#05. Yusuke Isotani, PhD candidate in Art History at City University of New York

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An interview with Yusuke Isotani, a researcher of French photography history in the U.S., exploring his lifelong passion for languages, his tried-and-true methods for learning English, French, and other languages, and his insights on the value of grammar study.

礒谷 有亮 Yusuke Isotani

Ph.D. candidate in Art History at the City University of New York, specializing in the history of photography. He is currently writing his doctoral dissertation on the evolution of photography in France between the two World Wars.

Originally from Osaka, Japan. During his master’s program at Osaka University’s Graduate School of Letters, he spent a year as an exchange student in Strasbourg, France. He then moved to the U.S. for his doctoral studies, where he has also taught as a lecturer at various CUNY campuses while pursuing his research.

Because his field focuses on France, he frequently travels between the U.S., Europe, and Japan. From a young age, he has been fascinated by language in general—exploring dialects and standard forms, comparing different languages, examining spoken versus written language, and studying wordplay, onomatopoeia, and etymology from around the world has now become a full-fledged hobby.

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#05. 礒谷 有亮さん(ニューヨーク市立大学美術史学科 博士号取得候補者)

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アメリカでフランス写真史を研究する礒谷 有亮さんに、子どもの頃から持ち続けている言語に対する興味、英語やフランス語を含む多言語の習得に使ってきた“定番”の学習法、文法を学ぶメリットなどについてうかがいました。

礒谷 有亮 Yusuke Isotani

ニューヨーク市立大学美術史学科、博士号取得候補者(Ph.D. Candidate)。専門は写真史。現在は両大戦間期のフランスにおける写真の変遷について博士論文を執筆中。

大阪出身。大阪大学文学研究科博士前期課程時にフランス、ストラスブールへ一年間交換留学。後期課程時に渡米して現在に至る。アメリカ滞在中は学業のかたわらニューヨーク市立大学各校で講師として教鞭もとる。

専門がフランスに関することなので米・欧・日を行ったり来たりしています。物心ついたころから言葉全般に興味があり、方言と標準語や各言語間、話し言葉と書き言葉の違いを考えたり、古今東西の言葉遊びやオノマトペ、語源を調べるのは今や立派な趣味に。

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#04. Tomoko Matsukawa, Innovation Manager at Acumen

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An interview with Tomoko Matsukawa, a manager at the NPO Acumen, who designs educational content related to leadership and skills for solving social issues. She shares her experiences as a returnee to Japan, her education in the U.S., and the challenges she faced with English throughout her life.

松川 倫子 Tomoko Matsukawa

Manager at the nonprofit organization Acumen. She is involved in designing learning content focused on perspectives, skills, and leadership essential for addressing social challenges. Specifically, she played a central role in launching +Acumen’s large-scale online courses and is a core member of the Acumen Fellows Program, currently offered in Pakistan, India, and East Africa.

Her professional background includes positions at Goldman Sachs Japan and Globis Corporation. In 2012, she moved to the United States for graduate studies, earning a Master’s degree in Education in 2013. She is currently based in New York. Since 2016, she has also served as a board member of PIECES, a nonprofit organization in Japan.

Blog: “Learning?”
+ACUMEN COURSES

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#04. 松川 倫子さん(NPO法人Acumenマネージャー)

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ニューヨークを拠点に世界各地で活躍するAcumenマネージャーの松川 倫子さんに、帰国子女として経験した日本の教育、アメリカ留学、社会人になってから感じた英語の壁についてうかがいました。

松川 倫子 Tomoko Matsukawa

NPO法人Acumenマネージャー。社会的課題を解決するために必要な物事の見方、スキル、リーダーシップに関する学びのコンテンツのデザインに関わる。具体的には+Acumenが提供している大規模オンラインコースの立ち上げと、現在パキスタン、インド、東アフリカで提供中の対面型Acumen Fellows Programに主要メンバーとして携わる。ゴールドマンサックス証券会社、株式会社グロービス勤務後、2012年に大学院留学のため渡米。2013年に教育学修士号を取得し現在に至る。ニューヨーク在住。2016年よりNPO法人PIECES(日本)の理事。

ブログ『Learning?』
+ACUMEN COURSES

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#03. Kenichi Shimada, Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard Medical School

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An interview with Kenichi Shimada, a pharmacology researcher at Harvard Medical School, about Japan’s exam-oriented English education, the use of English by scientists in the natural sciences, and the mindset essential for effective intercultural communication.

嶋田 健一 Kenichi Shimada

A postdoctoral researcher in pharmacology at Harvard Medical School. His work addresses the serious risks of drug-induced organ damage, which can occur when medicines that treat illnesses inadvertently harm organs such as the liver. If undetected, such damage can lead to complete loss of organ function—a condition for which no cure currently exists. Drawing on biology, chemistry, and information science, he investigates diseases caused by these forms of drug toxicity.

Originally from Tokyo, he spent four years in the Netherlands during elementary school due to his father’s work assignment, attending a Japanese school there and thus not acquiring English. After completing his education in Japan through the master’s level, he made a decisive move in 2006 to begin a Ph.D. program at Columbia University in New York. He earned his doctorate with research on anticancer drugs and has been in his current position since 2015.

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