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Faculty of Social Innovation
In April 2005, the Faculty of Social Innovation was established as the fourth division of Seijo University. The Faculty focuses on innovation, a critical aspect underpinning our society in the 21st century. The educational and research goals of this Faculty is to analyze the mechanisms of innovation at every stage—from creation to practical application--and to understand the relationship between innovation and society from various angles.
Innovation should be considered not only as a product of scienti?c discovery or as a technological invention, but also as part of the broader framework of social action. In this Faculty, innovation is studied from the following angles: 1) a governmental and business perspective (creating and exploiting knowledge to achieve innovation), e.g. a policy and strategy studies perspective; and 2) a personal and social perspective (implementing and diffusing) innovation, e.g. a psychological and sociological perspective. Furthermore, an understanding of innovation requires one to study a variety of existing disciplines so as to identify and analyze problems and to find solutions in society. This kind of education is made possible by focusing on issues in class—-that is by covering both problem identification and problem-solving through a specific series of processes. Through our liberal educational program, this faculty encourages students to more fully manifest their personalities and initiatives: we do this by training them in a practical manner to develop into educated and skilled graduates with ?exible thinking and well-rounded character.
The Faculty is composed of two departments: the Department of Innovation Studies, which provides policy and strategy perspectives; and the Department of Psychological and Sociological Studies, which offers psychological and sociological perspectives. These two departments interact very closely with each other for clear reasons: for example, the implementation of effective policies or strategies for innovation does not exclude the attainment of a deep understanding of human psychology, society, or culture--and vice versa.
The Official Site of the Faculty of Social Innovation *Japanese only
The Department of Innovation Studies provides courses relating to the issues of policy and strategy for innovation. Educational emphasis is placed on the creative aspect of innovation, such as knowledge creation, knowledge exploitation, product development, and market creation, led by governments and ?rms. Our policy studies curriculum deals with issues at a governmental or international level, including governmental policy and legislation, science and technology policy, and ?nancial policy. Meanwhile, curriculum in the ?eld of strategy studies covers the issues in the context of business, focusing on management strategies and their execution for realizing innovation. Courses provided in the Department of Innovation Studies (policy and strategy studies) are as follows:
Policies of Innovation; Economics of Innovation; Science and Technology; Law of Intellectual Property; Studies of Public Policy; Regional Policy Studies; Global Governance; Financial Systems; Financial Innovation; Comparative Studies in Innovation, etc.
Strategies of Innovation; Modern Corporations and Industry; Venture Businesses; Top Management; Research and Development; Organizational Change; Human Resources; New Product Development; History of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs; Corporate Evaluation, etc.
The Department of Psychological and Sociological Studies provides courses relating to how creativity is developed by individuals as well as how innovation is perceived, adopted, and diffused in society, ultimately leading to social transformation. Educational emphasis is placed on the receptive aspect of innovation, such as why innovation affects human psychology and behavior as well as why it also affects society and culture. Curriculum in the ?eld of psychology deals with how innovation is perceived and applied by individuals. Our sociology courses cover how innovation, as disseminated by the media, changes society and how the spread of the Internet has affected social consciousness, social structure, and regional culture. They also include how religion and culture in?uence innovation. Courses in the ?elds of psychology and sociology provided through the Department of Psychological and Sociological Studies are as follows:
Diffusion of Innovation; Cognitive Psychology; Media Innovation; Cultural Psychology; Organizational Psychology; Human Interfaces; Theory of Personality; Theories of Interpersonal Communication; Theories of Decision Making, etc.
Sociology of Innovation; Social Systems; International Sociology; Sociology of Religion; Social Anthropology; Social Welfare; Environment and Society; Japanese Society and Culture; Cross-cultural Communication, etc.
