Hi guys. This is Lina, a Taiwanese who was born and grew up in Bangkok.
I'm currently studying at Waseda University, the School of International Liberal Studies.
I’ve just started blogging on Ameba, and thought maybe I can start by introducing my school and what I’m studying.
~About SILS~
SILS is one of the newest departments of Waseda University, which was established in 1882 by Okuma Shigenobu. Unlike other majors, SILS provides courses over varieties of fields of studies. According to the SILS homepage, SILS has 7 thematic clusters and area studies courses, including:
1. Life, Environment, Matter and Information
2. Philosophy, Religion and History
3. Economy and Business
4. Governance, Peace, Human Rights, and International Relations
5. Communication
6. Expression
7. Culture, Mind, Body and Community
Now I’m going to tell you about the characteristics of SILS (positive&negative), information that you don’t usually find on the website. I hope this becomes helpful for those of you who are considering applying for SILS.
1. Freedom in course selections.
Unlike many departments where they have required credits of certain categories AND required credits of specific courses, SILS only has required credits of certain categories. For example, 16 credits are required for intermediate courses, and you can choose any 16 credits out of the intermediate courses list. They won’t force you to take any course that you don’t like. However, there’s only one course that everyone has to take during their first year, ‘English Academic Writing’. Besides that, you can arrange your class schedule any way you want throughout the 4 years, and take any courses as long as you meet the graduation requirements. Btw, I arranged my class schedule so that I get a 3-days-weekend every week for a semester.
2. Not enough deepness in each field of study.
Yes, there’re courses to choose from 7 different clusters, but teachers only teach the general stuffs, the basic knowledge. Even though there are introductory courses, intermediate courses and advanced courses for each cluster, the number of courses for each field is also limited. About half of the professors are Japanese, and I have to be honest because some professors do not teach well in English. If you compare the workload with US universities, SILS is like a High School level (or even lower).
3. A good place for those who don’t know their interests.
If you don’t know what you’re interested in, or what you want to do in the future, SILS is the perfect place for you to be able to experience everything. Since there are no course paths that you have to take, you can choose courses from any of the 7 clusters. Or you can focus on one cluster in one semester, and if you find yourself not interested in that field, you can choose courses from another cluster in the next semester, like I did. For most of the courses, there are no required knowledge before taking the course, so you can try different things whenever you like without much difficulties.
***For people who know what they want to study, I don't recommend SILS. It will be a waste of time.
4. A well developed system for Japanese language acquisition.
Unlike other international programs in Waseda or other universities, SILS wants their international students to develop their Japanese language abilities. There are 24 credits required for Japanese language courses (each course worth 1 credit). The Japanese language courses are courses from CJL, which is another department just for Japanese learning international students. The teachers are almost all native Japanese speakers, and the courses are separated into 8 different levels. You can choose courses from the level that’s suitable for you. Other international departments of Waseda like the School of Political Science and Economics or the Faculty of Science and Engineering, credits for Japanese language courses are not required; however, students are still able to take these courses.
5. Lots of opportunities for study abroad.
When you get to your third or fourth year, you could apply for study abroad to foreign countries, like Europe, America, Australia, Southeast Asia, etc. I’m now in my third year, and many of my friends are studying abroad right now. You usually get the chance to go if you apply for it. For those of you who are looking forward to study abroad while studying abroad (lol), SILS can satisfy you.
To conclude what it feels like to be a SILS student....
free and happy
found my interests
made lots of friends
lots of free time to do non-academic things (part-time jobs, travelling, hobbies, etc.)
Please check out the SILS website for more information.
夜市で座れる店もあるけど、ほとんど席がないので、持ち帰りでホテルでゆっくり食べるのがオススメです。
Q1.ニックネームは？
Q2.最近のマイブームは？
Q1.好きな食べ物は？
