Tohoku University

Students will practice discussing and presenting on various topics, acquiring the Japanese language skills necessary for studying and researching at the university. They will also learn proper pronunciation.

Eligibility: B2 level in the CEFR/JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education (N1 in the JLPT).

The objectives of this course are as follows:
 

1. Students will learn the structure of a presentation and be able to make a proper presentation. They will elaborate on supporting matters, reasons, and relevant cases, as well as develop and substantiate arguments.
2. Students will be able to speak with clear pronunciation, paying attention to pauses and intonation.

Oscillatory motions and waves are prevalent in natural phenomena. They appear in many physical systems of various materials and scales. The first half of this course explores the properties of simple harmonic motion and a wave equation that describes waves on a string and sound waves. The second half of the course applies Newtonian mechanics to a system of many particles. The course begins an investigation from a rigid body and then relax this condition slightly. Finally, the course studies a system of particles with many degrees of freedom, namely fluid. 

By the end of the course, students are expected to gain familiarity with and understand oscillation phenomena, which include the simple motion of a pendulum and the propagation of waves and their basic properties. Also, students will have acquired knowledge of the basic properties of wave equations and their solutions. The mechanism behind the standing waves, sound waves, beats, the Doppler effect, and shock waves should become clear. Students are also expected to be able to solve the mechanics of static equilibrium for various configurations, including that in fluid with buoyancy. Young's modulus and bulk modulus as a determining factor of wave speed in medium should be clear. Familiarity with a general form of the hydrodynamical equation of motion from which hydrostatic and Bernoulli's equations are obtained under special conditions is also expected.

This course focuses on various aspects of disaster science and their practical application for disaster mitigation and risk reduction. The course discusses the basics of disaster history; hazard generation and mechanisms and their impact; related emergency response; medical needs, and post-disaster reconstruction. 

An exploratory culture course, Japanese Culture D is offered for foreign students to learn about and share insights into various aspects of the living culture of Japan. The course comprises of three basic approaches: 1) The discussion of certain cultural aspects of the country; 2) Reading literature, and 3) Fieldwork at places of cultural significance. Those who took Japanese Culture C in the fall semester should take Japanese Culture D in the spring semester since they make a pair. Culture B and D courses overlap in part due to the nature of certain special events taking place during the semester.

The course aims to provide a new perspective of the culture of Japan by examining the interconnection of various elements including the history and culture of the Tohoku Region; rebuilding effort from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, and certain ways people have expressed themselves on different occasions.

The class comprises of lectures and discussions accompanied with fieldwork opportunities. Twelve years after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, disaster prevention and mitigation has come to hold an important place in the culture of this nation. Japanese Culture class has been contributing to this cause since soon after the 2011 event and will continue to do so during this semester as well, albeit in a small way.

This course studies the fundamentals and recent progress in the research fields of molecular biology, cell biology, and physiology with plants, animals, and microbes as well as chemistry of biologically active natural products. More than ten Professors and Associate Professors will give lectures weekly to introduce their specific research fields.

The goal of this class is to obtain the background knowledge concerning life science for agricultural and industrial applications as well as the basic principles of biochemistry and biotechnology.

The Individual Research Training Senior (IRT Senior) Course is an advanced course of the Individual Research Training B (IRT B) course in the Tohoku University Junior Year Program in English (JYPE) in the spring semester. Though short-term international exchange students are not degree candidates at Tohoku University, a similar experience is offered by special arrangement. Students are required to submit: an abstract concerning the results of their IRT Senior project, a paper (A4, 20-30 pages) on their research at the end of the exchange term, and an oral presentation on the results of their IRT Senior project near the end of the　term.

This course aims to instruct students basic conversation, reading and writing capabilities necessary for everyday life in Japan.

Eligibility: Students who have studied no Japanese.

The objectives of this course are as follows:
A1 level in the CEFR/JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education

1. For students to understand and correctly use basic greetings and set phrases
2. For students to speak about things around them and interact with others using combinations of simple phrases
3. For students to understand simple informative texts and brief passages about familiar topics

This course teaches the community ecology of marine kelps through readings of chapters related to ecological topics in the book The Biology and Ecology of Giant Kelp Forests by Schiel & Foster (2015).

The course aims to understand the structure and function of marine kelp communities through the study of the ecology of giant kelp forests.

This course aims to fill the gap between the relevant mathematical knowledge necessary in Physics and its late appearance in Mathematics courses for School of Engineering Freshmen students. It allocates plentiful time for students to solve problems, aiding students to progress naturally to college Physics (which uses Calculus as the language); and acquire the basic capacity of calculation and application of Mathematics and Physics.