English Lectures
English Lecture Series
Many times a year we offer lectures in English. These are on a variety of topics, and are given by both Japanese and foreign speakers. Anyone is welcome to attend the lectures, and more information will be posted here beforehand. (Note: TBA = To be announced)
2025
Semester 1
- Lecture 1
May 12 “What It Means to Be Japanese” — Anne Crescini [more information] - Lecture 2
May 26 “Use AI; Don’t Let It Use You” — Hiroshi Otani - Lecture 3
June 16 “Canada: More than Moose and Maple Syrup” — Robert Cochrane - Lecture 4
June 30 “Our Study Abroad Experiences: Cultural Differences” — English Department Students [Video]
2023
- Lecture 1
May 24 “The Sky Is the Limit” — Tomoko Torii - Lecture 2June 28 “Culture Shock Is a Seed of Growth” — Mayumi Nishihara
- Lecture 3October 16 “Introducing Turkey” — Ugur Murat Deniz
- Lecture 4November 6 “Unity in Diversity” — Fiona Creaser
2022
Semester 1
- Lecture 1
April 18 “Getting the Most Out of English Lectures” — Malcolm Swanson - Lecture 2
April 25 “Global Citizenship; Current Issues in Australia” —Nicole Sonobe - Lecture 3
May 16 “Folktales & World Cultures” — Amir Feroze - Lecture 4
May 23 “Fostering and Adoption“ — Melodie Cook - Lecture 5
May 30 “ Festival of Haiku” — David McMurray - Lecture 6
June 13 “Values I Have Learned From My ‘Parents’“ — Ken Ikeda - Lecture 7
June 20 “10+ Ways to Improve Your English while Having Fun” — Jackson Koon Yat Lee - Lecture 8
July 4 “Korean Language and Culture through Film and Media” — Michael Free
Semester 2
- Lecture 1
October 4 “Drama Workshop #1” — Dennis Woolbright - Lecture 2
October 11 “Drama Workshop #2” — Dennis Woolbright - Lecture 3
October 25 “Telling Stories 2” — Charles Kowalski - Lecture 4
November 1 “From Hating to Teaching English: A Teacher’s Journey“ — Jackson Lee - Lecture 5
November 8 “Communication Beyond Language Barriers” — Kosei Ishigami - Lecture 6
November 22 “Working for Developing Countries as an Economist of International Monetary Fund“ — Yasuhisa Ojima - Lecture 7
November 29 “Study Abroad Reports Session” — Seven students - Lecture 8
December 6 “My Experiences with Study Abroad and Career Paths” — Mizuki Miyamoto - Lecture 9
December 13 “What Does an Interpreter/Guide Do?「通訳案内士ってどんな仕事？」”
2021
Semester 1
- Lecture 1
April 19 “Hospital Facility Dogs” — Marina Rodriguez - Lecture 2
May 10 “Diversity in how people learn” —Alexandra Burke - Lecture 3
May 17 “Stress and a Fruitful Life” — Ai Murphy - Lecture 4
June 14 “Malaysia’s multicultural heritage and natural diversity“ — Khadijah Omar - Lecture 5
June 21 “The history, culture, and present-day status of Māori in New Zealand” — Matthew Cotter - Lecture 6
June 28 “Mindfulness“ — Tei Kobayashi - Lecture 7
July 5 “Sofubi and Gachapon: From cheap toys to art objects” — Herb Fondevilla - Lecture 8
July 12 “Japanese American WWII history” — Cassie Guevara
Semester 2
- Lecture 1
September 28 “Immigrant and Foreign Patients in the Japanese Health Care System” — Mathew Porter - Lecture 2
October 5 “SDGs” —Junko Ota - Lecture 3
October 12 “The Problem with Australia’s National Anthem” — Kristen Sullivan - Lecture 4
October 19 “Tales of Ghostly Japan“ — Charles Kowalski - Lecture 5
November 2 “NGO Work in Cambodia” — Mari Arimatsu - Lecture 6
November 9 “Culture Shock Japan“ — Andy Boon - Lecture 7
November 30 “New Zealand Ecology” — Patrick Swanson - Lecture 8
December 14 “Developing a Multi-Cultural Mindset” — Rob Fritz
2020
- Lecture 1
May 11 “Eat Healthy, Be Smart! – Food & Learning” [video]
Ai Murphy - Lecture 2
June 8 “Japanese English is Japanese”
Anne Crescini - Lecture 3
July 6 “Studying Abroad Part 1” [video 1, video 2, video 3] - Lecture 4
July 13 “Studying Abroad Part 2” [video 4, video 5, video 6, video 7] - Lecture 5
October 29 “Fantastic Experience at Walt Disney World” [video]
Rio Kunida - Lecture 6
November 5 “The Richer, the More Equal?: Women in Thailand and Japan” [video]
Kyoko Kusakabe - Lecture 7
November 19 “What is intercultural communication competence and how can you enhance it?”
Kazunori Nozawa - Lecture 8
January 21 “The Wonder of Language” [video]
Anne Crescini
2019
- Lecture 1
May 20 “Living in Vietnam” [video]
L. Dennis Woolbright - Lecture 2
June 17 “Learning from Studying Abroad” [video]
Minami Toya, Rina Tanaka, Yukino Koura, Nanako Serizawa, Kanako Saiki, Kaki Jo, and Yuki Miyake - Lecture 3
July 22 “Oh Canada” [video]
Andrew Anthony Joseph Zitzmann - Lecture 4
October 17 “What’s ‘New’ About New Zealand?” [video]
Malcolm Swanson - Lecture 5
November 21 “What’s ‘Great About Great Britain?” [video]
Nicholas Kemp - Lecture 6
January 23 “A Festival of English—Zion Cup English Contest Finals” [video]
Speeches from Year 1 students, presentations from other students
2018
- Lecture 1
May 10 “Japanese English Is Japanese”
Anne Crescini - Lecture 2
June 21 “Three Cultural Viewpoints”
Anna Bor, Laura Burton, and Teagan Hopwood – Winchester University students - Lecture 3
July 19 “Anybody Can Be Fluent in English”
INOMORI Takashi - Lecture 4
October 18 “Australia Now”
Ian Brazier - Lecture 5
November 15 “Understanding and Teaching Fluency”
José Domingo Cruz - Lecture 6
January 24 “A Festival of English—Zion Cup English Contest Finals”
Speeches from Year 1 students, presentations from other students
2017
- Lecture 1
May 11 “How English played a part in my life”
Nobuaki Haihara - Lecture 2
June 15 “Britain: Four Viewpoints”
Winchester University students - Lecture 3
July 20 “Being a second generation American”
Mariko Ejima - Lecture 4
October 19 “Happiness: Myth & Reality”
Alok Kumar Jha - Lecture 5
November 9 “Drama in English: A Fun Way Too Develop Language Skills”
Robin Reid - Lecture 6
January 11 “A festival of English—Zion Cup English Contest Finals”
Speeches from Year 1 students, presentations from other students
2016
- Lecture 1
May 12 “Eat Healthy, Be Smart! – Food & Learning”
Ai Murphy - Lecture 2
June 16 “Britain: Four Viewpoints”
Winchester University students - Lecture 3
July 21 “My life as a teacher in Japan: Lessons in a lifetime well spent”
L. Dennis Woolbright - Lecture 4
October 20 “Oh Canada, eh! – The place, the people, the culture“
Michael Berg - Lecture 5
November 10 “Studying Abroad”
Reports from Mizuki Miyamoto, Moeko Kuroishi, Chinatsu Koga, Urara Ono, Ikumi Yoshizumi, Momono Takahara, and Tomomi Yamato - Lecture 6
January 19 “A festival of English—Zion Cup English Contest Finals”
Speeches from Year 1 students, presentations from other students
2015
- Lecture 1
May 21 “A Celebration of Cultures”
International students from Kyushu Institute of Technology - Lecture 2
June 18 “Britain: Five Viewpoints”
Winchester University students - Lecture 3
July 16 “How I learned English”
Hiroshi Otani - Lecture 4
October 29 “Black Hair: Understanding the Roots of Identity“
Lisa Barker - Lecture 5
November 19 “TBA”
Nigel Stott - Lecture 6
January 21 “A festival of English—Zion Cup English Contest Finals”
Speeches from Year 1 students, presentations from other students
2014
- Lecture 1
May 29 “Golden Myanmar”
Wai Wai Hnin - Lecture 2
June 19 “Britain: Three More Viewpoints”
Winchester University students - Lecture 3
July 17 “Gulliver’s Troubles—An outside view of Japan”
Lawrence Chivers - Lecture 4
October 30 “Women in Fashion or Intelligence: The History behind the Stereotype of Fashion“
Cindy Daugherty - Lecture 5
November 20 “Implementing U.S. Foreign Policy”
Margaret Macleod - Lecture 6
January 22″A festival of English—Zion Cup English Contest Finals”
Speeches from Year 1 students, presentations from other students
2013
- Lecture 1
May 30 “United Nations Millennium Development Goals”
Judith Johnson - Lecture 2
June 20 “Britain: Four Viewpoints”
Winchester University students - Lecture 3
July 18 “Studying and Working Abroad
Shoko Amioka & Miles Green - Lecture 4
October 31 “International Relationships”
Paula Goto, Steve Paton, & Pierre Bruchet - Lecture 5
November 21 “Indonesia is a lovely country”
Indriyani Rachman - Lecture 6
January 23″A festival of English—Zion Cup English Contest Finals”
Speeches from Year 1 students, presentations from other students
2012
- Lecture 1
May 24 “Sharing the Gift of English with your Children”
Tomoko Uezono - Lecture 2
June 21 “Britain: Four Viewpoints”
Winchester University students and Seinan students who studied abroad - Lecture 3
July 19 “English on the Job”
Susannah Bradley - Lecture 4
October 18 “Volunteering Abroad“
Miki Tsukamoto & Chiyo Furukawa - Lecture 5
November 15 “Public Health“
Miyafumi Higashi - Lecture 6
January 24 “Bringing The Big Three Western Holidays to Japan”
Jamar A. Miller
…plus 3 presentations from our Presentations Skills class
2011
- Lecture 1
May 12 “Budget Travel”
Justin Endo - Lecture 2
June 16 “Britain: Four Viewpoints”
Winchester University students - Lecture 3
July 21 “Reach for the stars! Go global!”
Gina Whittle - Lecture 4
October 20 “Happiness”
Ken Gibson - Lecture 5
November 10 “A pathway to your future – gaining experience through volunteer work“
Hiroko Ohba - Lecture 6
February 2 “A festival of English”
Various speakers
2010
- Lecture 1
May 20 “SARA – For your mind, body, and spirit”
Ayaka Tasaka, Seinan Jo Gakuin University - Lecture 2
June 17 “Britain: Four Viewpoints”
Winchester University students - Lecture 3
July 15 “Dear Miss Breed”
Rio Imamura - Lecture 4
October 21 “Backlash against feminism: Are career women really happy?”
Suzuko Brown-Mamoto - Lecture 5
November 18 “A Brazilian Wedding”
Lynda Batty
“Utah–Life Elevated”
Casey Morgan - Lecture 6
January 20 “A look at German culture”
Benjiman Daeuwel
2009
- Lecture 1
April 16 “Study Abroad: New Zealand”
Mika Ieiri & Malcolm Swanson - Lecture 2
May 21 “Britain: Three Viewpoints”
Winchester University students - Lecture 3
June 18 “Teaching English to Kids”
Julian Warden - Lecture 4
October 29 “Biculturalism in Canada”
Andrew Zitzmann - Lecture 5
November 19 “Use of English Language for International Development Work”
Amihan April Mella-Alcazar - Lecture 6
January 21 “A Festival of English”
Various speakers
2008
- Lecture 1
April 17 “The History of Western Names”
Margaret Orleans - Lecture 2
May 22 “Ukraine”
Lina Maksymuk - Lecture 3
June 19 “Random Acts of Kindness”
Ken Gibson - Lecture 4
October 23 “Reporting the News-In English”
Shoichi Nasu - Lecture 5
December 4 “Canadian Culture”
Richard Payne - Lecture 6
January 22 “Tips to Improve English Listening Skills”
Takashi Inomori
2007
- Lecture 1
April 19 “Two Cultures, Two Perspectives”
Dennis Woolbright & Malcolm Swanson - Lecture 2
May 24 “The 3Rs in Kitakyushu!”
Shinsuke Takeuchi - Lecture 3
July 21 “Strategies for Becoming a Good English Learner”
Panel Discussion - Lecture 4
November 15 “An American Lawyer in Japan”
Barbara Shore - Lecture 5
January 16 “Reach for the Stars”
Gina Whittle
2006
- Lecture 1
May 10 “Comparing Cultures”
Malcolm Swanson & Paula Ricci - Lecture 2
June 14 “International Marriage”
Panel Discussion - Lecture 3
July 5 “International Students in Japan”
Panel Discussion - Lecture 4
November 22 “Flying High with English”
Junko Uemura & Michael Cayne - Lecture 5
December 20 “False Internationalization and Cultural Miscommunication”
Barrett Balvanz