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Kyoto Seika U. Plans Japan's 1st Faculty of Pop Culture

On Monday, Kyoto Seika University announced plans to establish Japan's first Faculty of Popular Culture in April 2013. Next April, the university will present the concept for its fifth department to Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) and aims to open the Faculty of Popular Culture to students the following year. Kyoto Seika University already has Faculties of Manga, Art, Design, and Humanities.

The university intends to unite the study of manga, animation, music, and fashion in the Faculty of Popular Culture. The department will enroll 118 students in two four-year programs concentrating on music and fashion. The planned courses will prepare students for careers in music performance, song writing, fashion design, clothing production, and other fields. This is the first time a post-secondary education institution in Japan will offer such a curriculum focusing on popular culture.

Kyoto Seika University has a 40-year history of academic study in manga and animation. The university was first to install a specialized area of manga studies in 2000, and it then created a Faculty of Manga in 2006. It was also the first to establish a master's degree program in manga last year, when it accepted 20 students. In June, the university announced it will accept 4 to 12 students for a manga doctorate program in April of next year. Kyoto Seika University also launched the interactive manga community website Mangaku on November 1

Source: Anime Anime Biz