TEACHER'S COLUMN

I am in charge of subjects such as Development Sociology, Anthropology, Community Development Theory, and Project Management. My research interests include "Ecotourism", a combination of sustainable development and tourism.

When ecotourism becomes widespread in developing countries, market forces aiming at economic development come into play, which is a good thing, but on the other hand, inequality and conflict may occur among local residents because of economic development. In my class, we will investigate the economic, social, and cultural influences on these real-life cases and learn how to solve problems from multiple perspectives. Although the content of each course differs, the goal is to develop human resources who can acquire practical knowledge and experience, communicate with their own ideas, and make use of that ideas in all situations.

In our classes, we emphasize "learning by doing," which means that we not only teach concepts and theories, but we also focus on cultivating the ability to plan and propose solutions to problems by utilizing that knowledge. We give the students an assignment in advance and ask them to read the case study before participating in the class, and on the day of the class, we introduce concepts and theories related to the problem. On the day of the class, we introduce concepts and theories related to the problem and have the students work as a team to think about how they can use them to solve the problem.

Since we have students from many different nationalities, we try to avoid having all Japanese students on the same team as much as possible. We want students to find what they can do in diverse environment and gain experience that will enable them to express themselves well. APU's unique environment fosters teamwork and cross-cultural competence. The knowledge gained in lectures and exercises, as well as the problem-solving skills acquired through field studies and internships, will be useful in a variety of social situations. We hope you will benefit from growing into a person who can make an impact on society.