Faculty overview

Understanding nature and culture, and thinking about the coexistence of nature and humans

Faculty of Geo-Environmental Science aims to cultivate talented individuals who can contribute to improving and resolving the various global environmental problems currently facing humanity.

The Earth and the environment surrounding us are steadily deteriorating. Protecting and improving this environment so that we can live rich, safe and secure lives is now an urgent task for all of humanity. In order to tackle this task, we must clearly understand and recognize the existence of environmental problems, investigate the background and causes, and then consider ways to improve and resolve them.
Environmental problems are diverse, ranging from those that affect the entire world, such as global warming and acid rain, or global population, food, and resource problems, to those that affect a relatively small area, such as pollution and waste disposal. The backgrounds, causes, and mechanisms of problems are also extremely complex. In order to accurately understand them, it is essential to approach them from both the natural sciences and the humanities and social sciences, and to acquire technical methods for collecting and analyzing information. Faculty of Geo-Environmental Science is an interdisciplinary faculty consisting of two departments: the Department of Environmental Systems, which seeks to understand and recognize environmental problems primarily from the natural sciences, and the Department of Geography, which seeks to understand and recognize environmental problems primarily from the social sciences and humanities.

Characteristics of undergraduate education

Faculty of Geo-Environmental Science aims to train "moralists and experts" in the field of Earth Environmental Sciences, so that they can become central figures in building a sustainable, better, and more prosperous society. To acquire the skills and qualities required for this, we have established liberal arts courses that provide a broad understanding of the origins of the global environment and the mechanisms of local communities, as well as common courses across the faculty that build on these foundations to learn specialized knowledge for problem solving.
In addition, the specialized subjects include subjects aimed at acquiring higher-level thinking, judgment, and expression skills; subjects that foster a proactive attitude in students' learning by incorporating active learning and small class sizes; subjects that enable students to correctly understand problems in the global environment and local communities and to gain advanced knowledge; and subjects that deepen knowledge of the ability to use ICT (information and communication technology), which is important for analyzing environmental issues.
Furthermore, solving global environmental problems and issues in local communities requires not only knowledge, but also the acquisition of the technology and skills required to solve them. Faculty of Geo-Environmental Science offers many experimental and practical courses and seminar courses that allow students to acquire technology and skills through experience and practice. In particular, we place importance on fieldwork, which allows students to directly see environmental problems, natural phenomena, and the mechanisms of local communities, and to gain valuable experience.

Supporting students' independent learning

Faculty of Geo-Environmental Science has a wide range of facilities to suit a variety of classes and exercises. There is a computer room with a wide selection of specialized software, a training equipment room with equipment for field surveys and sample collection, a library with a wide selection of Japanese and foreign books mainly related to the environment and geography, a surveying equipment room that can be used for surveying training and graduation research, and cutting-edge experimental equipment that is useful for students' research and education. In addition, various learning support systems such as the "class/room system (Department of Environmental Systems)" and the "class teacher system (Department of Geography)" are in place to help students grow significantly throughout their four years of university life.

• Observe and observe on-site

  You cannot understand nature, the environment, the Earth, or regions through classroom lectures alone. You can only deepen your understanding of the true nature of nature, the environment, the Earth, and regions by seeing with your own eyes, feeling with your own skin, and listening to what local people have to say. Faculty of Geo-Environmental Science actively provides opportunities for fieldwork from the first year. In addition, Faculty of Geo-Environmental Science actively conducts fieldwork not only in Japan but also overseas, and through these activities, students can not only acquire practical skills and knowledge, but also develop the ability to understand other countries and different cultures.

• Supporting the absorption of knowledge and technology

  The Department of Environmental Systems employs a ``class system,'' in which each grade is taught by three teachers, and a ``room system,'' in which the class is divided into four and assigned instructors, while the Department of Geography uses a ``class teacher system.'' You can receive detailed guidance and advice from faculty members. In addition, the Department of Environmental Systems offers supplementary classes (English and Mathematics) to improve basic academic ability and compensate for deficiencies, and the Department of Geography offers extension classes to support students who did not choose geography in high school. We are preparing learning support such as "Lectures".

• Promoting active learning

  Rissho University has been selected for the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's Accelerated Program for Renewing University Education (Theme I: Active Learning). Active learning is a learning method that incorporates active and independent activities by students. In line with the purpose of this program, Faculty of Geo-Environmental Science introduced (1) interactive classes using tablets, (2) the creation and publication of preparatory videos, (3) student-led fieldwork training, and (4) the collection and use of real class materials.

• Support for qualification acquisition

  In Faculty of Geo-Environmental Science, students can acquire various qualifications such as a teaching license, assistant surveyor, or museum curator by earning the necessary credits. The Department of Environmental Systems offers teaching licenses for junior high school (science), high school (science), and high school (information), while the Department of Geography offers licenses for junior high school (social studies) and high school (geography and history). In addition, courses are offered to prepare for qualifications such as weather forecaster and domestic travel agency manager, which are not regular faculty subjects but are in high demand among students.

Objectives related to human resource development and other educational and research objectives / Educational goals / Three policies

Faculty of Geo-Environmental Science has the objective of nurturing talented individuals who can contribute to solving global and local environmental problems, as well as other educational and research objectives.

In order to achieve this, we have established and published the following integrated set of "Educational Objectives," "Policy for Graduation Certification and Degree Awarding (Diploma Policy)," "Policy for Composing and Implementing the Educational Course (Curriculum Policy)," and "Policy for Accepting Students (Admission Policy)," as follows: