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December 2008
To: All International Exchange Students
From: Director, Graduate Program in Global Studies
Information for International Exchange Students
Regarding the Graduate Program in Global Studies (GPGS)
1. Language of instruction
Courses offered in the GPGS are taught in English. Non-native speakers of English
whose TOEFL score or equivalent is below 600 will have difficulty keeping up with the
readings and participating in classroom discussions.
TOEFL PBT
TOEFL CBT
TOEFL IBT
IELTS
TOEIC
600
250
100
7.0
870
Additionally, some courses are crosslisted from other graduate programs in
university. While the language of instruction for these courses is Japanese, readings may
include many English publications. Also, students may be permitted by the instructor to
submit written work in English.
2. Typical semester course load
Students in the GPGS may take no more, in principle, than 12 credits of courses a
semester (including both content and language courses. Students who exceed this number
tend to fall behind in their course work, thereby negatively affecting both their own
performance and quality of the class. This 12-credit limit is absolute in a student’s first
semester.
The limit can be exceeded in subsequent semester, conditional upon the permission
of the GPGS director. Such permission, as well as the number of credits over the 12credit limit, is decided by the director on the basis of an individual student’s GPA (in the
GPGS) and future plans.
3. Standard workload
4-credit classes meet three hours a week and 2-credit classes meet ninety minutes a week.
Generally speaking 2-credit and 4-credit courses require the same amount of weekly
reading but differ in amount of written work. Average weekly reading ranges from 70200 pages a week. Depending on the course, students may also be required to make inclass presentations, write weekly think pieces, and submit a term paper.
4. Balancing GPGS content and Japanese language courses
Japanese language study makes heavy demands on a student’s time. Those taking a
Japanese language course typically register for fewer GPGS content courses. Students in
the regular 4-credit Japanese language course take no more than 8 credits of GPGS
content courses, while those enrolled in the 8-credit intensive Japanese language course
take no more than 4 credits of content courses.