Founding principles and basic educational goals

Musashi University was active in the financial world from the end of the Meiji period to the early Showa period. Nezu Kaichiro (first generation) However, its roots lie in the former Musashi High School High School, which was founded in 1922 (Taisho 11) with the aim of contributing to society.
Musashi High School, under the former system, upheld the ideal of "nurturing outstanding human resources who will lead the new Japan of tomorrow, with character development at its core," and following subsequent educational reforms, became Musashi University in 1949. In today's rapidly changing social environment, the "The Three Founding Principles" set forth at the time of the founding of the former high school remain the starting point for our university's education.

Based on the founding principles (The Three Founding Principles), Musashi University trains human resources through university-wide Comprehensive Knowledge courses (i.e. General Education Courses, Foreign Language Courses, and University-Wide Specialized Courses) and Specialized Courses of each Specialized Knowledge at the undergraduate level, and through the unique educational curriculum of each graduate school at the graduate level, in accordance with the philosophy of "liberal arts and sciences." The liberal arts at Musashi University refer to comprehensive and interdisciplinary education that goes beyond the traditional division between general education and specialized fields. Science refers to mathematical sciences such as mathematics and statistics, natural sciences such as physics, chemistry, and biology, and social sciences such as economics, sociology, and political science. Humanities-related studies are called humanities or humanities. Because liberal arts and science overlap, Musashi University uses the term "liberal arts and sciences." This also expresses the spirit of Integration of Humanities and Sciences. Musashi University aims to Integration of Humanities and Sciences and sciences by utilizing information and data provided by science-related studies in the humanities education and research fields. The ability to collaborate with others and practical skills are cultivated in small-group educational settings such as seminars and practical training, which is a tradition at Musashi University. As the world becomes more integrated, the ultimate goal of liberal arts and science education is to cultivate global leaders who can contribute to promoting people-to-people exchanges across the world and resolving organizational, regional, and global issues, and work on intellectual exploration and practical activities in their own immediate surroundings, equipped with well-balanced comprehensive and specialized knowledge, the ability to work together with others, and practical skills acquired through liberal arts and sciences education.

Miyamoto Kazuyoshi, the first president of Musashi University, spoke at the university's first entrance ceremony (1949) saying, "We will create Japanese people with broad perspectives who are citizens of the world, who research and think for themselves, and who do not lose their critical spirit." While inheriting The Three Founding Principles of the old high school era (the founding spirit of the university), he also advocated small-group education based on seminars and the enhancement of foreign language education.

Subsequently, amid major changes in the situation both in Japan and around the world, the "Musashi Gakuen Future Concept Plan" formulated in 2006 set the university's vision as one that, while based on The Three Founding Principles, aims to "combine knowledge and practice" in an education that emphasizes liberal arts.

As globalization continued to advance, Board of Directors adopted the President's Doctrine in March 2014 as the Musashi Gakuen's management strategy for the 100th anniversary of its founding, stating, "We aim to be a school that looks outward to the world and nurtures international people who will take on the challenges of the 21st century." Then, in October of the same year, Board of Directors established the Chairman Chancellor Plan, entitled "We aim to become a liberal arts school open to the world." In response to this, in its Third Mid-term Plan (2016-21), Musashi University established a new vision for the university toward the 100th anniversary of its founding in 2022 as "Nurturing cultured global citizens who understand different cultures and create the future - Returning to our origins toward the 100th anniversary of our founding, we aim to inherit The Three Founding Principles of the university and to transform it for the future."

Based on this vision, the Third Medium-Term Plan sets out "fostering global citizens based on a liberal arts education" as a strategic goal, and aims to steadily implement new programs and courses in each faculty aimed at globalization while also further expanding liberal arts education.
At the same time, we reviewed the three policies of each faculty and graduate school and formulated the "Musashi University Global Education Policy."

At Board of Directors in March 2021, the establishment of School of Liberal Arts and Sciences (opening in April 2022) based on the new Global Course of the existing faculty and the transition to a four-faculty system were decided, bringing about major changes. Board of Directors also adopted a new "President's Doctrine" entitled "School that Cultivate Intellectual who Exercise Leadership in Finding Solutions to the Challenging Problems Facing Mankind together with Diverse People around the World: Management Policy of Musashi Academy for the Next 100 Years" and a new "Chairman 's Plan" that proclaims the aim to be "a school of Chancellor arts and sciences open to the world." Based on these, the Fourth Mid-term Plan (2022-27) was formulated at Board of Directors in October 2021, looking ahead to the next 100 years. Based on these considerations, we have decided to set the following as the vision of Musashi University and the new educational and research objective: "To cultivate global leaders who can acquire a balanced combination of Comprehensive Knowledge, Specialized Knowledge, the ability to collaborate with others, and practical skills through liberal arts and science education, who can tirelessly engage in intellectual exploration and practice in their local surroundings, and who can soar out into the world and contribute to personal exchange and the resolution of organizational, regional, and global issues." Today, being a global citizen is an unavoidable requirement even if you live in Japanese society, and we have recognized the need for the university to paint a more proactive vision. Accordingly, we have also revised the three policies for the university, undergraduate and graduate schools, as well as the global education policy.
 

 

（武蔵大学の「リベラルアーツ＆サイエンス教育」に関する学生向け説明です。）

武蔵大学のカリキュラムは、全学のディプロマ・ポリシーの冒頭に述べられている「リベラルアーツ」と「サイエンス」の学びを内容としています。リベラルアーツとは欧米の伝統的な大学教育で使われてきた言葉で、古代ギリシア・ローマにさかのぼる「自由七科」（セブン・リベラルアーツ）に由来します。古くは文法・修辞学・弁証法・算術・幾何・天文・音楽で構成されていました。時代によって科目は異なり、体育が含まれることもあります。現代の大学の教養科目（本学の総合科目）に近い面もありますが、哲学や自然学の専門的な書物を教材にする上級者向けの授業もあり、広く浅い初歩的な教育にとどまるものではありませんでした。なお「リベラル」とは「自由な」という意味ですが、それはリベラルアーツの科目群が「自由な市民」にふさわしい総合的な知識（総合知）と全人的な深い教養を培うことを目的としてきたからです。「アーツ」は広く「学芸」ないし「学術」を意味します（美術を意味する狭義のアートのことではありません）。「サイエンス」は「科学」のことで、体系的な理論や法則、実証や実験を重視する学問をさします。いわゆる理系の学問（自然科学）が代表例です。しかし経済学や社会学、数学や言語学などもサイエンスです。ただし、それらは内容的に「アーツ」とも重なりあっているので、「アーツ＆サイエンス」「リベラルアーツ＆サイエンス」という総称も用いられます。なお経済学や社会学、政治学などを全体として社会科学と呼ぶことがあります。一方、文学や歴史などの人文系の学問は人文学ないし人文科学と呼ばれます。また数学や統計学は数理科学と総称されます。「リベラルアーツ＆サイエンス」は以上のような多様な学問の全体を包括する概念です。

武蔵大学のカリキュラムは、どの学部においても「総合科目」「外国語科目」「専門科目」からなっています。これらの三つのうち「総合科目」は全学共通です。「外国語科目」には全学対象のものと学部別のものがあります。「専門科目」は学部別に専門を深めるための科目ですが、全学対象のものも数多くあります。後者は「全学対象専門科目」あるいは「共通専門科目」と名づけられています。そのなかには分野横断・学部横断・アクティブラーニングを特徴とする「特設科目」も含まれています。本学でいう「リベラルアーツ＆サイエンス」は特定の授業科目群をさすのではなく「総合科目」「外国語科目」「専門科目」を縦横に組み合わせた「学び方」です。
「総合科目」と「外国語科目」の大半は入門的・基礎的な内容の授業で構成されており、「外国語科目」には必修授業も相当数あります。ただし、発展的な内容を扱う選択科目もあります。「全学対象専門科目」は専攻分野の垣根を超えて高度な知識と実践力を養うためにあります。これらの科目を各人の興味と関心に応じて履修し、自学自習を組み合わせれば、それらの全体が「リベラルアーツ＆サイエンス」の学びになります。組み合わせは無数にあり、百人百様の学び方がありえます。「副専攻」も「リベラルアーツ＆サイエンス」の学びの一環です。それは各学部で獲得すべき専門知を補強し、プラスアルファの専門性を養うユニットです。それは学生にとっても教員にとっても分野横断的な知の交流の場ですから、新しい視野が開けたり、異なる課題解決方法が得られたりするはずです。

武蔵大学の「リベラルアーツ＆サイエンス」教育は、全学のカリキュラム・ポリシーに記されているように「文理の壁を越える」こと、すなわち「文理融合」を目指しています。「総合科目」に物理学や化学、生物学などの授業が置かれているのはそのためです。一部の「専門科目」も理系（自然科学系）の教員が担当しています。ただしこれは、在学生に自分の専門の学びと理系の専門的学習を同じ比重で行うことを求めているからではありません。重要なのは理系の専門家たちがどのようなファクトに注目し、データを提供しているかを知り、総合知と深い教養の獲得に役立て、かつ自分自身の専門知を補う複眼的な学びです。なお専攻分野によっては、数学や統計学などの数理科学の活用も不可欠です。

「外国語科目」がグローバル時代の「リベラルアーツ＆サイエンス」の学びに不可欠であることは言うまでもありません。外部試験を意識した選択科目もあります。それらを活用し、四年間の学修を通じて獲得した総合知と専門知を国内外での実践に生かし、各人の将来の希望や目標の実現に、また他者と協働しつつ、人類共通のグローバルな問題や課題の解決に取り組んでください。
 

本学のリベラルアーツ&サイエンス教育を支える組織としてリベラルアーツ&サイエンス教育センター（LASEC）があります。このセンターは総合科目や外国語科目をはじめ、全学共通の授業の企画立案と運営に取り組んでいます。全学の学生が履修できる卒業研究関係の授業も提供しています。学部の卒業論文や卒業制作とは別に、自然科学やスポーツ科学、教育学、外国語コミュニケーションなどの要素を採り入れた分野横断的・学際的なテーマ設定による探究が可能ですので、選択科目として活用することができます。

Musashi High School was founded by Kaichiro Nezu (The First). He was involved in many railway businesses in Japan, including Tobu Railway and Nankai Railway, and was known as the "Railway King." On the other hand, when he visited the United States as a member of a business group led by Eiichi Shibusawa, he was deeply impressed by the large amount of donations that businessmen made to universities and art museums. With the belief that "the prosperity of a nation originates from the path of education," he also devoted himself to education and culture, such as founding Musashi High School and Nezu Chemical Research Institute. Nezu was also known as a lover of antique art, and was a tea master. After his death, the Nezu Museum (Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo) was established to display his collection. The Nezu Museum is known for its vast Japanese garden, which uses the former site of Nezu's private residence, and for its first-class collection of Japanese and Oriental art in all fields.