2023 Faculty Blog
Here is a record of some of the classes we taught in 2023. You will find entries on a variety of classes from all of our faculty members. Entries cover both the Spring and Fall semesters from 2023.
English 4: Speech and Presentation
The goal of English 4 (Speech and Presentation) has been to have students focus less on the act of producing a presentation and more on
Advanced English 4 (Academic Writing)
In December, students wrote a comparative essay about two different places using comparative phrases. This time they used Chat GPT to revise their essay. We
Survey of American Literature 1
The final week has just been finished of the Survey of American Literature class. Throughout this lecture, I hope, students have obtained literary knowledge that
Research Project 4
This week we had our final session of Research Project 4G. Students each gave a short presentation to sum up what they had learnt through
THEORY OF INTERNATIONAL LEADERS
The students have acquired an understanding of the essential principles and practices in international leadership. Through their study of the foundations of international leadership, they
Global Studies 4
Our classes are small, with only about 20-25 students who have less experience, knowledge and skills, but are young enough to have the potential to
SEMINAR ON TEACHERS’ PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
Students are currently learning about the last topic of this lesson – moral education. Through this subject the students have learnt about the qualities and
Applied Studies in International Development & Aid I
Each student undertook their own project of participatory development during the semester, and presented the outcomes. Due to the limitations in time and resources available,
Theory of International Development & Aid II
We started the new year’s class with an individual presentation to design a career that addresses glocal social issues. Each student searched and selected interesting
Introduction to English Linguistics 2
In my class, I have taught the bases in the structure of English language. The main question is as follows: What is English Linguistics? The
Research in English Teaching 2
In January, the students are practicing teaching English to young children in the primary classrooms. Young learners do not come to the language classroom empty-handed.
Reed: AE2 Critical Thinking
In December, students learned about arguments and how to re-construct them into premises and a conclusion. By doing this, students could more easily pick up
Survey of American Literature 1
The tenth week has just been finished of the Survey of American Literature class. We started the class by reviewing students’ essay written about American
Advanced English 4 (Academic Writing)
Students wrote a narrative essay about their most embarrassing moment in life. They used time expressions to clarify the sequence of events and past continuous
English 4: Speech and Presentation
For Project 2, students were randomized into new groups of three or 4 students. Groups were then given a random month of episodes from the
Research Project 4
In Research Project 4G, as we approach the end of the academic year, class time has been divided between students giving updates on the progression
Applied Studies in Global Business Ⅰ
After learning what the franchise business/license business are and key points of those business types, students conducted their research and successfully made presentations on Dec.
Global Studies 4
In December, we will focus on enhancing the students’ ability to make impromptu and lively discussions, which has not been practiced much in this classroom.
THEORY OF INTERNATIONAL LEADERS
The students have been provided with a understanding of the fundamental principles and practices of International leadership. With the foundations of international leadership, the students
Introduction to English Linguistics 2
In my class, I have taught the bases in the structure of English language. The main question is as follows: What is English Linguistics? The
SEMINAR ON TEACHERS’ PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
Finally, the students are becoming like real teachers. Since November, they have been receiving practical training for when they become teachers next April. For example,
Research in English Teaching 2
In December, the students are designing and developing multi-media language teaching/learning materials with their PCs and tablets as a means of facilitating and deepening their
Theory of International Development & Aid II
After learning about NGOs and NPOs, we invited Mr. Noriaki Imai, President of NPO DxP, who gave a lecture on “Initiative to Prevent Teenagers’ Isolation:
Applied Studies in International Development & Aid I
In November, we had an opportunity to listen to a lecture by a guest, who has a wealth of experience in the fields of international
English 4: Speech and Presentation
This week saw all student groups complete their first attempt at teaching their classmates about a specific topic. As detailed in my last post, each
Research Project 4
For the last several sessions of Research Project 4G, we have been reading about and thinking about the issue of “foreigners” who live in Japan
Survey of American Literature 1
The seventh week has just been finished of the Survey of American Literature class. We started the class by reviewing students’ short essays (their assignments)
Global Studies 2C
The class has just finished its sixth week. The students have completed their first report on the topic of ‘Film’. The peer review helped them
Research in English Teaching 2
In November, the students are engaged in micro-teaching/mock-teaching using ministry-authorized textbooks for junior high schools. Implementing both a traditional teaching framework known as PPP (Presentation,
Applied Studies in International Development & Aid I
We have been learning both concepts and methods related with participatory development. The former includes the ‘ladder of citizen participation’ (Arnstein 1969), ‘asset-based community development’
AE2 Critical Thinking
This month in AE2, we have continued going through the book and learning about the different factors that can influence our thinking. While most students
Applied Studies in Global Business Ⅰ
Students made brief presentations about “Business based on Sales”, and “Business based on Agency/Distributorship” on Nov. 10, 2023. 2 (two) teams worked on the former
Advanced English 4 (Academic Writing)
Students wrote a descriptive essay about the food they would recommend to others. They used all kinds of adjectives to describe taste, touch, smell, and
Introduction to English Linguistics 2
The aim of my class is to give the students some feelings for what interests a wide variety of English Linguistics and for the nature of the English language: Now I mainly focus on syntactic structure (on English sentence and other language sentences) in terms of analyzing of Generative Grammar proposed by a distinguished linguist, Noam Chomsky. Please enjoy the wonder of English language and languages with me!
Global Studies 4
As November begins, the climate is getting more comfortable for learning, but the classroom is getting hotter than August, due to the enthusiasm that fills the students to participate in the group work using Google Cloud.
THEORY OF INTERNATIONAL LEADERS
Students have gained a knowledge on a consequence of the global nature of international leadership. They have also gained a knowledge on mindset that is required by leaders in order to lead effective organisations.
SEMINAR ON TEACHERS’ PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
In the classes, the students understood that they are not choosing a job as a teacher but choosing a way of life as a teacher.
Theory of International Development & Aid II
I am convinced that our class today was incredibly impactful. Addressing topics like history and war crimes, particularly in the context of discussion among individuals from five different countries, requires great sensitivity. Despite this, the class engaged in open dialogue without hiding any truths. What struck me the most was the Japanese students’ willingness to confront the issues candidly and sincerely. Additionally, it’s surprising to note that despite China having a higher GDP than Japan on the world stage, the fact that China had been receiving ODA from Japan since 1979 and only recently stopped in 2022 is astonishing to me.
English 4: Speech and Presentation
English 4 is the top of the pyramid of the core English classes taught in the first two years of the program with the Faculty
AE2 Critical Thinking
The Advanced English 2 (AE2) course is, like the first course in the series, about actively using English to discuss and learn about a particular
Theory of International Development & Aid II
This course provides students with a basic knowledge of the theory and structure of development assistance, policies and aid projects, including ODA, NGO/NPO to address
Applied Studies in Global Business Ⅰ
On top of the Intellectual Property which we discussed at Global Business III, any company needs to have some business model for the sustainable revenue/profit
Advanced English 4 (Academic Writing)
The goal of Advanced English 4 is for students to be able to write four to five paragraph essays by the end of the term.
Global Studies 4
We are pleased to welcome the beginning of the fall semester of Global Studies 4, a class for Otemon’s first-class faculty and students who are
Introduction to English Linguistics 2
In my class, I have taught the bases in the structure of English language. The main question is as follows: What is English Linguistics? The
Survey of American Literature 1
The second week has just been finished of the Survey of American Literature class. In this semester, I started to discuss some of the specific
Global Studies 2C
In this class, we will learn how to write an academic report. There are two main things we will be working on in the class.
Applied Studies in International Development & Aid I
This course looks at “participatory development” as its main theme. With that in mind, we tried to know about ourselves in the first week. What
SEMINAR ON TEACHERS’ PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
Through this course, students will confirm the qualities and abilities required to be a teacher and be able to start smoothly their working careers at
THEORY OF INTERNATIONAL LEADERSHIP
The course is expected to enable international business leaders or entrepreneurs to be better at decision-making and problem solving, increase their ability to communicate effectively
Research Project 4
Following an “orientation” session for our first class, in this week’s Research Project 4G we had our first content-based lesson. We read a Japanese essay
Advanced English 1
All presentations are made up of multiple messages: The story message: what you say The spoken message: how you say it The visual message: what
Introduction to English Linguistics 1
In my class, I have taught the basics of the structure of the English language. The main question is as follows: What is English Linguistics?
English 3
Now we have come to the end of the term, and the English 3 students have finished up making their websites for their second project
Introduction to American History and Culture
Last week we argued how America entered the World War II and the Americans dealt with the second red scare after the war. The war completely changed the relationship between Japan and America. We also considered why the nuclear weapons were used in the war.
Theory of International Development & Aid 4
In July, the students made a group presentation about one of the four topics. proposal for the promotion of fair trade proposal for solving issues
Theory of International Business
We have covered wide ranging relevant topics such as identification of a country’s comparative advantage.
Introduction to Global and Local Cultures
In the second half of the class, the students first learnt about religious conflicts in India, followed by the frequent terrorist attacks in Europe. Religious
Theory of International Development & Aid 4
The course concluded with students’ final presentations, which provided the whole class with opportunities to learn the key points of their research papers. The topics
Global Seminar 1
Based on their acquired skills, knowledge, and attitudes, students are becoming familiar with using academic solutions to solve assigned problems through teamwork and a spirit
Study Abroad Preparatory Seminar 2
This class was a three-day intensive course. The class began with a review of the students’ experience of studying abroad at Green River College in
Advanced English 3
On week 11-13, students gave a mini-lesson aimed at junior high English class. They came up with activities to teach pronunciation using “karuta”, teach past tense using “sugoroku”, and teach grammar rules using “find the mistakes”.
Research Project 3
The purpose of this English presentation was for students to think about how easily their research “translates” into English. Titles are usually fairly easy to translate, but describing what makes the research worthwhile often requires thinking from (and speaking to) another person’s perspective – a much more difficult exercise.
Global Business III
Students will pick up one company, explore how and which IP such company has been utilizing to have the sustainable revenue/profit in the business, and analyze such company’s business model.
Introduction to Global and Local Cultures
In this course, students learn about the role of religion in Indian society. This course provides an overview of Hinduism, which accounts for nearly 80%
Research in English Teaching
In June classes, we focus on both WHAT we teach and HOW we teach. As the first step, students are encouraged to define what makes
Global Business III
To have the sustainable revenue/profit in the business, any company needs to have some Intellectual Property (“IP”), which is true even to small size companies.
Advanced English 3 (Qualification English)
The two main purposes of Advanced English 3 are to prepare students participating in the English Professional Program and to help students in the Teaching
Research Project 3
The Research Project 3 class which I teach is about “border-crossing” or “ekkyo” in the context of contemporary Japan, and more specifically contemporary literature (novels
Theory of International Development & Aid 4
This new course considers issues and goals of development with particular reference to the natural environment. In the early weeks of the semester, we had