Report on AY 2023 Autumn Term Brown Bag Lunch & Learn (2023/9/22 & 11/7)　

In addition to facilitating the proactive sharing of skills and specialist knowledge among faculty, Brown Bag Lunch & Learn (BBL&L) seeks to enable faculty members to learn from one another’s classroom experiences, including both things that went well and not so well, and meet colleagues from outside their own programs and departments. Furthermore, BBL&L aims to provide opportunities for faculty members to share information with one another as well as with staff members.

BBL&L #26: September 22, 2023

Theme: Can You Learn from How the ELA Hands-on Writing Approach Provides Natural Immunity to Abuse of AI Text Generation Tools?

Guy Smith-sensei, English for Liberal Arts Program (ELA)

Participants: 8 faculty members; 1 staff member; and from the CTL, the Director, the Associate Director, and 5 staff members who manage BBL&L

Generative AI tools is a hot topic these days. In ICU’s English for Liberal Arts Program (ELA), which teaches academic writing, the writing process is broken down into detailed steps and students practice each step separately. As a result, students recognize the importance and value of producing their own writing and not relying on generative AI tools. In this session, Smith-sensei described the writing process in the ELA in detail, and his talk was followed by a lively discussion and sharing of practices among the faculty members, which was led by Ikoma-sensei, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, and Nasu-sensei, Director of CTL.

BBL&L #27: November 7, 2023

Theme: ICU Campus Exploration Tour

Mr. Tetsuro Tomioka, Managing Trustee for General Affairs

Participants: 4 faculty members, 5 staff members, CTL Director, 2 staff members who manage BBL&L

The ICU Campus Exploration Tour led by Mr. Tomioka, Managing Trustee for General Affairs, which was well received last year, was organized again. Twelve faculty and staff members attended the event, including participants of the New Faculty Development Program (NFDP), which was held right before the tour, and new staff members. On a stunning autumn day, the rain having stopped at dawn, the participants toured places symbolic of the history and philosophy of ICU’s founding, visiting the Seabury Memorial Chapel, a tree planted by former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy to commemorate the friendship between the U.S. and Japan, the area around MacLean Avenue, the Peace Stone in front of the Library, and finally, ICU’s University Hall to look at traces of the wartime Nakajima Aircraft Laboratory and mailboxes that students used to use. The participants listened intently to the commentary provided by the trustee.