2022 Special graduate degree programs Specially Offered Degree Programs for Graduate Students Tokyo Tech Academy for Leadership
Graduate Seminar in Liberal Arts
- Academic unit or major
- Tokyo Tech Academy for Leadership
- Instructor(s)
- Midori Komatsu / Lorinda Robertson Kiyama / Yuto Koizumi / Masaki Takahashi / Mitsue Nagamine / Akira Watanabe / Yuri Matsuzaki / Kenshu Kamura
- Class Format
- Exercise (HyFlex)
- Media-enhanced courses
- -
- Day of week/Period
(Classrooms) - 3-4 Fri (S6-305, J3-309B)
- Class
- -
- Course Code
- TAL.L442
- Number of credits
- 010
- Course offered
- 2022
- Offered quarter
- 4Q
- Syllabus updated
- Jul 10, 2025
- Language
- English
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
This course is designed and delivered to cultivate the following abilities, attributes, and perspectives which are appropriate and required for ToTAL students. Through collaborative inquiries and dialogues between instructors and participating students, the nature of liberal arts education and its role for citizenship and leadership is critically examined, and each student will gain the intellectual foundation to continuously pursue his/her liberal studies and develop his/her own guiding philosophy for professional career and personal life.
This course is designed, developed, and offered jointly by ToTAL and the Institute for Liberal Arts.
Course description and aims
By the successful completion of this course, the students will have
1) the attitude to continuously develop interests in a wide range of academic and intellectual areas other than one’s own discipline,
2) the ability to broaden their intellectual foundations in liberal art,
3) the attitude to seek the broad and transdisciplinary perspectives on science and engineering, and
4) the ability to develop an attitude to examine one's own field of study with a multi-dimensional framework.
Keywords
Liberal Arts, Broad Perspectives, Transdisciplinary attitude
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
This course is offered by a number of ToTAL faculty members who also belong to the Institute of Liberal Arts. This course is operated with the "Active Learning" mode which requires students to take an active role in their own learning. Therefore, it is required to submit a summary report at the end of each session. (In case you are not able to attend a class, you should inform the instructor of your reason for absence in advance.) Class attendance is required and taken into account for grades.
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | Course Guidance, Group work by students, instructors, and facilitators：Lorinda Kiyama（Associate Director of Tokyo Tech Academy for Leadership） | Assignments given by respective instructors |
| Class 2 | Liberal Arts Lecture 1: Yuto Koizumi on Film Analysis Group and Class Discussion | Assignments to be announces in class |
| Class 3 | Liberal Arts Lecture 2: Midori Komatsu on Intercultural education Group and Class Discussion | Assignments to be announces in class |
| Class 4 | Liberal Arts Lecture 3: Akira Watanabe on the game of chess and academia Group and Class Discussion | Assignments to be announces in class |
| Class 5 | Liberal Arts Lecture 4: Masaki Takahashi on Circadian rhythms and Nutrition Group and Class Discussion | Assignments to be announces in class |
| Class 6 | Liberal Arts Lecture 5:Mitsue Nagamine on Stress Psychology Group and Class Discussion | Assignments to be announces in class |
| Class 7 | Liberal Arts Lecture 6: Lorinda Kiyama on Psychology Group and Class Discussion for the reflection of the whole class | Reflection of the whole class Preparation for the final essay |
Study advice (preparation and review)
Textbook(s)
No textbook. Necessary materials are distributed in class
Reference books, course materials, etc.
To be announced in class
Evaluation methods and criteria
1) Active class participation (including group discussion, assignments, responses, and others) 70%
2) Final essay 30%
Related courses
- TAL.L443 ： Mindfulness for Leadership
Prerequisites
There are no specific prerequisites.