First-year GV students had a news reading session once a week in the first semester. Before each class, we chose and shared newspaper articles in turn. Each student selected articles based on their interests, so the contents varied from session to session – for example, Covid-19, Tokyo 2020 Olympics, gender gap, racial discrimination, international conflicts, and international education. We discussed main issues of each topic on the basis of knowledge and information we learned from the articles.
The discussion I remember the most of all was about Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Covid-19. I shared two articles, “The rules of travel: Japan’s latest quarantine measures (Japan Times)” and “Will the Olympics be ‘safe and secure’ or superspreader event? (Nikkei Asia)”. We had a lot of debates about what kind of rules are needed for safe and secure Tokyo Olympics in the coronavirus catastrophe. This was very controversial, because there was no correct answer. Also, opinions are quite different when we look at this issue from various perspectives such as politics, international relations, finance and medical care. It was a good experience for us to think about the problems multi-directionally.
Through the news reading seminar, I think I was able to develop two capacities.
First, my English skill. There were a lot of technical English words in articles, so I looked up my dictionary many times. I sometimes felt difficult to understand contents completely, but the time and effort I invested helped me improve my vocabulary. The situation that forced me to express my own ideas also improved my English. It was my first time to participate in academic discussion in English. Well-structured and evidence-based explanations were required in order to persuade other members and I realized that I had to work harder to hone my persuasion skills in English.
Second, knowledge of law and politics. Most of the issues were related to the world’s current affairs involving law and politics. When we thought about and discussed the problems and solutions of a news topic during the class, our teaching associate provided us with some explanations about background information so we could approach the issues from various perspectives, including legal and political ones. It was possible to learn legal history or relevant rules which we could not learn in other classes.
Because of the pandemic, the news reading seminar was often held online. However, talking with the first-year GV students once a week was very fun, and we developed a good relationship. I really want to study and widen my view more about law and politics so as to realize my dream to contribute to the world peace.
Miho Shinohara