Toshimitsu Shigemura (Professor)
Shigemura Seminar (School of International Studies, First Year Seminar IA)
Location: Waseda Campus Bldg. #11
Almost All First-time Essays Get a Grade of Zero?!
The first homework assignment that seminar participants are given is a one page essay – to be written on a sheet of A4 size paper – on the theme “Why I chose Waseda University.” It may seem like a run-of-the-mill essay for a first year university student seminar, but the reality is that most students get a grade of “zero” for this first essay!
Prof. Shigemura said, “There are idiots who think they can write proper Japanese. Anyone that writes a sentence without a subject in it gets zero points.” These words said without restraint may sound extreme, but Prof. Shigemura says them with a genial expression on his face.
He added, “When you are in high school, you only needed to do what your teacher told you to do. But when you are in university, you need to think for yourself. Students who do not speak up in class and students who give excuses will fail my course. I tell them, it doesn’t matter even if you have to lie, you must become able to give some kind of a response.”
In the Shigemura Seminar, emphasis is placed on nurturing the ability to think for oneself and on becoming able to write proper Japanese.
The day’s theme was Walter Lippmann’s Public Opinion. It is a masterpiece that was the first to use the word “stereotype”. A student took the podium with his report in hand. Presenting one’s impression of an assigned book in front of about 20 students and the professor is the basic way in which this seminar is advanced.
Many questions were raised, and the student’s presentation took more than a half hour to complete. The exchanges between the presenter and students at times diverged from the main theme and developed into discussions about current events and even historical incidents. Each student used his/her own words to express him/herself—that is the style taken in and tradition of this seminar.
Prof. Shigemura carefully corrects each seminar student's report.
Active Q&A sessions take place in a setting with tea and snacks lining the table.
Learning Interpersonal Relationships and International Relations
The second characteristic of the Shigemura Seminar is its distinctive, relaxed atmosphere. On this day, Prof. Shigemura started the seminar by saying, “Kitamura-san baked us some muffins today” while eating one of the muffins. The seminar students, too, grab a bottle of cold tea and take to their seats. “Many of the classes are conducted in English, and schoolwork can be quite difficult in the School of International Studies. That is why I want students to enjoy this seminar and see it partly as a way to relax.” As if to prove this point, one of the students got up to help himself to another bottle of tea.
Some write in notebooks, others open their laptops…everyone acts quite freely. In response to interviews with the students, many responded that they made friends through this seminar.
We asked Prof. Shigemura, “Isn’t the theme of your seminar supposed to be international relations?” He responded, “International relations are no different from interpersonal relationships. Relations become complex when you are dealing with an unpleasant person or a jerk. Fights and wars erupt as a result of errors in judgment. Knowing your own self and knowing the other party is what is fundamental to understanding international relations.”
The seminar offers an opportunity to expand one’s horizons and make one’s thinking more flexible. It provides time that is spent meaningfully.
Yasushi Inoue (freshman) said, “Each class and the experiences we hear about in them are very interesting, and I look forward to attending the seminar. I got a “zero” on my first essay but my grade is getting higher. I find it challenging and worthwhile.”The initial grade of “zero” does not seem to have affected him negatively at all, and he looks like he is doing his best for each report that he presents.
About the Seminar
The Shigemura Seminar is for first year students of the School of International Studies. Seminar work includes reading and comparing newspaper articles written in English and Japanese, presenting reports on assigned reading and participating in related Q&A sessions. At the end, Prof. Toshimitsu Shigemura, who has much global experience, carries out analyses with ever-changing, multiple perspectives.
This is a basic program for first-year students. Unlike lecture-based classes, the objective is for the student him/herself to make presentations and carry out debate.
While, on the one hand, the seminar is set in a free and spontaneous atmosphere, this also means that willingness and self-initiative is required of the student. It is a unique seminar that is quite different from the impression one normally gets when one hears the word “seminar”.
“If you think that you are all set because Waseda is a first-rate university and there is no other university that is as good, then you are in trouble. What is important is that you expose yourself and have the will to stretch yourself. It is a good university where you can do anything so long as you are motivated and have that positive attitude. What is more, the School of International Studies has a wonderful exchange program. I hope that you will utilize it because many students make leaps in their development after studying abroad.”
“I chose the Shigemura Seminar after reading a university seminar description which said that it would enable me to write sentences like Haruki Murakami. It is a very unique seminar that takes a teaching approach which is unlike any other.”
Go Suzuki (Freshman)
“I joined this seminar because I grew up abroad and wanted to study proper Japanese. I think that it is important to have an attitude of challenge without fear of failure.”
Mina Kitabayashi (Freshman)
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl (Yoru to Kiri; Japanese translation published by Misuzu Shobo)
The Greatest Heritage to the Future by Kanzo Uchimura (Kosei Eno Saidai Ibutsu; Japanese title published by Iwanami Bunko)
Learning about the life of the authors and reading their books provides an opportunity to think deeply about historical events and their background. The careful reading of good books is important to learning the meaning of life.