American Studies is a required semester-long course for first year students. This course explores key areas of study related to America, with a focus on cultural, economic, historical, political and social issues in the United States. Where possible, students will be challenged to consider developments in America as they relate to Japan and the broader global context.

The course will focus on an introduction to academic reading skills and vocabulary development.  Students will read from a variety of sources including textbook, graded readers, newspapers, magazines and more. This course also covers the reading section of the TOEFL iBT.

The main aim of the course is the development of clear, concise academic writing (paragraphs and essays) in several rhetorical styles, in addition to creative written expression.  Grammar is taught to support students’ writing skills and to improve accuracy in written output through increased knowledge of grammatical forms. The course also covers the writing section of the TOEFL iBT.

This course is intended to help students develop their ability to use English naturally for the purposes of communication, with the goal of interacting in English 100% of the time for their English classes.  This course will also cover the listening and speaking sections of the TOEFL iBT.