Cross-National Master’s Course
The Graduate School of Law at Tohoku University has collaborated with the College of Law at National Taiwan University and decided to offer a Cross-National Master’s Course (CNMC) in field of law.
Students who enroll in the CNMC program will spend 2 semesters at the partner institution (in principle, with the supervision in English). Upon completion of the two year curriculum, they will submit one thesis (in principle, in English) to both institutions in order to obtain a Master’s degree from both institutions (a double degree).
Cross-National Doctoral Course
The Graduate School of Law at Tohoku University has developed a network of collaborations including with the University of Sheffield’s School of East Asian Studies, the Faculty of Philosophy at Heidelberg University, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon (ENS de Lyon), University Lumière Lyon 2, Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales (INALCO), the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at Universitas Padjadjaran (FISIP UNPAD), the Department of Political Science and International Studies at Yonsei University, the Department of Political Science of the College of Social Sciences at National Taiwan University, the College of Law at National Taiwan University, the Department of Political Science of the College of Social Sciences at National Chengchi University, the Graduate School of Political Science at Tsinghua University, the School of Law at Tsinghua University, and the Institute of Law at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) (hereafter “Overseas Partner Institutions”). Building on this, we have decided to offer a Cross-National Doctoral Course in fields related to law and political science (including the wider humanities and social sciences).
Students who enroll in the CNDC program will spend their 1st and 3rd years at their home institutions and their 2nd year at the partner institution (in principle, with the supervision in English). Upon completion of the three year curriculum, they will submit one dissertation (in principle, in English) to both institutions in order to obtain a PhD degree from both institutions (a double degree).
This program was formerly the “Global COE (GCOE) Program”, however operations shifted to the Graduate School of Law after the GCOE finished in March 2013. This was because it was recognized as a rare program in terms of the high educational quality that aims at fostering young researchers and advanced professionals who can be active internationally. As of April 2018, 58 inbound students from our overseas partner institutions entered our school. Out of this 58, 23 students (1 student in AY2010, 8 students in AY2011, 3 students in AY2012, 3 students in AY2013, 3 students in AY2014, 4 students in AY2015, 1 student in AY2017) obtained a double degree.
CNDC Students’ Voices
My research focuses on Japan’s political-economy with the Mekong River Basin Countries (MRBCs). To that end, being at Tohoku University CNDC is invaluable due to the following three things that any doctoral student wants, and indeed needs: flexibility, professional support and a genuinely international research outlook and agenda. This fosters a strong desire to reach for the highest academic standards, not let others down, and gives back to the people and places that support you when you need it. Doing a PhD is one of the most difficult educational tasks a person can attempt, but with the right people standing behind you it can be made just that little bit easier.
The focus of my research is the correspondence of Japan in international disputes by using the theory of just war. Being at the University of Sheffield as a CNDC student is a very valuable experience for the research with the following reasons: receive a professional guidance that is needed in the area of social science not law and politics only, exchange knowledge and evaluation about Japan, and also get knowledge about the outlook and agenda to do international research. Doing a PhD is one of the difficult educational tasks, but I have received a lot of support from Tohoku University and the University of Sheffield as well as a valuable experience which I mentioned above, so that I believe that I can continue my research step by step.
