[Vice Director]Kiyoshi Masumoto(Professor, School of Global Studies and Collaboration)
The Academic Writing Center (AWC) was established in 2017 with the aim of supporting the development and improvement of students' communication skills, logical thinking skills, and academic writing abilities in Japanese, English, and other languages, and contributing to the cultivation of students with academic manners and academic literacy, by providing guidance and education on academic writing. The tutors who provide individual support to students are graduate students enrolled in Aoyama Gakuin University and doctoral programs of this university. They receive training on writing support methods from AWC faculty members and continue to hone their skills as tutors, providing writing consultations at Aoyama Campus and Sagamihara Campus. AWC is also actively conducting research on the support and education of academic writing. AWC's journal, "Writing Studies," was launched in March 2022 with the aim of becoming a comprehensive research journal on writing instruction and related topics. Although we are still a relatively young organization, we are diligently working towards further development in the future.
Academic Writing Center (Aoyama Campus, Building 18, Maclay Memorial Hall 2nd floor)
Information Media Center AIM
Aoyama Gakuin University Institute of Information and Media
[Director]Yutaka Miyaji(Professor, School of Social Informatics)
The Information Media Center is an organization that works to enhance the information environment for the advancement of education and research at each of the schools affiliated with Aoyama Gakuin University and its graduate schools. It operates and provides educational and research systems, supports and promotes ICT-based education, and conducts research in the fields of basic information education and information science. Our specific duties include planning, designing, and implementing various facilities and systems, including the campus network, PC labs, and classroom support systems, based on user requests and trends in information technology. We also handle all aspects of operation, including user support services. In addition, we provide various services such as 糖心视频-Mail, software licensing, and web conferencing software contracts and provision. Inquiries regarding the use of these services are handled at the support lounge. Furthermore, we operate IT training courses that form the foundation of information education at Aoyama Gakuin University, and we also conduct training courses on networks and applications organized by this center.
Information Media Center PC classroom (Sagamihara Campus)
Environmental Safety Center
Environmental Safety Management Center
[Director]Ryo Takeuchi(Professor, College of Science and Engineering)
The Environmental Safety Center was established on Sagamihara Campus in April 2017 as an educational and research facility attached to the university. The center aims to prevent environmental pollution resulting from educational and research activities (excluding genetic modification and radiation), protect the living environment of nearby residents, and ensure the health and safety of students and faculty members during experimental research. Specifically, its activities include providing guidance on the proper treatment and disposal methods of experimental waste, conducting and evaluating environmental measurements in accordance with various laws and regulations, establishing rules and management systems for handling highly hazardous substances that affect the environment and human health, creating safety manuals, conducting safety training for newly assigned students to laboratories, and providing daily safety guidance. The center has assistants with numerous qualifications and specialized knowledge in these fields. The safety manuals and original pictograms used to indicate laboratory conditions, which were created by Aoyama Gakuin University specifically for safety education, have been highly praised by external stakeholders.
Measuring the working environment in the laboratory
[Director]Yasuhiro Iijima(Professor, School of Social Informatics)
Aoyama Gakuin University The Civic Engagement Center was reorganized from the Volunteer Center in 2022, expanding the scope of its activities to civic engagement (citizen collaboration), which is also utilized for education. In FY2023, the Corona Disaster will be over, and the Center will be involved in the Green Up Project for cleaning up the city, sign language communication classes, online Japanese salon, Sibuya "Kodomo Table," the ward version of a children's cafeteria, Sagamihara a collaborative project with local elementary and junior high schools, Hiroo Junior High After School, anti-graffiti project, Sibuya disaster mitigation in the event of a major disaster, and the "Moshi Moshi Project " to mitigate disasters in the event of a major disaster. Moshi Moshi Project Aogaku" to mitigate disasters, Cambodia Japanese Salon, Aya Project to realize a diverse and symbiotic society, Human Library, Introduction to International Cooperation Planner, Dementia Supporter Training Course, Disaster Prevention Volunteer Training, Children's Placemaking Seminar, Support for Universal Manners Certification, etc. The company is also implementing a number of other programs. In addition, we are also involved in fundraising activities and dispatching volunteers to the Noto Peninsula earthquake that occurred on January 1, 2024. In addition, we are expanding our activities to revitalize local communities, including satoyama revitalization activities, Sagamihara the city's Sobudai Danchi revitalization project, and Sagamihara the city's Chuo Ward "Wakaba" project. The Sobudai-danchi project started as an activity as a dementia supporter, but it has become an activity to restore the vitality of the community, with bright Aogaku students staying close to the elderly, making sweets together, making key chains, and bringing in young community members, including elementary school students. The "Wakaba" project is a collaborative project with Sagamihara City Hall to discover, uncover, and disseminate the charms of Sagamihara City Chuo Ward. In addition to the attraction experience tours, which were disseminated via Instagram, we worked with a local company that grows grapes and produces wine at Sagamihara to develop a label for a new sparkling wine product as well as a harvesting and production experience. The finished product sold out in less than a month, and the participants were able to experience the charm of Sagamihara and the fun of monozukuri. In addition, as social businesses, we are also involved in the Kanazawa Outsider Art Project (which supports the independence of people with disabilities by utilizing their sense of design), Shibuya Font, and Sagamihara, a locally produced gacha in the Fujino district of the city. Aogaku I was amazed by the raw, usually unseen sense of art and the fashion-conscious sense of taste. In addition to these activities, the The Aoyama Standard course "Volunteer and Civic Collaboration Theory" was also conducted. This course provides an academic look at the activities of the Center for Civic Engagement and provides knowledge to many students. We also cooperate in implementing service learning, which is a learning experience of civic collaboration and volunteerism with the body and mind that can be useful in life. We have also begun working with Alumni and had a speaker at the Bora Cafe about volunteer activities and international contribution projects. Seeing and hearing stories about the world they have never experienced has touched the hearts of our students.
Highlights of citizen collaboration activities
Emergency relief donations for the Noto Peninsula earthquake
Aoyama History Research Institute
Aoyama Gakuin Historical Research Institute
[Director]Kazuyuki Kobayashi(Professor, College of Literature)
Aoyama Institute for Historical Studies analyzes and examines historical materials collected and held by Aoyama, and aims to broadly research the historical role that Aoyama played in modern Japanese society, thereby considering the influence of Christian culture on modern Japan and contributing to the development of educational history, intellectual history, and modern and contemporary history. At the same time, it aims to objectively clarify the founding spirit and historical position of Aoyama Gakuin University, and to support and enhance the development of history education at Aoyama Gakuin University University and its affiliated schools. In the 2023 academic year, we worked on writing and compiling the "Aoyama 150-Year History" (General History Volume II) and the supplementary volume "Aoyama 150 Years in Photographs," both to be published to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the school's founding in 2024. General History Volume II describes the history of Aoyama development from the postwar period to the present. The supplementary volume looks back on the history of Aoyama since its founding through numerous photographs and illustrations. We also cooperated in the preparations for the opening of the "Aoyama Museum," which is scheduled to open in 2025.
Already published: "Aoyama 150-Year History" Reference Volume I, Reference Volume II, and General History Volume I.
Schoonmaker Memorial Center for Gender Studies at Aoyama Gakuin University
[Director]Shin Hye-bong(Professor, Faculty of Law)
The Center was established in April 2021 with the aim of contributing to gender equality and respect for sexual diversity Aoyama and in society through the development of gender-related research and education. As the first initiative of this year, the Center created a sexual consent handbook titled "Let's Explore! How to Protect Your Feelings and Yours" to be distributed to all new students, and created and distributed a leaflet for all faculty members titled "A Request for Consideration of Transgender Students" (in Japanese and English). The Center has continued to hold various seminars and events since last year, including the open lecture "Gender and Academic Research" and the "Empowerment Program: Gender and Expression." This year, the Center also held an official logo competition, and the logo was selected by a jury from among the excellent works submitted by students.
