GIS: messages from teachers and staff

This website is now being revised. For the latest information please see our printed pamphlet for 2011 (in Japanese, 11 MB PDF).

A word from our teachers

AA Academic area CR Current research EB Educational background

Michael BETTRIDGE

AA American Literature
CR Fiction bestsellers and the global community; creative writing
EB B.A. and M.A. in Literature, California State University, Long Beach

I approach literature as an explorer must approach a new world. I land on its pages, visit new places and visit with people I have never met, listen in on conversations, and marvel as writers tell stories in ways and in language that keep me turning corners in anticipation. Entertainment. Enlightenment. Questions and complications. Heroes, villains, victims, the guilty and the innocent, the explorer and the explored. Literature: it gives me the world.

Peter EVANS

AA Linguistics
CR Second language acquisition
EB B.A. in Sociology and M.A. in Language Acquisition, University of Essex

Without language, our lives would be much poorer. Yes, we could still enjoy music, but we’d have trouble recommending any, let alone finding which songs were worth downloading. Till recently, language and language learning were full of mysteries, but research is explaining a lot. So if you read and understand just one good book about language, you’ll know more about some aspects of language than anybody could have done a generation ago. And some of what you read may surprise you. . . .

	Diana KHOR AA Sociology, Women’s Studies CR The social construction of gender and sexuality; the development of Women’s Studies in Japan EB B.Soc.Sci. and M.Phil. in Sociology, University of Hong Kong; M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology, Stanford University
“Aha!” “Ahhh!” “Oooh, I see!” That magic moment when students suddenly see things in a new light. In every course I teach, whatever the subject matter, I invite students to look beneath the surface, to go against their common sense, and see that “things are not necessarily what they seem.” Come to my classes and experience that magic moment!

KOBORI Machiko

AA TESOL and Second Language Acquisition
CR Motivation to teach and learn EFL/ESL, and curriculum
EB B.A. in English Literature and Language, Tsuda College; M.A. in TESOL, University of Ulster; M.A. in Educational Studies, University of York

All the joys and touching moments you can experience from working as a teacher will bring you a whole new world. What you can do, feel and encounter there is precious to pass down to those who will come after you. Sharing with them everything you’ve absorbed can be wonderful, as will the knowledge that they too will pass it along. A century from now, someone will follow in your footsteps, saying, “Life is filled with surprises!” It is indeed, and to help ensure they’re good surprises, join us to become a great educator.

NIIYA Yu

AA Social and Cultural Psychology
CR Ego-threat and learning from failures; emotion and culture; amae
EB B.A. in Liberal Arts, International Christian University; M.A. in Social Psychology, University of Tokyo; Ph.D. in Social Psychology, University of Michigan

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could read people’s minds, and tell exactly what they are thinking, feeling, and about to do? I fell in love with psychology when I was a teenager, believing it would give me a super mystic mind-reading power. For good or bad, I still do not have that uncanny skill (and probably never will). Perhaps this is why I continue to be intrigued by the intricacy of the human mind.

PAPP Zília

AA Media Studies, Art History
CR Contemporary art and media of the Asia–Pacific region; journalism
EB B.Des. and M.Des. in Visual Communication Design, Kyushu University; Ph.D. in Media and Communications, University of New South Wales

International education is very important, especially in Media Studies. In my classes, we’ll learn about how cultural diversity appears in the media productions of countries of the Asia Pacific region: something of great interest to me, as a Hungarian who’s worked in Australia as well as Japan. We’ll also learn the basics of Media Studies with regard to the sites of production, transmission and consumption of media products including animation, journalism, television broadcasting and film.

	SOMURA Mitsutoshi AA English Literature CR Seventeenth century English literature, British culture and society after Thatcherism EB B.A. in Business Management, Aoyama Gakuin University; M.A. in English Literature, Hosei University
English literature was once regarded as a representation of the English way of life, morals, taste and way of doing things. But today, literature in English is tremendously varied. Across the world, many writers from various backgrounds are creating works in English. Reading their works will help you think of contemporary Japan and its literature anew.

	Ellen VAN GOETHEM AA Oriental Languages and Cultures CR Ancient Japanese history, in particular the reign of Emperor Kanmu and the Nagaoka capital EB B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. in Oriental Languages and Cultures, Ghent University
For me, life is all about crossing boundaries — between nations, between cultures, between people, and between disciplines. This philosophy is reﬂected in my teaching, which mainly concerns the broad ﬁeld of Asian history and culture. Join GIS and discover the exciting challenges I have in store for you!

WATANABE Yutai

AA Sociolinguistics, New Zealand Studies
CR Language attitudes, particularly how a variety of accents are evaluated in the English-speaking countries
EB B.A. in English studies, Taisho University; M.A. in English linguistics, Hosei University

As a junior high student, I started to study English as most of you did, and was curious about how people lived in countries far from Japan. While still learning it, I became increasingly intrigued by sociolinguistics: the study of language and its relation to the society that uses it. That in turn brought another interest of mine, New Zealand Studies. I look forward to finding out all about the country with you, from the All Blacks to the filming locations of LOTR to hokey pokey ice cream.

A word from our staff

Behind (left to right):
IIZUKA Masatoshi,
Aaron DALE,
SEKIGUCHI Hisayo
In front (left to right):
OKADA Naomi,
MORI Hiroko,
MIYAMOTO Chiyoko

   Thank you for visiting the website. We the staff of GIS are here to help you.
   If you have a question about campus life, registration, or credits, or don’t know where to turn, please don’t hesitate to visit us at the GIS office (on the first floor of 55/58-nenkan).
   In the GIS Research Room (across from the Common Room), you can find information and get help on study abroad, browse through books or other materials related to your coursework, or enjoy a quick chat with GIS professors who use the room for class preparation and so on. A native speaker of English works in this room as well, so pop in and say “hi” if you’re passing by.