The distinctive feature of our Department of History is that it encompasses a wide range of research fields within a single major: Japanese history, Eastern history, Western history, archaeology, and history education (general history course).

After completing the master's course, many students aim to use their specialized research experience to become high school teachers, civil servants, museum curators, or those involved in publishing. There is also an increasing number of students who proceed to the doctoral course and obtain a doctorate through outstanding research.

Within the university, faculty members and graduate students work together to develop specialized education and research, through activities such as the Aoyama Historical Society holding an annual conference and running various study groups, and submitting research papers to the academic journals Shiyuu and Aoyama Shigaku.

History Major

History of Department of History

With the cooperation of 15 full-time faculty members in charge of the five fields of Japanese History, Eastern History, Western History, Archaeology, and General History, as well as approximately 10 excellent part-time lecturers, and the intellectual pursuits of each and every student in the master's and doctoral programs, we have created Department of History that covers a wide range of fields like no other.

Due to the credit transfer system with other private university graduate schools in the Tokyo metropolitan area, students are able to receive guidance from multiple professors in fields close to their own specialization.

We offer an attractive curriculum for students who wish to further their undergraduate studies in the Master's program, graduate students who aim to progress to the Doctoral program and become researchers, and current and future teachers who aspire to teach history.

Graduate School Guide

The Master's and Doctoral programs in Department of History provide highly specialized education. In order to ensure a smooth transition to undergraduate education, there are five departments: Japanese History, Oriental History, Western History, Archaeology, and Integrated History. The Integrated History department is a new department established in 2022, ahead of other universities.

In principle, full-time faculty members are in charge of lectures and seminars in the Master's program and provide guidance on writing master's theses. In addition, part-time lecturers are also available. Depending on the interests of graduate students, it is possible for them to take courses across departments.

Doctoral students focus on writing their doctoral dissertations.

Entrance exams for the Master's Program are held twice a year, in the fall and spring, and we also hold entrance exams for working adults. In addition, from the 2022 academic year, we will also be holding an "internal transfer entrance exam" for graduates of the Department of Department of History.

Establishment of the "General History" Section

In addition to the existing departments of Japanese History, Oriental History, Western History, and Archaeology, Aoyama Gakuin University Graduate School Graduate School of Literature, Department of History History will be establishing a "General History" department and introducing new courses starting in 2022.

We cover the history of each region comprehensively, covering both Japanese history and world history, with a focus on modern and contemporary history, but also including ancient and medieval history.

This department corresponds to "General History," a new compulsory subject in high schools, and in addition to full-time faculty members in Department of History giving lectures and seminars in an omnibus format, we also invite a large number of guest lecturers who are conducting cutting-edge research and teaching in a variety of fields to give classes.

In addition to enrolling as a regular graduate student, we also actively encourage students to take courses as non-degree students. In addition, by discussing with your supervisor, you can also create a course plan to complete the regular course in one year instead of the usual two years.

We believe that this will be an attractive new department for current high school teachers, those aspiring to become teachers, and anyone wishing to study history from a broad perspective.