History of the Curriculum

The Faculty of Policy Management and the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies were established in 1990 as the seventh and eighth new faculties of Keio University, along with the fifth new campus, Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC), following Mita, Hiyoshi, Yagami, and Shinanomachi. They aim to solve problems in a diverse and complex society by linking technology, science, design, and policy. SFC was established for this purpose, and has always aimed to deconstruct existing academic disciplines and create the jitsugaku (science) of the 21st century through practice. The undergraduate curriculum, which is the driving force behind this, has been updated six times since its establishment. The current curriculum (the '14 curriculum, or 'ichiyon' curriculum), which applies to all students who enrolled in or after April 2014, was a major version upgrade that included reforms to the guidance and mentor system.

Here, we would like to look back at the evolution of the SFC curriculum. Since their establishment in 1990, the Faculty of Policy Management and the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies have had six different curricula. We will briefly introduce each of them along with a conceptual diagram.

SFC was established in 1990, and ahead of its time, natural languages (foreign language courses) and artificial languages (information processing) have been the two pillars of its curriculum design from its inception to the present day. Furthermore, in response to the deregulation of university establishment standards (making curriculum organization more flexible), while an increasing number of universities were removing physical education from their required courses, SFC laid the foundation for compulsory physical education courses from its very beginning, a practice that continues to this day. The practice of requiring all students to take a Research Seminar, which continues to this day, has also been a fundamental principle since the university's founding.

After sending its first graduating class out into the world, the first curriculum revision was carried out. The group of courses previously known as general education subjects, categorized into the three series of "Humanities," "Social Sciences," and "Natural Sciences," was reviewed. They were repositioned as foundational to university education throughout the four years and reorganized into a course group called "Perspective Courses," adding unique viewpoints such as "Human Behavior in the Environment" and "The Temporal and Spatial Context Surrounding Humans."

In order to correctly handle the various data that abound in modern society, it is important to acquire techniques for collection, organization, retrieval, and analysis. This was positioned as common foundational knowledge, applicable to many fields, that everyone at SFC should learn. The 1997 curriculum revision focused on this point, establishing a new framework called Data Science and making it a required subject in both faculties.

After 10 years, SFC reviewed its curriculum from three perspectives: 'Is the current educational program in line with the times?', 'Is there a sense of unity between the undergraduate and graduate schools?', and 'Does it embody the original educational philosophy of SFC?'. As a result, a major change, which could be called a reform, was implemented, and SFC Version 2.0 was launched. The changes included 'a greater emphasis on Research Projects (emphasizing a problem-finding and solving research style),' 'a flexible course registration system (abolition of year-specific subjects and courses),' and 'the introduction of a specialized field navigation system using Clusters.' * A Cluster is a research area currently being explored at SFC, consisting of a total of 15 Clusters: five each in the three fields of Policy Management, Environment and Information Studies, and Interdisciplinary fields.

The natural languages (foreign language courses), artificial languages (information processing), and data science that SFC prides itself on were upgraded from the '01 curriculum (SFC Version 2.0). Since design languages were already being offered as courses aiming in a new direction, the focus was on reforming the existing foundational course groups to establish the intellectual foundation for SFC to continue running at the forefront of the times.

The mission of SFC is to be 'a university that creates the future,' and the human resources nurtured there were positioned as 'international students from the future.' 'International students from the future' are not people who live according to the status quo, but 'pioneers' who carve out their own future. This curriculum is characterized by a course structure centered on the three abilities expected of the 'pioneers' graduating from SFC—'the ability to create the future,' 'the ability to explore the cutting edge,' and 'the ability to continue learning on one's own'—as well as the introduction of a mentor system to support study plans, and the requirement of a Graduation Project. It is positioned as the 'Future Creation Curriculum.'

The '14 curriculum focuses on further developing peer-building and learning possibilities, with classes as its cornerstone. Opportunities are provided to learn subjects such as foreign languages, information technology, data science, and wellness together with the peers you meet in class, deepening bonds and allowing you to discover and rediscover the possibilities of learning.

Academic progression is flexible, allowing students to take necessary courses when they need them, regardless of their year of study. If they wish, students can take specialized courses from their first year, enabling them to advance their studies according to their own interests and research topics.

It is also possible to join a Research Seminar from the first year at the earliest, where faculty and students develop research activities as 'equal partners.' Furthermore, the concept of 'Aspects' has been introduced, which 'visualizes' the connections between SFC's courses, which cover a wide range of academic fields, and its Research Seminars by breaking them down into the various aspects that constitute research and classes.

Additionally, in line with the university's four-term system, course arrangements have been made to allow for intensive study over short periods and to promote study abroad and fieldwork.