Global Liberal Arts Program (GLAP)公式サイト

SPIRIT

MISSION

The objectives of Rikkyo University’s GLAP is to develop global leaders who can think and act independently and live in harmony with the world.

"Global leaders" refer to individuals capable of fully utilizing their own strengths and thinking for themselves. They possess the intelligence and sensitivity to work with others in various environments, to treat everyone with respect, and seek a new path forward for the world.

A three phases curriculum

The GLAP curriculum is designed in three phases: the introduction phase, the development phase, and the completion phase.

STEP
01

Introduction phase

Firstly, students learn and pratice communication skills, critical thinking ability and expressive competence in methodology courses such as "Tutorial" and "Liberal Arts in Higher Education", “GLP Core subjects”.
Moreover, English Liberal Arts (ELA) courses introduce them to a wide range of fields across the humanities, social and natural sciences, deepening their understanding of the world.
STEP
02

Development phase

Secondly, students acquire the academic foundations in the three fields of Humanities, Citizenship and Business, through Global Studies Essentials courses. They further enhance their communication skills, critical thinking and expressive abilities in dedicated courses, such as the Second Year Seminar.
This phase ends with a Study Abroad year in a high-quality liberal arts college outside of Japan, allowing students to be confronted with different cultures and perspectives.
STEP
03

Completion phase

Finally, after selecting one of the three fields, students deepen their knowledge by taking specialized courses entitled Global Studies Electives, preparing them to write a graduation paper in either Humanities, Citizenship or Business.
Furthermore, they are encouraged to keep exploring topics outside from their selected fields and use interdisciplinary approaches in their research.

Origin of the GLAP logo

The GLAP logo incorporates the initial “G” into its design, drawing inspiration from migratory birds to symbolize students spreading their wings to different parts of the world.

Just as birds soar freely in the sky, students broaden their knowledge on the world stage and, with their own will, shape the path to their future. The flock of birds depicted in the logo represents GLAP’s family spirit: a community where students learn together, share ideas, and support each other. Flocks of birds are rarely led by a single individual, yet each individual's independent thoughts and actions drive the flock forward, echoing GLAP's philosophy to make a leader of every student.
The logo illustrates the diversity, independence, and global aspirations cultivated at GLAP.

MESSAGE

Christopher Keaveney
Director
Center for Global Liberal Arts Program

Founded in 2017, the Global Liberal Arts Program (GLAP) seeks to prepare the next generation of leaders for an increasingly complex and interconnected world. More than ever, the world needs independent thinkers who can work collaboratively with others to address global issues and who can express innovative ideas eloquently while judiciously and ethically utilizing the most recent technologies to respond to complex problems.

There are several features that define the Global Liberal Arts Program including: a commitment to the liberal arts educational model, a curriculum conducted entirely in English, and a focus on cultivating leadership skills. The liberal arts education is a flexible and integrative approach to education rooted in traditions that go back to ancient Greece but that is eminently suited to our current age, which requires thinkers with broad perspectives and strong critical thinking skills. However, recognizing that broad knowledge must be accompanied by more specialized knowledge that comes with the concentrated study in a specific field, the GLAP curriculum also requires students to achieve disciplinary depth by requiring them to choose from among three major fields and to complete substantial course work in one area after returning from the required year of study abroad.

In addition to the features of GLAP described above, several qualities distinguish our program. First of all, the small size of the program and of the classes themselves, which naturally encourages participation and exchange, is a crucial dimension of GLAP. Generally, by the time that the incoming student orientation is complete and before classes even begin, we know our new students by name, and our first-year Tutorial courses are capped at five students per section.

This intimate atmosphere allows us to offer an education that recognizes that each student has unique learning requirements and to tailor our teaching and advising to the needs of the individual student. The small size of our classes is complemented by an intensive advising program, which ensures that students have interactions with the same advisor from the first day of orientation all the way to graduation, including career and graduate school guidance. Finally, we recognize that important opportunities for learning occur outside of the classroom as well, and experiential learning is an important element of the curriculum in the form of internships and fieldwork-based projects in our courses and including the most crucial form of experiential learning, the required academic year abroad at one of our carefully selected partner institutions.

The logo of the Global Liberal Arts Program depicts a migratory bird, and we expect that our students will return from their year of study abroad enriched, empowered, and eager to share what they have learned and experienced with the GLAP community.