Seminars

What is a seminar?

“Seminar” comes from a German word that means practical classes in a university. At TUFS, seminars are courses where students deepen their interests and knowledge and acquire a new perspective under their chosen academic supervisor, together with other students taking the same seminar. A seminar is not only a class conducted by the academic supervisor but also a group that includes both the supervisor and the students.

In the third year, students select a seminar. During the second year, they are expected to narrow down the direction of their specialized study. In the latter half of the second year, they choose their academic supervisor from the faculty members of the School of Language and Culture Studies.

In the third year, students must take a “seminar on a specialized subject” conducted by their academic supervisor. Above all, this specialized seminar will be the main seminar for the student. In the seminars, students give presentations on a specified topic and discuss it with the supervisor and fellow students.

In the fourth year, students write about or work on their graduation research project on their respective research topic. Together with the specialized seminars, the graduation research seminars in which they receive guidance on the graduation project are the most important places of learning.

In addition, seminars are often important places for communication with academic supervisors and fellow students outside of classes at the university. Members of seminars sometimes have lunch, go out, or attend study camps together.

Competencies that are acquired in a seminar

- Deeper specialized interests and knowledge, and acquiring advanced skills in thinking, analysis, and expression.

It goes without saying that it is important for students to study their subject of interest in depth, but it is probably even more important that they acquire the ability to determine how to analyze the subject, organize their thoughts, and then compose and express them.

The third-year seminar on a specialized field, where students give presentations and engage in discussions, and the graduation research seminar in the fourth year, where students work on their graduation research project, are precisely the places where students can acquire the competencies that are most needed when they go out into the world.

Students can also join seminars conducted by faculty members other than their academic supervisor as “sub-seminars” in order to further broaden their interests and knowledge. In this way, they can learn from multiple faculty members.

- Boosting teamwork and discussion skills

The number of students in each seminar is limited, making it possible for learning and discussion to take place in a relatively small group.

This makes seminars, even in the context of university life as a whole, a particularly comfortable and stimulating environment both for learning and making friends.

- Improving execution and presentation skills as well as self-initiative in diverse learning

While sharing the same academic supervisor, students enrolled in a seminar have a wide range of interests. There are plenty of opportunities to cooperate with fellow students in giving presentations or achieving a shared goal.

Of course, students are not only expected to work in cooperation but also to utilize their own ideas and actively pursue the tasks they are responsible for. In other words, seminars are places of both collaboration and proactive engagement.

Seminars

There are over 50 faculty members in the School of Language and Culture Studies. Students choose an academic supervisor who matches the direction of their studies. They will learn from their supervisor’s specialized field of study to deepen their knowledge and ideas about their subject of interest while gaining hands-on experience to acquire approaches and methods of research and ways of thinking.

Although students will take one or more seminars from the third year, it is vital for them to find the direction of their studies step by step and become clearly aware of their direction of study during the first and second years in the seminars.

Regional Studies

Students can learn multi-faceted and cross-discipline knowledge on the regions to which their major language belongs and acquire professional knowledge about the region.

List of Regional Studies Faculty Members and Their Areas of Expertise

Northwest Europe and North America

Central Europe

Southwest Europe

Iberia and Latin America

Russia

Central Asia

East Asia

Southeast Asia

South Asia

Middle East

Trans-Regional Studies

In Trans-Regional Studies, students select one field from linguistics, linguistics and language processing, language education studies, interpreting and translation, literature and cultural theory, and human science. Through the specialized study of a specific field, students can explore knowledge beyond their major region and acquire the ability to gain a broad understanding of human activities centered on language and culture.

List of the Faculty Members in the Trans-Regional Studies and Their Areas of Expertise

Linguistics and Language Processing

Language Education Studies

Interpreting and Translation Studies

Literature and Cultural Theory

Human Science