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Academics

Making Experiences Part of Yourself

Verbalization of Experiences
(Open course offered by the Global Education Center)

Yusaku Nakamura, School of Social Sciences Second-Year Student

In the final presentations in the class Verbalization of Experiences, the thing that is held up as being the most important is whether you can talk of things using your own words. The “verbalization of experiences” as according to Associate Professor Chika Hyodo is a process in which students study the methodology of analyzing their own experiences and then discover original (i.e., in their own words) society problems. Although the class sizes are small, the space in which it takes place is a stimulating one where a diversity of students break through the boundaries between schools, campuses, academic years and even countries.

Group activity with stimulating discussions

The introduction to the class always begins with questions from Associate Professor Hyodo. “What recent news left a strong impression on you?” “What food do you like?” “If your mood today had a color, what color would it be?” Together with giving reasons, the students explain their answers in as much detail as they can. Then, while enriching the words they use to explain their experiences, they realize their thoughts are supported by various factors, including feelings, foundations, and environments.

Through the eight lessons like the one described in this class, each student chooses one of his or her experiences to dig deeply into, with the final presentation in mind. The students take up various experiences as their subjects: the struggle of job hunting, things that happened during study overseas, clashes with one parents, or relationships with others in university clubs. The things that they had dealt with at the time unconsciously using simple words cause significant, haunting feelings that are especially strong.

Associate Professor Chika Hyodo speaking to the students during class

Associate Professor Chika Hyodo speaking to the students during class

During the four years of academic life, there are opportunities to experience many things. By making use of the analytical method learned in this class, I hope that the students can really make these experiences into something of value to them.

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