Nagoya Commercial College, the predecessor of the School of Economics, was established in 1920. Soon the School of Economics will celebrate its centennial anniversary.
Nagoya Commercial College became Nagoya Economic College and then, included in the new Nagoya University during the education reform period from 1949 to 1953.
As School of Economics is consisted by the Department of Economics, and the Department of Business Administration, you can learn both, Economics and Business Administration.
Toward the next one hundred years, the School of Economics had been modifying its curriculum. One example is the introduction of the International Program. From October 2011, School of Economics has been offering its international program in which all the lectures are conducted in English.
More than one hundred foreign students are studying at School of Economics as a graduate or undergraduate student.
I am looking forward to welcoming you in this beautiful Higashiyama Campus.
We asked 5 questions to Dean Katsutoshi Shimizu.
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Would you mind telling the strengths of the School of Economics / Graduate School of Economics?
Our faculty members conduct research in a wide variety of economics and management. Recently, research results have been obtained in the field of economics, particularly industrial organization, which studies the strategic behavior of firms and market mechanisum, in the field of macroeconomics and monetary economics and finance theory which study GDP, price levels, interest rates, and monetary policy, and in the field of institutional economics, which analyzes income inequality and economic crises. Also, research results have been obtained in the fields of business administration and accounting, particularly in the analysis of the relationship between parts manufacturers and complete car manufacturers in the automobile industry, and in research on accounting standards and practices. Since faculty members conducting research with such high quality teach basic and specialized subjects from the basics for beginners in an easy-to-understand and detailed manner, students can attend very interesting lectures. In addition, many outside lecturers from companies and other organizations are invited to give classes that attract much interest and provide realistic stories inside companies and economic activities.
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How do you want your students to grow through their university life?
Students will spend four years studying economics and business administration. We hope that students will achieve good outcomes after their studies. To do so, I hope that students will do what only economics students can do and Economics students should do. For example, since economics and business administration are included in social science, it is important to study the classics of social science, we hope that students read famous classics of social science, such as Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations and The Theory of Moral Sentiments. I also hope that students will have a broad and deep specialized knowledge and ideas in economics and management and cultivate an eye for looking at real economic phenomena and corporate behaviors rather than just looking at superficial aspects of them. I also hope that students will be able to read economic articles in economic newspapers and general newspapers and journal magazines, understand the contents of those articles, and be able to explain the contents of those articles. Some news are very important and others are not much important for everyone. I hope that students become those who can understand which news are important and/or for whom they are important.
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Would you mind telling the vision of the School of Economics / Graduate School of Economics?
School of Economics has “medium- and long-term vision” for education, research, and social contribution. Regarding research, we plan to achieve good outcomes as a research center for digital data-driven research. Specifically, this means research on big data in social sciences, including data on economics and management, qualitative judgments on management in accounting and finance, and digitized historical documents and archives. By utilizing and analyzing big data, we believe that we can greatly contribute to enable decision-making based on data in various fields, such as business and government.
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What is the most memorable lecture when you were a student?
About 30 years ago, I was an undergraduate student. The classes used to be very different from what they are today. No Powerpoint slides were displayed from a computer, and blackboards were more common than whiteboards. One story, I want to tell about the math class in a large classroom with only about three students. It was cold in the classroom and not very well heated at that time. I just listened to the teacher's lecture with a few classmates. In another story, a teacher was always smiling and energetic. I remember that he asked me a question in class, but I was just thinking about something else and didn't know what the question was. The other story, I was a graduate school student, I was told, "Just write the equation so that the inside parenthesis is made negative," and wondered if that was the right thing to do, without any other rational reasons.
Thus, I may not have had any impressive classes, but all of them are now fond memories for me, and I am impressed by the fact that I can remember even such small things in college classes. In that sense, I think they were impressive.
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Please give some words to those who are interested in joining.
Nagoya University School of Economics was founded in 1920 as Nagoya Higher Commercial School. In 2020, we celebrated the 100th anniversary of our founding.
Nowadays, it is more and more important to understand economics and business. Even for those who do not have a special purpose such as obtaining a qualification as a certified public accountant or taking a civil service examination, it is important to have a basic knowledge of economics and business management.
I hope that you will enroll in the School of Economics and that you will join us in building a new School of Economics. I believe that the futures of Japan's economy and companies are in your hands.