Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences (Doctor's Course)

Admission Policy

The Doctoral Program of the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences seeks individuals who possess the following skills and abilities:

Profile of Prospective Students

Under the admission policy of Okayama University, the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences seeks applicants who aspire to become advanced professionals equipped with profound knowledge, skills, and judgment capacity in the fields of literature, law, and economics, or researchers possessing high-level analytical skills. Since the school considers the diversity of applicants as an important factor, both Japanese and international students, and working professionals are welcome to apply.
In the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences (Doctor’s Program), we seek individuals who, prior to enrolling in the doctor’s program, have developed their "Implementation Ability" to guide problem-solving in collaboration with various stakeholders, their logical and multifaceted "Inquiry Ability," and their "Liberal Arts Ability" to deepen their knowledge from a broad range of learning. Additionally, they should have "Expertise" to integrate fundamental knowledge in various fields of the humanities and social sciences. We seek individuals equipped with academic excellence in their field, flexible thinking, rich intellect, sensitivity, a strong sense of purpose and curiosity to challenge the unknown, and a strong passion for academic research.

In the doctor’s program, based on the knowledge and experience nurtured in the master's program, we provide educational and research guidance to students from a more advanced and comprehensive perspective. Our school strives to establish an education and research system that can fully accommodate individual research in traditional fields of the humanities and social sciences, such as literature, law, political science, economics, and business administration.

For Prospective Students

Students are expected to acquire "Implementation Ability" to address and resolve major challenges, "Inquiry Ability" to delve into the essence of societal issues from various perspectives using their "Expertise," "Communication Ability" to mutually enhance understanding across barriers with others, and "Liberal Arts Ability" to learn more broadly and deeply for their own growth. In addition to these abilities, depending on the degree program, students are expected to develop the ability to integrate the fundamental knowledge and skills of each academic domain in the humanities and social sciences, as outlined below, after their enrollment.

Expertise required by the degree program are as follows:

【Socio-Cultural Sciences Program】
As researchers or advanced professionals, students must acquire profound expertise to carry out individual research in the traditional fields of the humanities and social sciences. This includes "Expertise" to identify and resolve issues across various domains within these fields.

Admission Process

The Doctoral Program of the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences conducts both general admissions and advanced admissions to evaluate applicants from diverse backgrounds.
(1) In the general admission process, high-level professional abilities related to a wide range of fields in the humanities and social sciences are evaluated by integrating the results of written exams (concerning professional subjects related to the research field and an understanding of various literature related to the research field) and oral exams (mainly focusing on the degree thesis and research proposal), as well as document screening.
(2) For advanced admissions, applicants who are expected to complete the Master's or the Doctor’s Program at Okayama University, oral exams (mainly focusing on the degree thesis and research proposal) and document screening are applied.

Prior to Enrollment

Depending on the department and the degree program chosen, fundamental knowledge equivalent to a Master's course is required which is necessary for learning advanced specialized knowledge in various fields of the humanities and social sciences.