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FOLENS Seminar May 2011: 3.11 and Us
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| Concept Map | Geographical Map |
Road Map |
The second FOLENS Seminar in 2011 was held on May 18, with 14 FOLENS students and 4 FOLENS Office faculty members. While we found at the previous seminar that many had a strong interest in the topics related to the Earthquake-Tsunami Disaster in eastern Japan on 11 March, including the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant accident and its dreadful effects, the goals of the day were: 1) to share our experience of and reflection on “3.11” and its related incidents, and discuss what “3.11” implies in relation to FOLENS; and 2) to decide topics/activities for this year’s FOLENS seminars.
First, we were divided into small groups and shared personal experience of and reflection on “3.11” and its related incidents. As some of the participants were new students just joined in April and many did not know each other, self-introduction was also exchanged.
Following that, we created three maps of 3.11. One was a geographical map, where the earthquake and tsunami and following incidents were placed on a geographical picture of Japan and surrounding areas. Another was a concept map, in which a web of various incidents and their effects etc. and their relationships was drawn. The third map was a road map, which showed a timeline of what have happened and countermeasures to those. After each group created one of these maps, we could gradually understand a whole picture of so many related incidents and topics to the earthquake on March 11 and what have happened afterward.
Based on these maps, we discussed what topics we should focus on in FOLENS seminar activities this year. As a result, the two topics that we found that we were particularly interested in were: 1) Radiation contamination treatment; and 2) Energy (eg. Possibility of new energy sources such as solar, hydro, biomass, wind etc./ Energy supply for rebuilding lives in Tohoku). (After the seminar, we continued discussion through students’ mailing list and decided “energy” to be the main topic of a three-day field trip in December with pre-study in November and post-study in January).
At the end of the seminar, some students proposed that FOLENS should conduct volunteer activities in Tohoku, the area severely damaged by the earthquake and tsunami. While some expressed their concern to cause a trouble for local residents there if inexperienced students simply join volunteer activities, a faculty member advised that although it is surely important to make enough consideration not to trouble local people, certainly there is a great need for manpower there and anyone could be of some help. We decided to start planning for this. (SN)
| Time/Date: | 16:00-18:00, 18 May 2011 |
| Venue: | Alumni 50th Anniversary Hall, Fuchu Campus, TUAT |
| 16:00- | Introduction: What are we doing today? ～Reflection on discussion in the previous seminar |
| 16:10- | Self-Introduction & Sharing: 3.11 and Me ～Share personal experience of and reflection on “3.11” or the Tohoku Great Earthquake and its related inciden |
| 16:20- | Group Work: Create a Map of 3.11 ～Create a map (geography, concept, and timeline) of 3.11 and discuss what “3.11” implies in relation to FOLENS |
| 17:00- | Discussion: 3.11-related Topic(s) of FOLENS Seminars 2011 ～Pick up 3.11-related topics to cover in this year’s FOLENS seminars |
| 17:30- | Discussion: Other Topics/ Activities of FOLENS Seminars 2011 ～Share ideas on what we want to do through FOLENS Seminars in 2011 |
| 18:00 | Closure |