Author: JDTS Coordination

Kyoto University and Heidelberg University now welcome applications for the 2021 enrollment (Kyoto side) in the international Joint Degree Master of Arts Program in Transcultural Studies (JDTS). The online application system opens for students graduating from Non-Japanese universities on October 1st, 2020.

We invite students in the humanities and social sciences to apply who have already graduated or will graduate in March 2021 and are interested in continuing their studies in a competitive, international joint degree master program at two leading research institutions in Japan and Germany.

Application Time Frame
Oct. 1-15: Degree equivalence screening for graduates from non-Japanese universities
Nov. 1-20: Application window for all applicants
December: Results of first application step, online interviews
January: Final results and notification of successful applicants
March: Enrollment at Kyoto University, Graduate School of Letters

Detailed Application Information
https://www.cats.bun.kyoto-u.ac.jp/jdts/application/

Online Application System
https://www.cats.bun.kyoto-u.ac.jp/apply/
(login possible Oct 1-15, Nov 1-20)

Video Tutorials
For Graduates from Non-Japanese Universities

For Graduates from Japanese Universities

Study Program Outline
Building on the strengths of both institutions, this jointly conducted, research-oriented English-language graduate program offers students access to an interdisciplinary field in the humanities and social sciences to study and research transcultural dynamics between and within Asia and Europe in a global context. The study program is situated at two partner institutions, the Graduate School of Letters (GSL) of Kyoto University and the Heidelberg Centre for Transcultural Studies (HCTS) of Heidelberg University. Students enrolled in the program begin their studies at one of these two partners, their home institution, but spend an equal amount of time at the other university. After two years of study and supervised by international faculty of both, the GSL and the HCTS, students submit a single master thesis to receive a Master of Arts degree jointly awarded by both universities upon completion.

The transregional outlook of the JDTS is based on the perspective that cultures are not contained within ethnically closed, linguistically homogenous and territorially bounded spheres. Instead they are constituted through transformations and entanglements that follow from contacts and relationships between various agents, concepts and institutions. Transcultural Studies combine methodological and theoretical approaches from a broad spectrum of disciplines in the humanities and social sciences.

The study program expands the regional and disciplinary competences students have obtained in their Bachelor degrees or another Master degree. Students of the JD Transcultural Studies acquire empirical knowledge on historical and contemporary moments of exchange as well as on theories and methodologies to frame and analyze such processes. The JDTS is primarily designed to train its students for a successful career in international academia.

• Student Quota:
10 students between both partners per year (5 students enrolled at Heidelberg university as their home institution, 5 students enrolled at Kyoto University).
• Degree Granted: Master of Arts
• Standard Duration:
2 years (one year at the home institution and one year at the partner).
• Next Date of Enrollments:
Spring 2021 (at Kyoto University)

Please consult our application FAQ if you have questions or direct inquiries not answered there to apply[a]cats.bun.kyoto-u.ac.jp.