"To foster women capable of playing a useful role in our society and to contribute to keeping the nation and society peaceful." These educational concepts were advocated as the founding principles at the heart of the university by Kiichiro Koe, the founder of Mukogawa Gakuin. For 70 years since its foundation, we have steadfastly maintained an integrated education system for women from kindergarten through to graduate school, with Mukogawa Women's University at the core of the system.
High intelligence, noble sentiments, and lofty virtues
In Mukogawa Gakuin, we consider high intelligence, noble sentiments, and lofty virtues to be ideal properties of humans, and we provide a well-rounded education to let students acquire a broad cultural understanding and develop a rich sense of humanity. "High intelligence" means for students not to be satisfied with merely acquiring a large amount of knowledge and information but, rather, to acquire the ability to think for themselves. In "noble sentiments," we hope students acquire a good set of cultural values, sensitivity to others, and a graceful mind. To cultivate "lofty virtues," we expect students to be willing to work for others and society rather than only for themselves, by understanding that morals and ethics are an important part of harmonious social activities.
Aiming at education accommodating the demands of the new era
We are steadily improving and reforming our education system starting from the university and junior college curricula, and are aiming to provide an enriched education to meet the demands of the new era. In 2006, the Department of Architecture was established, a first among women's universities in Japan. In the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, not only was the curriculum of the Department of Pharmacy extended from four to six years, but also, the Department of Health and Bio-Pharmaceutical Sciences (four-year course) was newly established. A distinctive style of education is practiced in both departments. In addition, some interdepartmental joint projects are ongoing. For example, the School of Letters, School of Human Environmental Sciences, and School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences are collaborating in integrated research on exercise, nutrition, and medicine to nurture specialists in health.
The MWU Junior and Senior High school have introduced three-course system
In addition, the MWU Junior and Senior High School has been designated as a Super Science High School by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and the following three-course system has been introduced.
- A "Super Science Course" to train scientists and researchers who can play active roles in the 21st century
- A "Super English Course" to train internationally minded persons with global perspectives
- An "Intelligence Course" to train students with high intelligence, which is advocated as the spirit of our university
Each course has a distinctive curriculum to enhance the consciousness and motivation of the students. Thanks to the introduction of the three-course system, the ten-year integrated educational system from the junior high school to the university has been further improved and enriched.
Enrichment of graduate schools and research institutes and four projects supported by the Matching Fund Subsidy for Private Universities from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
Graduate schools and seven research institutes are engaged in active research activities. We are planning to modify the educational environment and promote systematic reforms to further enrich and improve the research activities. In addition, collaborative research between university and outside researchers is aggressively promoted. As a result of these efforts, the following two projects have been chosen to be supported by the Matching Fund Subsidy for Private Universities from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
- Collaboration with the Local Communities Project at the Research Center for Elderly Nutrition and Development to improve the nutrition and diet of the elderly and develop a supportive system so that the elderly can lead a worthwhile life
- The Open Research Center Project (selected in 2007) to clarify the factors inhibiting the healthy mental development of children and to develop methods for special-needs education at the Special-Need Education Research Center
Furthermore, Mukogawa Gakuin is serving as a base for the research projects on the psychological development of children's mental capacity, supported by the Japan Science and Technology Agency. In each of the above topics, research activities are currently ongoing.
Fostering women who can play active roles in the new era
The 21st century is a gender-equal era and the fields and roles in which women will be active will become increasingly important. In this sense, we can say that the 21st century will truly be an era of women. We believe that the policy we have maintained since the establishment of Mukogawa Gakuin, i.e., to foster women who can contribute to our society, will have special significance in the current changing era.
In 2009, Mukogawa Gakuin will celebrate its 70th anniversary. On this occasion, we will make even greater efforts to foster high-spirited women with high intelligence who are ideally suited to the demands of the new times, as well as to return the benefits of our research achievements to society through the further improvement of the educational and research environments.
