Ritsumeikan University has decided to proceed with preparations to establish the Faculty of Design and Art (tentative name) and the Graduate School of Design and Art (tentative name) on the Kinugasa Campus in Kita Ward, Kyoto City. The aim is to develop human resources who can solve problems using creative thinking skills, and the aim is to open the school in 2026.
According to Ritsumeikan University, the Faculty of Design and Art will enroll 180 students, the Graduate School of Design and Art will have 20 students in the master's program, and 5 students in the doctoral program. Positioning design studies as one of the academic fields, we pursue new, future-oriented design studies, and develop education and research that crosses the fields of natural science and humanities and social sciences based on art techniques and perfection. I am considering a degree in the field of fine arts.
In addition to an increasing number of universities establishing faculties of design, such as Okayama Prefectural University, Kyoto Seika University, and Sapporo City University, there are also faculties that combine design with other fields, such as Toyo University's Faculty of Life Design and Saga University's Faculty of Art and Regional Design. It has appeared.
This is because the concept of design as ``thinking about the form of services provided to people and society'' and the idea of incorporating design thinking into management and solving social issues has become widespread, and universities that view design from a perspective closer to art are becoming more and more popular. On the other hand, there are also those who take an engineering perspective. Ritsumeikan University is also following this trend and is taking on the challenge of design studies, a new discipline.
