On July 15 and July 16, the Explorer 3rd year students worked on an individual research project. The students chose a controversial topic related to their future interests and interviewed the three American teachers in the Explorer course about the topic. The students wrote a short summary of the topic and summarized their own opinions on the matter, and then asked a series of short questions. The interviews were mostly done in English. The students took recordings of these interviews so they could listen again and confirm their understanding of what the American teachers said. Then, they wrote an essay in Japanese. Student topics were very diverse, ranging from topics focused on current events like “Japan as an Arms Exporter” and “Cashless Payments in Japan,” to topics of more personal interest like “Gambling in Muai Thai.”
On the afternoon of July 16, the 301 students broke up into three groups and visited museums in the Nagoya area. The largest group went to visit the Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology. Another group visited the Nagoya City Archive and the Aichi Nagoya War Museum. The final group visited the Nanzan University Museum of Anthropology and the Nagoya University Museum. The students had a chance to see many things and to expand their knowledge of topics they found interesting. Afterwards, they wrote a reflection on their experience.
