Doshisha Women's College of Liberal Arts


Doshisha Women's College of Liberal Arts is a private women's college in Kyotanabe, Kyoto, Japan. The predecessor of the school was founded in 1876, and it was chartered as a university in 1949.

History

In 1875, Protestant educator Niijima Jō founded Doshisha Eigakko as a boys’ school, receiving a helping hand from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.
Next year, Niijima Jō’s wife, Niijima Yae, and the American missionary Alice J. Starkweather opened a Joshi-juku at the former residence of Yanagihara family on a site within the grounds of the current Kyoto Gyoen National Garden. In 1877, it was renamed to Doshisha Bunko Nyokoba and Niijima Jō became the principal. The school was soon renamed to Doshisha Jogakko, and in 1878 it was moved to the current Imadegawa campus with the first self-owned school building built with financial aid from the Women's Board of Missions for the Pacific.
In 1930, while Matsuda Michi was dean, the girls’ school became Doshisha Joshi Senmon Gakko, a three-year tertiary institution under the Senmon Gakko Rei.
After World War II, it became Doshisha Joshi Daigaku, and was chartered as a four-year higher education institution in 1949. The first graduate program started in 1967. A new campus, the Kyotanabe Campus, was opened in 1986, about 30 km to the south of the Imadegawa campus.

Faculties, Departments and Graduate Schools

Kyoto

Doshisha Women's College has two campuses at Kyotanabe in southern Kyoto and at Imadegawa in central Kyoto.
Kyoto, Japan's ancient capital from the beginning of Heian period to the end of the Edo period, has a 1,200-year history and attracts tourists from around the world. Traditional culture and arts such as the tea ceremony and flower arrangement have developed and have been preserved particularly in Kyoto. The city has hundreds of Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, including some designated as World Heritage Sites, where many festivals such as the Aoi Matsuri, Gion Matsuri and Jidai Matsuri are held throughout the year. At the same time, Kyoto is a highly modern city, home to many of Japan's leading high-tech industries and a thriving international community.

Kyotanabe Campus

The Kyotanabe campus is located in Kyōtanabe, Kyoto. It was opened in 1986 as Tanabe campus, part of the Kansai Science City and was renamed in 1999. The campus is located to the east across from the Kyotanabe campus of Doshisha University. It now houses 4 faculties and 3 graduate schools.

Imadegawa Campus

The Imadegawa campus is located in the former residences of Nijō family and Fushimi-no-miya, situated in the center of Kyoto City, across from Kyoto Imperial Palace. It is located adjacent to the Imadegawa campus of Doshisha University. Inside the campus, the two buildings James-kan and Eiko-kan are registered as Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan. This campus houses 2 faculties and 2 graduate schools.

Student life

Festivals

There are a total of 53 official clubs and circles as extracurricular activities. These clubs are classified into four categories: Religious Club, Cultural Club, Sports Club, and Circle.
As of 2012, around 11.6% of undergraduates were able to find employment in one of the top 400 companies in Japan, which places Doshisha Women's College third overall among women's universities in the west part of Japan, after Nara Women's University and Kobe College.

International Programs

“Internationalism” is one of the main college policies, and Doshisha Women's College has a Division of International Affairs to offer students more than 40 international programs in addition to classroom studies and to encourage students to be more interested in international studies. The International programs are categorized into four areas: Outbound, Inbound, English Study Support and After-graduation.
Doshisha Women's College was designated by Kyoto as one of the “Kyoto Global Universities” on October 31, 2016 and will receive a grant from the city from 2016 to 2019 to enrich the international programs especially inbound programs.

List of Partner Universities and Colleges

United States of America
Canada
United Kingdom
Australia
New Zealand
Germany
China
Taiwan
Korea
Philippines
Vietnam （2 institutions）
Thailand
Malaysia