TOKYO INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Course description and aims

What kind of "liberal arts" should Ph.D.students of Tokyo Tech learn? Scientific research at the top level of the world requires several key competence: (1) extensive knowledge beyond his/her own discipline, (2) transferring skills and creativity to utilize other fields’ research, (3) interdisciplinary ability and spirit to build his/her own network with diverse fields of specialists.
Students of this course will manage the advanced liberal arts course for themselves to acquire liberal arts skills. More concretely, manage a corresponding course (lectures, small-group work, poster presentation), and conduct PR activities of the course results. The purpose of this course is to create a forum which facilitates knowledge exchange among Ph.D.students through designing a liberal art course for themselves. In the process, students will learn the most recent trends of interdisciplinary research.
Foreign students can be register this class (ability to speaking Japanese is not required).
Communication with students in different fields and with foreign students in English.

Student learning outcomes

At the end of this course, students will be able to:
1) have their own idea and vision of "liberal arts".
2) establish communication among students differnt fields and foreign students.
3) manage lectures of specialists who conduct advanced and interdisciplinary studies.
4) manage the poster presentation conference and summarize the results of their group-work.
5) acquire leadership as a researcher.

Keywords

Liberal arts, Interdisciplinary collaboration

Competencies that will be developed

Class flow

40 students can be registered. In case applying over 40 students, registration will be restricted(See, "Prerequisities" and "Others" of this sylabus).
Two successive sessions will take place on every other Saturday basically.
Students will conclude the activity of Path-Breaking Liberal Arts Courses of this year. In addition, students will plan next year project.

Course schedule/Required learning

Textbook(s)

None required.

Reference books, course materials, etc.

None required.

Assessment criteria and methods

Students will be assessed by participation and contribution to the course.

Related courses

• LAH.C601 ： Independent Studies Courses1
• LAH.C602 ： Independent Studies Courses2
• LAH.C603 ： Independent Studies Courses3
• LAH.C611 ： Path-Breaking Liberal Arts Courses1
• LAH.C612 ： Path-Breaking Liberal Arts Courses2
• LAH.C613 ： Path-Breaking Liberal Arts Courses3
• LAH.C614 ： Path-Breaking Liberal Arts Courses4
• LAH.C615 ： Path-Breaking Liberal Arts Courses5
• LAH.C616 ： Path-Breaking Liberal Arts Courses6

Prerequisites (i.e., required knowledge, skills, courses, etc.)

In case over 40 students apply, send results of restricting registration by OCWi system.
Please check infomation by temporary WEB site of Institution for Liberal Arts.
[http://bunkei.ila.titech.ac.jp/600PG_guide.html]]
Students are expected to commit themselves to the course.
This course is seminor style. Students are also required activities outside of the individual sessions.

【important notice】
Path-breaking Liberal Arts Courses are offered on Saturday mornings. They consist of four classes, each of which includes two 90-minute sessions. After creating groups in the first and the second classes, students will engage in group work in the second and the third classes. Students will give poster presentations and participate in a mini symposium in the fourth class.

Since presentation and group work are focused in this course, please examine class schedules for each quarter on course syllabi, and take a course all four classes of which you will be able to attend.

Please attend all four classes. You may miss (a part of) one class out of the four classes due to unforeseen circumstances that have taken place after the relevant quarter began. If you miss two or more classes, you will not get credit for the course.

If you have to miss one of the first three classes, contact your instructor in advance (if not, do so as soon as possible after the class), and explain the reason of your absence. Then contact your group members and contribute to the group work outside the classroom. Study the material covered by the lecture for yourself, and submit a report to the instructor, following his/her instructions; for the contents and the form of the report, see below. The report must be written in English, and must be submitted within two weeks from the class you have missed. If you fail to do so, you will not get credit for the course.
If you have to miss the fourth class, contact your instructor in advance (if not, do so as soon as possible after the class), and explain the reason for your absence. Then submit a report to him/her, following his/her instructions; for the contents and the form of the report, see below. The report must be written in English, and must be submitted within two weeks from the fourth class. If you fail to do so, you will not get credit for the course.

The content of the report assigned to those who have missed the first, second or the third class:

The first class
Submit both ① and ② below. The submitted report will be handed to the other members of your group.
① Introduction of yourself in about 150 words on an A4 sheet.
② Find an article on a social issue that discusses the theme of this quarter’s course. It should be about 2-pages long on A4 sheets. Then summarize the article in about 150 words on an A4 sheet. Be sure to indicate the source of the article. Attach a copy of the article, when you submit your report.

The second class
Read the “Code of Conduct for Researchers at the Tokyo Institute of Technology.” Choose two clauses from the seventeen clauses of the Code that are most relevant to the research on the theme of this quarter’s course, and explain their relevance. The report must be one page long on an A4 sheet. The submitted report will be handed to the other members of your group.

The third class
Submit one of the following below. The report should be one-page long on an A4-sheet.
The submitted report will be handed to the other members of your group.
・A list of equipment and the number of staff members that are necessary for the mini-symposium. The list should include those needed not only in the hall and the classrooms, but also in the hallways, at the reception desk and outside the building.
・Proposal for a method of choosing award-winning posters, including a voting method and a vote-counting method.
・A list of matters that should be considered if you are to admit people who are not affiliated with Tokyo Tech to participate in the mini-symposium.
・A name of a lecturer fitted for the symposium which would be held on the same topic as the one of this quarter, and the reasons for selection
・Proposal for an effective method of advertisement of the mini-symposium before and after holding it

The fourth class
Write a two-page report (A4) on a list of your committee's roles, a brief description of each role, and your contributions. Documents must be created individually by each non-participating student and submitted to the instructor. The report will be given to the other members of your group.
Write reviews on the three posters created by other groups, which will be chosen by your instructor. Each review must be one page long on an A4 sheet, and must include a summary of the poster, three questions about the poster, and suggestions for improvement for the poster. The three reviews must be three pages long on A4 sheets in total. The submitted reviews will be handed to the group who created the poster.

Other

PhD. course students have to take any two class of Indipendent Studies Courses (from 1 to 8) or Path-Breaking Liberal Arts Courses (from 1 to 6) for two credits. Scheduled on 2019 December 7, 21, 2019 January 11 and 25.
NOTICE: We strongly recommend to register an Independent Studies Courses and a Path Breaking Liberal Arts Courses at first academic year.The restricting registration will be taken based on the number of students by total number without distinction of academic year.

REASON: Independent Studies Courses 5,6,7,8 and Path-Breaking Liberal Arts Courses 4,5,6 will be listed enabling for the students who had registered an Independent Studies Courses or Path-Breaking Liberal Arts Courses at the same Q, to register another Courses in the Next Year. (It may be a rare case.) Independent Studies Courses at the same Q (1&5, 2&6, 3&7, 4&8) are the same program, not independently open.(It is applicable to Path-Breaking Liberal Arts Courses.)

・Deadline for temporary registration (for class restrictions): 9th Oct. (Wed,)
・Announcement of results of class restrictions：25th Oct. (Fri.)