電気通信大学 ASE I: Accidents of science - the case of LSD・理科、研究の過失「LSDについて」

Hello!

How are you? To go with our reading today about the accidental discovery of LSD, here is a video of a song that many people felt was about the kind of drug experience that LSD creates. 

In the U.S., Britain, and Europe in the 1960s and 1970s, LSD became a popular drug amongst hippies and many other young people, and it influenced the popular music of the time. 

The rock concert poster above was typical of the time for its psychedelic imagery - the kind many people connected with LSD use.

While many believed that LSD was not harmful, the experiences of many young people at the time showed that it could be very harmful - especially in young people who might already have had delicate mental health. 

LSD became an example of a discovery in science that later became important in the cultural history of the late 20th century in many Western countries - often for the wrong reasons. 

Activity/homework
Listen to this song as many times as you want or need. You do not have to understand what it means - because the lyrics really do not make a logical story at all. But what do you think of it? What imagery do you get from the song that you find fantastic or impactful? How do you think it might fit with what Albert Hoffman's experience with LSD was? 

Make some notes about this and bring them in next week to share. 

Here are the board notes for our class on 6/4:

See you then!

Image: Screenshot of original image from https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57e1a12837c58156a98ba36d/t/57f5698e2e69cfd39f9ab989/1475701158908/pae-insiders-report.pdf 
I do not own the rights to the original image. not copyright infringement intended. All rights reserved to the copyright holder(s). Screenshot taken and uploaded for classroom use only. 
Board notes - personal photograph. All rights reserved.

Video uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to the musical composition or the video. Uploaded for classroom purposes only. 

電気通信大学 ASE II: Presentation topic 4: プレゼンテーショントピック4

Hello! 

How are you? Our 4th presentation topic will be about refugees (難民) and their issues. 

While I will give you all the handout about this next week, I am posting about it now here as a different way to introduce the presentations we will do on these - and to get you started on this new topic now.

Topic

This topic will be about refugees, with an emphasis on the pros and cons (賛否両論) of countries accepting refugees – either in the case of Japan, or other countries. 

There are a number of reasons why people must leave the countries they are from and we can see in the news now what those are, and which countries are producing the greatest numbers of refugees. We can also see the opposition in many countries to refugees, often over social, religious, or economic reasons.

For this issue, choose one of the suggestions below and develop a two-sided argument about:

• The effectiveness, but also the difficulties, that relief agencies have had in working with refugees 

• The success stories, but also the difficulties, that certain countries have had in absorbing and settling refugees (choose one (1) country for this)

You can also choose either one (1) of the following – while either of these may not strictly follow what should be in a two-sided argument, showing two different points about them would be okay:

• Any research you can find on successes and difficulties with refugee resettlement in Japan (such as what refugees in Japan have had success with, but also what difficulties they still may have

• Any research you can find on successes, but with difficulties, of individual refugee voices and their stories of resettlement in Japan or another country (same here – what successes they may have, but also what difficulties they still have)

In either case, show in your conclusion (まとめ) the pros and cons (賛否両論) of refugee resettlement.

Resources

While you should look for links on the internet (in either English or Japanese) for your research, here are some video links that can help you. 

Watch these to give you some background information - but again, look for other links as well. (I strongly recommend you watch these on a computer so you can find how to turn on Japanese subtitling ability)

Background about refugees and differences between refugees (難民) and migrants (移民) :

“What does it mean to be a refugee?” https://youtu.be/25bwiSikRsI

Refugee voices:

“I am not a number: A refugee’s tale”: https://youtu.be/R3r4gnSouqQ

Arguments against resettling refugees:

“Why the U.S. should NOT let in 100,000 Syrian refugees” (short, but all in English with no ability for Japanese subtitles) https://youtu.be/zb2eKfBIqvM

Views among Japanese on resettling refugees in Japan: 
“Do Japanese want refugees in Japan?” (Interview – mostly in Japanese) https://youtu.be/oNjwoa3OoA8

Refugee experiences in Japan:

“Refugees in Japan” https://youtu.be/0H8kV5BOYus

Important notes
This time, we will do individual presentations instead of group projects. But the individual presentations will be shorter – 5-6 minutes maximum, including a Q&A and/or commentary – though like the group presentations, you will present to small groups around the classroom.

Deadline (締め切り)

We will do these on December 19th (12/19), so you have two weeks to prepare. 

Guidelines

1. Prepare a summary (要約) about who you want to present on. The summary will be due on the day of the presentations on 12/19 – but I would like to get some idea of what you would do next week on December 12th. I will give you a topic preparation sheet next week that you can plan on.

2. Finalize your presentation outside of class and be ready to present on 12/19!

See you next week!

Image: By NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan from Afghanistan (120410-N-3069F-025  Uploaded by russavia) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/120410-N-3069F-025_%287109524151%29.jpg

電気通信大学 ASE II: Pros & cons of refugee acceptance・難民受諾の賛否

Hello!

How are you? Here I have a list of questions for you to answer that will go with the handouts I have given you about arguments for and against refugee acceptance in Europe - what we would call the pros and cons (賛否両論) of this issue. 

Steps
Please read through each handout and make some notes in your notebooks to answer the following questions: 

Reading 1 
Values matter 
1. What are the values that this reading shows are vital and need to be kept? 
2. What is the name of the main agreement shown about respecting and protecting refugees? 
3. What risk does it say would happen if such commitments are violated? 

Better for them to stay close to home
1. What is one problem that could happen the more that refugees are resettled far away from where they come from? 
2. How many doctors did this reading say that Syria had before their war? 
3. What does it say that governments should be doing for the long-term future of countries like Syria and Iraq? 

Reading 2 
Real security
1. What does the reading say would be the risk of closing the doors to refugees? 
2. What is one thing it says that Daesh is trying to do among refugees coming to Europe? 
3. According to the reading, how many refugees have been admitted to the U.S. since 1980? 
4. How many of the refugees does it say have been involved in terrorist attacks? 

It's a recruitment call for populists
1. What is the name of the main anti-immigration party in Germany? 
2. What are some of the things that populists say that refugees bring with them? 
3. According to the reading, what is the political risk of allowing more refugees to come into Europe? 

Reading 3
Economics and demographics
1. What does it say was the average birthrate in 1960 of countries that are now in the European Union? 
2. How about the average birthrate in 2014? 
3. What is the name of the ratio that is going to rise to 50.1% by 2060? 
4. What are some examples of refugee successes and the places they come from that are shown in the reading?  

Europe can't cope
1. In the reading, how many first-time asylum seekers did the EU register in 2015? 
2. How many in the first months of 2016? 
3. What are two countries that have been especially burdened with refugees? 

When you are finished, Q&A with each other to check on these answers to make sure you have the correct responses.

See you next week! 

Image: By Unknown - http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00routesdata/1900_1999/partition/camps/camps.html, Public Domain, http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31055700

東京理科大学 A英3: Origins of cats & dogs・猫と犬の起源

Hello!

How are you? Today I have two short videos for you that I hope you find interesting - one is about the origins (起源) of cats, and the other is about the origins of dogs. 

Both videos show where these animals came from and how they became domesticated (馴れた).  

Activity/homework

Watch these short videos. Watch each one as many times as you want or need. The first is about where cats came from and how they spread around the world. The second is about dogs, and where they came from and how they also spread around the world. 

There are no set questions about the videos that you have to report to the class. Mainly, they are to give you some background as to where cats and dogs came from, how they both first came into contact with humans, and how humans first found them to be useful, and how they also found them to be good as pets. 

But - make notes about the videos, because if you do any writing about cats or dogs, the information you'll see in the videos may be very useful for you!

First video - about cats:

Second video - about dogs: 

Hope these were very interesting for you!

See you next time!

Image: Personal photograph. All rights reserved. 

Videos uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to the videos or the content within them. All rights reserved to the copyright holder(s). Uploaded for educational purposes.