Seminar on Intercultural Communication Studies 1 and 2 (Introductory courses given by all faculty members; two credit hours total) Seminar in Research 1 and 2 (seminar for thesis/project instruction given by supervisor; four credit hours total) Six credit hours selected from the Common Specialized Courses (see the course listing for detail) 18 credit hours other than above

Master's Thesis Research Project Master's Portfolio

The program of study at Rikkyo Graduate School of Intercultural Communication was awarded the Good Practice Grant from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) in 2005, under the category of "Initiatives for Attractive Education in Graduate Schools."  The program is entitled "Research Workshop for a Sustainable Future: Toward New Challenges in Intercultural Communication Studies."
Founded upon the idea that theory and practice are never separable, Research Workshops (RW) are designed to provide students with opportunities to look for both theoretical thinking and contextualized practice.  Each concentration (Language Communication, Interpreting and Translation Studies, Intercultural Communication Studies, and Environmental Communication) has its own RW, and students are strongly encouraged to integrate them into their coursework.  
Research Workshops are broadly categorized into two parts, and, together with other specialized courses, they allow students to acquire basic grounding of intra/interdisciplinary knowledge and skills.   

RWP aims to cultivate practice-based research skills, and consists of intradisciplinary Fieldwork RW and transdisciplinary RW.  Fieldwork RW offers opportunities for on-site training, which may include practice in interpreting and translation; actual visit to various places, such as Shiretoko（知床）, Yakushima（屋久島）, Minamata（水俣）, and Shirakami（白神）, where social and environmental issues are actively addressed.  Students can develop their research interests based on their own experience and interaction with people who are locally concerned. 
Transdisciplinary RW is mainly offered as Internship, where students will have an opportunity to develop their communicative competence as well as practical skills that can encompass the four different research fields of our school.

The goal of RWT is to help students acquire adequate theoretical fundamentals to make their research fruitful, nurturing their academic/practical insights as well.  RWT includes RW for basic theory, where students engage in intensive and critical study of both classic and latest theories.  In addition, transdisciplinary RW of RWT is specifically focused on research methods, in which students learn quantitative/qualitative approaches and methods of data collection, as well as academic writing skills.