April 16, 2003
Temple University, Japan Campus (TUJ) is pleased to announce another addition to its growing undergraduate program: a major in international affairs (IA). Developed by TUJ for TUJ students, the new major capitalizes on TUJ’s many faculty members with strong academic backgrounds in international relations. The IA major is designed to meet student demand for a curriculum that can help prepare them for international careers.
TUJ’s initiative in developing its own IA major emanates from recognition that Temple University’s main campus offers no such major. A College of Liberal Arts offering at TUJ, this is an interdisciplinary major closely related to political science, history, geography and other social sciences with an international focus. It emphasizes issues affecting relations between and among the East Asian nations of Japan, China, and Korea and the United States, but it also includes courses on other regions of the world.
The IA major consists of 10 courses, or 30 semester hours, divided into 5 core courses, 4 elective courses, and an IA capstone course. It also involves an internship of from 3 to 6 semester hours. The major calls for an East Asian area studies requirement and ability in an East Asian language.
TUJ’s location in Minato Ward, in central Tokyo, ideally positions it to draw on the expertise of members of Tokyo’s diplomatic and international business communities. The new IA major therefore includes guest lecturers and assistance in arranging student internships.
TUJ believes that its IA major will be one of its most popular majors because many of its Japanese students possess strong international backgrounds and about a third of its students are non-Japanese. IA majors will be well prepared for diplomatic careers and for positions in multinational corporations, international organizations, multilateral NGOs, and other internationally oriented entities.
Dean Kirk R. Patterson, of TUJ, holds a doctorate in international relations and says, “As we look around us, we see that the one constant in international relations is change. The world is, and will always be, in a state of flux, with economic, political, military, religious, technological, and other factors interacting in changing and accelerating ways. To ensure the prosperity and security of the world tomorrow, we need to focus on the education of young people today. TUJ’s IA major is therefore being introduced to help train future international leaders.”