東京大学 教養学部・大学院総合文化研究科 | |
 Building One, Komaba I Campus | |
| Established | 1886 (as the First Higher School) May 31, 1949 (as the College of Arts and Sciences) |
|---|---|
| Location | , |
| Campus | urban |
| Website | https://www.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp/eng_site/ |
The College of Arts and Sciences is one of the ten undergraduate faculties of the University of Tokyo and the only one referred to as a college. The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences is the postgraduate and research school attached to it. Originally, the college was a university preparatory boarding school called the First Higher School until 1950, and it still operates on the Komaba Campus, which used to belong to the higher school and is separate from the rest of the university.[1] Hence, the word Komaba is synonymous with the College of Arts and Sciences within the university.
Masato Hirai argues that the College's liberal arts education has been based on two different concepts: 'culture' as understood in Victorian England or 'bildung' in Germany, and the American concept of General Education. The former has traditionally been at the core of the education offered at the First Higher School, while the latter, which aims to equip students with the ability to see beyond their fields of specialisation, was introduced after the Second World War. This shift was prompted by the observation that the educated class in pre-war Japan tended to be myopic and focused too much on their allotted tasks.[2]
- ^ "大学院総合文化研究科・教養学部の歴史 - 総合情報 - 総合情報". www.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
- ^ Hirai, Masato (March 2023). "The Evolution of the Concept of the "College of Liberal Arts" at the University of Tokyo: With the Examples of Three University Committees Before the UTokyo Struggles" (PDF). Journal of the UTokyo Archives. 41.