Being a Citizen of the World: A talk by André Makino

There are many ways to help others, some small and others monumental. We often hear of the work of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the media, but what is it actually like to work or volunteer for one? How does one prepare for such work? What sorts of intercultural competencies and knowledge of the world are required? When helping others under difficult circumstances, how can one maintain their balance and sustain passion for what they do? The guest speaker, André Makino, will help us answer some of these questions.

As a young man who has an impressive record of accomplishment working with non-profit organizations for the past decade, André Makino will speak about what he has learned through his volunteer experiences, work as an intern, and his role as a field officer for a variety of NGOs that took him from offering the elderly mental support in Tohoku after the Great East Japan Earthquake, to picking up refugees arriving by sea from Turkey, and preparing materials for lessons at schools in the Za’atari refugee camp in Amman, Jordan.

BIO: André Makino is currently the Project Manager of the Japan Iraq Medical Network (JIM-NET) in Erbil, Iraq, where he manages projects to assist cancer-stricken children economically and psychologically, along with programs that assist refugees–especially pregnant women–living in Iraq and Syria. His duties also involve the supervision of Iraqi local staff and three in-hospital school teachers.

EVENT: Open Lecture
WHEN: October 26, 2021 (Tuesday), 3rd Period (13:20~14:50)
WHERE: Aoyama Campus, Honda Auditorium 本多記念館 (17-610) & over Zoom
LANGUAGE: English (without simultaneous interpretation)
TARGET AUDIENCE: IE students and any other interested parties

NOTE: For the link to the Zoom session, apply (using your official AGU email address) by writing to ApplyAoyamaGakuin [AT] gmail.com . Of course, substitute @ for the [AT]. IE Core and IE Seminar students will be offered the link by their teacher.

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Learning about business & companies

A program is being offered that is co-sponsored by Aoyama Gakuin University, Sophia University and Ritsumeikan University.

Many leading companies have collaborated on this program that is meant to teach students about the companies and their business activities.

Students who participate must attend both programs: Program I and Program II. The deadline for registering is July 16th at 1:00 PM. Capacity is limited, so, register as early as possible!

【Program Ⅰ】1-day Orientation
Students choose one day from the following dates:

August 3rd, 2021 10:00-12:00
August 6th, 2021 16:00-18:00
August 12th, 2021 13:00-15:00

【Program Ⅱ】2-day Program

Students are allowed to choose only one of the four options and they must attend the program both days(from 10 AM to 6:30 PM)

Course 1: August 19th and 20th 
The Asahi Shimbun Company and another company (students will be informed as soon as it is decided).

Course 2: August 24th and 25th 
ABeam Consulting Ltd. and Shiseido Company, Limited

Course 3: August 27th and 30th 
Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company, Limited and LOTTE CO., LTD.

Course 4: September 6th and 7th 
KOKUBU GROUP CORP. and Nippon Life Insurance Company

The deadline for registering is July 16th at 1:00 PM.

Please check the Student Portal to register, under the heading “Sign Up and Confirmation for Special Lectures.”

The maximum allowed for each course is 30 students.
Students can register on a “first come, first served” basis.

[Credits: Many thanks to Deborah Bollinger for passing on this information.]

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Career Café on July 7th  (Online via Zoom)

On July 7th students will have the opportunity to interview Aogaku 4th-year students who received offers to work at various companies, such as the following:

  • ABeam Consulting Ltd.                             
  • VMware Japan                                           
  • KEYENCE                                                    
  • DENTSU DIGITAL
  • The Nisshin Seifun Group
  • NITORI Co., Ltd.
  • PwC Consulting LLC(Only ①first round)

Students can ask questions about job hunting and preparation for companies’ employment selection, etc.

There will be 3 rounds of interviews, and participation in 1, 2 or 3 rounds is possible.

①    15:00~15:40

②    15:50~16:30

③    16:40~17:20

DEADLINE FOR REGISTERING: July 6th, by 5:00 PM
WHERE TO REGISTER: Via the Student Portal, (under the heading “Sign Up and Confirmation for Special Lectures“)

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JALT’s Lifelong Language Learning (LLL) SIG Mini Conference 2021: Lifelong Learning Through an Annual Faculty Development Event

We decided to offer a glimpse into our annual Integrated English Program teachers’ orientation to members of JALT (the Japan Association of Language Teaching). In particular, their Lifelong Language Learning (LLL) and Performance in Education (PIE) Special Interest Groups. This event will co-occur with the morning portion of the faculty development event, three panel discussions made up of seven speakers.

It will take place online for the JALT participants, although the event is hybrid for the Integrated English program teachers who will speak and join as audience members/co-discussants.

EVENT: JALT’s Lifelong Language Learning (LLL) SIG Mini Conference 2021: Lifelong Learning Through an Annual Faculty Development Event
WHEN: April 3, 2021 (Saturday); 10:00~12:10
WHERE: Room 17-810 at the Shibuya Campus of AGU and on Zoom (contact Joseph Dias for Zoom room details)
LANGUAGE: English
TARGET AUDIENCE: IE Program teachers; members of the JALT Lifelong Language Learning and Performance in Education Special Interest Groups

See the attached PDF for full details of the program, including the titles of presentations and bios of the 8 speakers. 

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Talk on climate change activism

Hinako Arao will speak about the role that activism can play in one’s life, by connecting her background as an actress and director in the United States and the UK to her environmental activism. She will speak about how her activism was born, her recent participation in Vice President Al Gore’s Climate Reality Leadership Corps training, and her work as a field organizer for an environmental NGO 350.org Japan, founded by Bill McKibben, an American environmentalist, author, and journalist. Ms. Arao will emphasize how important it is for young people from all over the world to participate in environmental activism because they are the ones who will experience the consequences of the climate crisis the most.

TITLE OF TALK: From Acting to Activism: Performing Social and Environmental Justice
WHEN: December 24, 2019 (Tuesday), 3rd Period (13:20~14:50)
WHERE: Aoyama Campus, Building 17, Room 17-604
LANGUAGE: English
TARGET AUDIENCE: IE students and anyone interested in saving the world

Read the transcript of Greta Thunberg’s moving speech at the UN COP24 climate conference in Poland last year and see the video of it below:

Biography of Hinako Arao:

Hinako Arao is a field organizer for an environmental NGO, 350.org Japan. She was born and raised in Japan, did her undergraduate studies and also spent her 20s working as an actress and a director in the United States and England. After returning to Japan, she has worked as a freelance film and TV producer. She enjoys working together with great groups of people to tackle the climate crisis.

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Successful performance of “Macbeth”

Members of Black Stripe Theater company performed a spirited and riveting adaptation of William Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ on December 5th. The audience stayed on the edge of their seats from beginning to end and not a single student was dozing. After the play, the actors graciously remained for a lively Q & A.

Remarkably, the Black Stripe Theater company is simultaneously performing “A Christmas Carol,” “The Hound of the Baskervilles,” and “Macbeth” at venues around Tokyo.

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Hey! The IE Program is on Instagram now!

Find out the latest about IE Program activities and special events by following us on Instagram.

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Performance of Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’

Members of Black Stripe Theater will perform an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s tragedy ‘Macbeth’, a story of ambition, murder, madness, and the supernatural. The play is set in 11th-Century Scotland. After some successes in battle, the great warrior ‘Macbeth,’ is given a prophecy by three witches that he will someday become king. His ambitious wife urges him to speed up the process by killing King Duncan and seizing the crown for himself. Events do not transpire as smoothly and happily as the couple imagines as Macbeth is forced to commit more and more murders to protect himself. He soon becomes a dictator and forces Scotland into civil war. He and Lady Macbeth are then plunged into madness and untimely death.

EVENT: Dramatization of the play “Macbeth”
WHEN: December 5th (Thursday); 3rd period 13:20~14:50 AND an additional performance at 4th period 15:05~16:35
WHERE: Room 17309 — Building 17 on the 3rd Floor at 3rd period and Honda Auditorium 本多記念館 (17-610) at 4th period
LANGUAGE: English
TARGET AUDIENCE: IE students and any other interested parties who love live theater

Read the entire play online in the English of Shakespeare’s day at: http://shakespeare.mit.edu/macbeth/full.html.

Or, read the play in modern translation at “No Sweat Shakespeare”:
https://www.nosweatshakespeare.com/shakespeares-plays/modern-macbeth/act-1-scene-2/.

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Talk by Japanese Canadian Filmmaker Linda Ohama

Speaker: Ms. Linda Ohama

Topic: A new play “From the Inland Sea”

Location: Aoyama Campus, Room 17-610 (Honda Auditorium)

Date: Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Time: 1:20 PM to 2:50 PM (3rd period)

Ms. Linda Ohama is an award-winning Japanese Canadian filmmaker who produced and directed the film Obachan’s Garden (http://culturevulture.net/film/obachans-garden/) and the documentary film “Tohoku no Shingetsu” (“New Moon Over Tohoku”), which concerns the experiences of people in Tohoku who were affected by the earthquake/ tsunami/ nuclear disaster of March 11, 2011 and its aftermath.

The speaker will talk about her recently performed play “From the Inland Sea,” and students will be asked to perform scenes from it that they practiced in class. She will put the play–which involved experiences of her Japanese Canadian grandfather during WWII–into context by giving some background history of the internment of North Americans of Japanese descent during the war.

To be even better prepared for the lecture, read the attached interview and review the script (Act 4 of the play) that teachers will use in class to prepare students for the lecture. Read up on the background of the play here, as well.

It would also be useful for students and teachers who plan to attend the lecture to do some background reading on the internment of Japanese by the Canadian government during the war. Read this concise and well-written entry “Japanese Canadian Internment: Prisoners in their own Country” at https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/japanese-internment-banished-and-beyond-tears-feature .

August Bulletin 2019 Ohama

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Autumn Festival at Meiji Jingu

On three consecutive days, at the beginning of November each year, Meiji Jingu holds its “Autumn Grand Festival”–AKI NO SAI.” This event is held in celebration of Emperor Meiji’s birthday and in honor of various deities. You can see traditional dances given as offerings for gods, Noh performances, and an amazing variety of martial art demonstrations. You can even see Yabusame (archery on horseback).

EVENT: Meiji Jingu Autumn Grand Festival/ AKI NO SAI
WHEN: November 1st – 3rd 2019 CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL SCHEDULE
WHERE: Near JR Harajuku Station
COST: FREE

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