In the academic year 2013, the School of Humanities and Social Sciences became a school featuring Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) as its pillar. As of the academic year 2018, NCU introduced a new curriculum positioning ESD as “education for inquiring into global society and human existence through our association with nature and others, and reviewing our individual sustainable lifestyle and ideals.”
In this school, in order to realize the philosophy of ESD, students will learn how to respect differences among individuals and to evaluate them as valuable diversity (Department of Psychology and Education). And they will develop the capacity to empirically grasp and review problems at sites of cooperation and mutual aid in the local community (Department of Social Studies). They will also acquire a truly global point of view that can look on other cultures with the same respect that they look on their own (Department of Intercultural Studies).
The school aims to develop individuals who will, after graduation, become members of sustainable glocal societies through its diversified educational contents and the assignment-oriented interdisciplinary and multiple educational programs that these three departments provide.

The Department of Psychology and Education proposes to foster individuals as people who favor the scientific view and have a warm outlook on people. We want to develop students who can understand human diversity and put effort into supporting lifelong development and nurturing the next generation. For this purpose, the department is applying a curriculum based on psychology and education through the disciplines of “human understanding,” “human cultivation,” “lifelong development and environment” and “psychological and educational techniques.” As of the academic year 2018, the department has adjusted the curriculum to meet the requirements of the Licensed Psychologist examination, a national qualification for psychological specialists.

The Department of Social Studies is dedicated to fostering individuals who can deeply recognize the complexity of modern society and provide for the welfare of all its citizens. Its curriculum, centering on sociology, is structured so that the students can develop their ability to analyze modern society from various perspectives. By studying politics, law, social welfare and history, they will acquire the skills to survey and analyze contemporary society and to develop the ability to design a better society.

The Department of Intercultural Studies provides a broad curriculum in order for its students to learn foreign languages as well as engage in cultural exchange and mutual understanding of different cultures from a comparative point of view. This is predicated on the belief that students can cultivate their minds to be open to “foreign cultures” through having an interest in and understanding of their own culture. The department aims to raise the knowledge and skills of students in order to enrich cross-cultural communication.