MESSAGE

Dean: Prof. Shuichi Kawai
Dean of GSAIS/Professor

The Graduate School of Advanced Integrated Studies in Human Survivability (GSAIS), Kyoto University, is a new graduate school established in 2013. GSAIS is an organisation formed to implement Kyoto University’s ‘Shishu-Kan Graduate School of Advanced Leadership Studies Programme (Fiscal 2009) chosen by The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) as a ‘Programme for Leading Graduate Schools (All-Round Model) Project.’ Hence, GSAIS is commonly referred to as ‘Shishu-Kan’.
Amidst the globalisation of cultures, commerce and information, our contemporary society inevitably gets us involved in international affairs. This creates the need for leadership, which is required to bridge cultural disparities. In a globalised society, we face an ever-expanding and complicated array of issues, including territorial disputes, economic crises, overpopulation, environmental pollution, and prevalence of infectious diseases. It is impossible to solve these problems with the limited knowledge in only a single field of study.
One of Shishu-Kan’s missions is to develop future leaders capable of taking on the responsibilities of developing the future of humanity and dealing with the aforementioned issues, irrespective of them being in the regional, national or international arenas.
Shishu-Kan is a “training ground” for future leaders who are willing to work on issues irrespective of the time and place of their occurrence in the society. Hence, this programme aims to equip students with an integrated skill set that will help them adapt to the different kinds of problems a leader might need to solve. This will not only develop their academic competency, but also improve their analytical and practical skills, sociability and international awareness.
Programmes involving these criteria include the following courses: “Lectures on Integrated Academic Foundations” (“Hasshi” in Japanese) and “Special Lectures and Discussions for Leadership”, (“Jyuku-gi”) which also comprise international internships and student projects. For further information on our broad and specialised curriculum, please visit our homepage.
In addition to the specialised knowledge and experience gained from research in the major subject, the students can also acquire extensive academic knowledge spanning across various subject areas like humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. After completing the programme, a student will be capable of being a driving force for initiating changes in the world by working on the complicated issues confronted by modern society.
Professor Hiroji Kinoshita, founding president of Kyoto University, famously said, “I believe that human power, strong will, ambition, and dreams will form the basis for future human development.” He defined “academic freedom” as the spirit of Kyoto University’s foundation, thus passing on the message of “Self-reliance and Self-respect” to the students.
It is vital to think subjectively, take action, and build a reputation of being trustworthy. We would like our students to take the maximum advantage of the five-year plan, which can help them realise their ambitions. The faculty members of this school of “Self-reliance and Self-respect”, pursue a wide range of cutting-edge research streams including social as well as natural sciences. We are committed to supporting our students fully to make their time at Shishu-Kan productive and beneficial. Towards this end, we will strive to help students realise their dreams and develop their career paths.
If you are willing to step up to the challenge of becoming a future global leader, we encourage you to try out the GSAIS programme. Although you must maintain a strict regimen of study, it will open the door for you to become a great world leader if you are able to overcome this challenge.
One of the other missions of Shishu-Kan is to develop a new academic system called “Advanced Integrated Studies in Human Survivability.” It is a programme in applied science that considers a subset of courses from various existing fields and compiles them based on the study of survivability. It aims to cultivate the methodology and development of practical case studies that are to be implemented in the society. For this reason, we look to pursue research that unites theory and practice with the collaboration of industry, government and academia.
In short, Shishu-Kan seeks to further the understanding of problems encountered by us as a species on the planet Earth through a comprehensive and integrated study programme. It also seeks to contribute to the society by training young people in the art of human survivability, thus setting them on the path to becoming leaders of the next generation.