Doshisha Women's College of Liberal Arts (同志社女子大学, Dōshisha joshi daigaku) is a privatewomen's college in Kyotanabe, Kyoto, Japan. The predecessor of the school was founded in 1876, and it was chartered as a university in 1949.
Next year, Niijima Jō’s wife, Niijima Yae, and the American missionary Alice J. Starkweather opened a Joshi-juku (small girls’ school) at the former residence of Yanagihara family (a division of Fujiwara clan) on a site within the grounds of the current Kyoto Gyoen National Garden (Kyoto Imperial Garden). In 1877, it was renamed to Doshisha Bunko Nyokoba (Doshisha Branch School for Girls) and Niijima Jō became the principal. The school was soon renamed to Doshisha Jogakko (Doshisha Girls’ School), and in 1878 it was moved to the current Imadegawa campus with the first self-owned school building built with financial aid from the Women's Board of Missions for the Pacific. American-trained nurse Hisa Nagano was an alumna of Doshisha Girls' School.[2]
In 1930, while Matsuda Michi was dean, the girls’ school became Doshisha Joshi Senmon Gakko (Doshisha Women's College), a three-year tertiary institution under the Senmon Gakko Rei (Professional School Ordinance).
After World War II, it became Doshisha Joshi Daigaku (Doshisha Women's College of Liberal Arts), and was chartered as a four-year higher education institution in 1949. The first graduate program started in 1967. A new campus, the Kyotanabe Campus, was opened in 1986, about 30 km to the south of the Imadegawa campus.
Faculties, departments and graduate schools
Faculties and departments (undergraduate levels)
Faculty of Liberal Arts
Department of Music (Music Performance / Theoretical Studies in Music)
Department of Information and Media
Department of International Studies
Faculty of Contemporary Social Studies
Department of Social Systems Studies
Department of Childhood Studies
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Department of Clinical Pharmacy
Faculty of Nursing
Department of Nursing
Faculty of Culture and Representation
Department of English
Department of Japanese Language and Literature
Faculty of Human Life and Science
Department of Human Life Studies
Department of Food Science and Nutrition (Food Science / Nutrition and Dietetics)
Graduate schools
Literary Studies
English (M.A. and Ph.D. degrees)
Japanese Studies (M.A. and Ph.D. degrees)
Information and Culture Studies (M.A. degree)
International Social Systems Studies
International Social Systems Studies (M.A. degree)
Pharmaceutical Sciences
Clinical Pharmaceutical Sciences (Ph.D. degree)
Human Life and Science
Life Style Design Studies (M.A. degree)
Food and Nutrition Studies (M.S. degree)
As of 2013, Doshisha Women's College of Liberal Arts employs 278 full-time and 553 part-time faculty members across its Kyoto campuses.[3]
Doshisha Women's College has two campuses at Kyotanabe in southern Kyoto and at Imadegawa in central Kyoto.
Kyoto, Japan's ancient capital from the beginning of Heian period to the end of the Edo period, has a 1,200-year history and attracts tourists from around the world. Traditional culture and arts such as the tea ceremony and flower arrangement have developed and have been preserved particularly in Kyoto. The city has hundreds of Buddhisttemples and Shintoshrines, including some designated as World Heritage Sites, where many festivals such as the Aoi Matsuri, Gion Matsuri and Jidai Matsuri are held throughout the year. At the same time, Kyoto is a highly modern city, home to many of Japan's leading high-tech industries and a thriving international community.
Doshisha Eve - Held to coincide with and commemorate the Doshisha's Foundation Day, the occasion of “Doshisha Eve” , the college festival, offers a variety of lectures, concerts, performances, exhibitions, and outdoor booths. This festival is held for three days prior to November 29, the founding date of Doshisha, at the Imadegawa campus.[7]
Shakespeare Eve - An especially unique event is “Shakespeare Eve”, held annually in November on the Imadegawa campus. Fourth-year students from the Department of English independently produce, promote, and perform a Shakespearean play.[8]
Club activities
There are a total of 53 official clubs and circles as extracurricular activities (as of Apr. 1, 2015). These clubs are classified into four categories: Religious Club, Cultural Club, Sports Club, and Circle.
Religious Club: Joyous Bells, Choir etc. (4 clubs)
Circle: Sports fan, and Messiah Choir etc. (3 circles)
Employment opportunities
As of 2012, around 11.6% of undergraduates were able to find employment in one of the top 400 companies in Japan, which places Doshisha Women's College third overall among women's universities in the west part of Japan, after Nara Women's University and Kobe College.[9]
International programs
“Internationalism” is one of the main college policies, and Doshisha Women's College has a Division of International Affairs to offer students more than 40 international programs in addition to classroom studies and to encourage students to be more interested in international studies. The International programs are categorized into four areas: Outbound, Inbound, English Study Support and After-graduation.
Outbound programs include Summer/Spring Short Study Abroad, Teaching Japanese to Foreign Students, One-semester English Language Study Abroad, One year/semester Study Abroad.
Inbound programs include Japanese Studies Program, Japanese Language Immersion Course and one year/semester Visiting Students.
English Study Support Programs include English Chatroom, English Speaking & Writing Support, TOEFL/English Camps, Extra Curricular English Classes and English Study Support Room.
After-graduation Programs include transfer to Amherst College and admission to a graduate school of a US university, based on Doshisha Women's College's recommendation.
Doshisha Women's College was designated by Kyoto as one of the “Kyoto Global Universities” on October 31, 2016, and will receive a grant from the city from 2016 to 2019 to enrich the international programs especially inbound programs.
