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YOKOHAMA SOCRATES PROGRAM

YNU Program for SOCially Resilient And susTainable EcoSystems

About the YOKOHAMA Socrates Program

We are living in an era of ecological and social transformations where innovative young minds with attitude and ability to effectively question and engage established preconceptions and realities will be indispensable for our resilient adaptations to the myriad disruptions we are currently facing, and for our transitions toward sustainable futures.

In this program, students will learn issues and analytical methods rooted in the humanities and social sciences related to the topics of social resilience and social sustainability. Social resilience concerns the ability of societies to adapt responsively to risks and disruptions. Social sustainability concerns our ability as social beings to be aware of, and pro-active towards, issues surrounding human rights and social justice affecting the needs and quality of life of those inhabiting times and spaces beyond those immediately proximate to us. Social resilience and sustainability are based on the recognition that human activities and relations are fundamentally embedded in complex and mutually constitutive ecosystems, broadly defined. In order to effectively address the pressing issues we are confronting on the global and local levels, it is necessary to deepen our understandings of themes such as social justice, cultural integrity, and environmental stewardship, while cultivating our ability to responsibly formulate long-term solutions.

By gaining knowledge and engaging in hands-on projects related to the global issues surrounding social resilience and sustainability in local fields including Yokohama and Japan, you will gain the ability to contribute new perspectives in your workplaces and in your communities in our age of turbulent structural changes.

Educational Objectives of YCCS

The Curriculum

The YOKOHAMA Socrates Program is a bilingual global education program in the YNU College of Urban Sciences allowing students to obtain a bachelor’s degree with English and Japanese as common languages. In the first years after admission, students will take courses given in English, in addition to Japanese language courses if their Japanese language proficiency is not native level. When they obtain the required level of Japanese language proficiency, students will be able to take a wider range of courses and seminars in Japanese.

Students will participate in small classes in the fields of humanities and social sciences relating to the issues of social resilience and sustainability. Discussion-based seminars will be conducted through the Socratic method. Students’ graduation theses will be co-supervised by two faculty members. They will advise students with the aim of enabling them to utilize appropriate methodology and to think deeply with their own minds in completing their works.

The Program’s Past and Future

The YOKOHAMA Socrates Program will start in April 2024 based on the traditions of the YOKOHAMA Creative City Studies (YCCS) Program, adapting to the new societal and student needs of recent years. The alums of the YCCS Program are currently actively contributing to workplaces in Japan and across the globe. Students of the YOKOHAMA Socrates Program can expect to gain employment opportunities from Japanese companies seeking global staff members or advance to Japanese or overseas graduate programs, among other career paths.

Actual Career Paths of YCCS Alumni

Found employment : Japan Weather Association,Vietnam Japan University, Epson, LG Electronics, Qatar Airways, Parfums Christian Dior Japon, Rakuten, Shimizu Corporation
Advanced to graduate school : University of Tokyo, Waseda University, Geneva Business School, Johns Hopkins University
YNU Program for SOCially Resilient
And susTainable EcoSystems
Yokohama National University
CONTACT
kokusai.shien[at]ynu.ac.jp