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Greetings from the Dean of the School and Graduate School

　Dean of the School and Graduate School of Literature and Human Sciences Hiroaki Kubori

Thank you for visiting the website of the School and Graduate School of Literature and Human Sciences at Osaka Metropolitan University.

 

A New Path Founded on Tradition

　Osaka Metropolitan University's School and Graduate School of Literature and Human Sciences were established in April 2022, with Osaka City University's Faculty and Graduate School of Literature and Human Sciences as their predecessors.

　Osaka City University can trace its origins back to the Osaka Commercial Training Institute, which was founded in 1880. In 1928, under the leadership of then Osaka Mayor Hajime Seki, the Institute was upgraded to become Osaka University of Commerce, Japan's first municipal university. The Faculty of Literature and Human Sciences originated from the Faculty of Law and Literature established at Osaka City University in 1949, and became independent as the Faculty and Graduate School of Literature and Human Sciences in 1953, embarking on a new path. For over 70 years, we have built a rich academic tradition through ongoing fundamental inquiry into humanity, language, culture, history, and society.

　Following the transition to Osaka Metropolitan University through a university merger in April 2022, the university then completed its relocation to the Morinomiya Campus in the latter half of the 2025 academic year. Thus, building upon a long history, we now stand at a major turning point to forge a new era.

 

A Major Advance at the Morinomiya Campus

　The new campus, built around the concept of a Forest of Knowledge, serves as a knowledge hub in central Osaka, contributing more directly to society by sharing the research outcomes that have been cultivated to date and fulfilling its role as a hub connecting the local community and the world.

　This relocation is not merely a change of location. Building on the keyword “city,” which the School and Graduate School have emphasized since the time of Osaka City University, the new campus also serves a venue for scholarly practice aimed at contributing to solutions to the complex issues confronting cities, drawing on insights from the humanities and behavioral sciences.

　The new campus is a veritable Forest of Knowledge, a place where the vast body of scholarship we have cultivated over many years unfolds. In this forest, a diverse range of academic fields are available, spanning 4 departments and 15 courses at the undergraduate level and 4 departments and 17 courses in the graduate school, with carefully tailored instruction in small groups.

　Additionally, in the 2025 academic year, the Urban-Culture Research Center (UCRC), affiliated with the Graduate School of Letters, was reorganized, and the Humanities-based Interdisciplinary Research Center (HIRC) was newly established. Here, we foster collaboration with diverse academic fields, centering on the humanities, and through interdisciplinary research that combines the humanities and sciences in cooperation with science fields, as well as research that utilizes digital technologies, we aim for the further development of the humanities. It is our hope that these centers will become places that further enrich and develop our Forest of Knowledge while transcending the boundaries of academic disciplines.

 

Developing People to Forge the Future

　We value small-group education with close student-faculty interaction, fieldwork and practical learning, and education through direct engagement with primary sources. In addition, we value, above all else, the dialogue and inquiry that deepen through the process of writing undergraduate theses, master's theses, and doctoral dissertations. Utilizing the vast knowledge accumulated in libraries, critically interpreting sources and data, deeply understanding human activities, and articulating the world with one's own words and logic. We believe that it is precisely such an accumulation of learning that cultivates the sound thinking skills necessary to live in uncertain times.

　Having gained a new environment in Morinomiya, the education and research of the School and Graduate School are showing even greater breadth. We welcome all who do not fear unknown realms, continuously question the essence of human existence, and strive to envision a better future.

　We hope this website will serve as a window into the appeal of learning and research at this Faculty and Graduate School.