OVERVIEW

About the program

The double-degree Master’s program is conducted by the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies and European partner universities. Participating students have the opportunity to spend a semester (approximately 6 months) studying at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (Japan), the Central European University (Hungary/Austria), and several other partner universities within Europe throughout the two-and-a-half-year period. Through this study system of mobility tracks among multiple universities, students are engaged in basic learning, research, internships, and a final Thesis/Capstone Project. After successfully defending the final project at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, students are awarded two Master’s degrees: a Master of Arts (Humanities) from the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies and a Master of Arts in History from the Central European University.

What is History in the Public Sphere?

This program covers a wide range of history topics in the fields of humanities and social sciences. It is not “History” in the narrow sense of historical studies, historiography, history as a subject at school, and so on. Instead, it is based on the idea that our society is connected to history in many areas, and we encounter histories, memories, pasts, or something “historical” in various daily events. The program seeks to answer questions of how we can we think about these points of contact with history as a social phenomenon in public arenas, and how we can academically confront them as issues that are shared in today’s society. Based on the knowledge of historical studies and historiography, we re-examine the mechanisms and methods by which the past is represented, contested, and negotiated in the public sphere from a broader social perspective, and learn about historical thinking and its practices for the present and future, transcending the boundaries between Japan and Europe.

Objectives and Prospects

Based on the concept of “History in the public sphere (HIPS),” this program aims to develop global human resources that can generate knowledge about history from an academic perspective, and translate it into practice. Academic knowledge about history has been developed and directly promoted by experts including historians and teachers. However, it is also true that history innumerably exists in public arenas and overlaps with all parts of society in multifaceted ways. With a strong awareness of the connection between the public sphere and history, this program cultivates human resources that can play an active role in a broad range of fields related to history, such as museums, art galleries, journalism, broadcasting media, digital media, business, and diplomacy, with a particular focus on the period from the early modern period to the present. Through academic, educational, and university exchanges that literally cross Japan and Europe, this initiative will create a place for a multilateral and international approach to history and the public sphere.

Members of Working Group

name	title	fields	web
Toru AOYAMA	Professor, Vice President	Pre-modern Southeast Asian History, History of Religion in Southeast Asia, Old Javanese literature	link
Toshiyuki CHIBA	Professor	History of medieval Europe	link
Takashi ITO	Associate Professor	History of Europe and America, Sociology/History of science and technology	link
Junko KUME	Associate Professor	Spanish Medieval Art History	link
Rin ODAWARA	Associate Professor	Italian History, Occidental History, Gender Studies	link
Philip SEATON	Professor, Vice Dean (School of Japan Studies)	War memories, Media and cultural studies, Tourism studies	link
Naoko SERIU	Associate Professor	History of France	link
Taku SHINOHARA	Professor	History of Central and Eastern Europe	link
Yukiko TATSUMI	Associate Professor	Modern?History?of Russia, Publishing?History	link