to write their doctoral dissertations.

Third Stage of the Program

In the third stage, graduate students must complete a doctoral dissertation under the guidance of an academic advisory team. The academic advisory team will review the dissertations. In principle, the final review will be open to the public. The procedure will be broadcast online simultaneously to the five universities. If the schedules are met, they will be distributed to overseas partner universities within this program and the overseas campuses of Chiba University, depending on the field covered in the doctoral dissertation. The doctoral dissertation will be reviewed through the disclosure and sharing of such information to ensure the rigor of the review and the uniformity and universality of the criteria.

Applied Humanities Program for Cultivating Global Leaders: Curriculum