In an effort to provide opportunities to listen to real English outside the classroom, the English Language Program, a part of the university’s Department of Foreign Language Education, offers lectures in the ELP Lecture Series. In this ongoing series, each lecturer chooses an accessible topic and explains it in English which is neither too difficult nor too easy.
The seventeenth lecture in the series, “Playing at War: the Sport of Airsoft,” will be held on Thursday, June 30. Airsoft is a popular sport enjoyed by thousands of people around the world, including in Japan. In this sport, players dress up in military gear and fight each other with realistic-looking guns. The guns fire small plastic bullets, called "BBs,” which are not lethal. What is the origin of Airsoft and other war games? Why do people play them? Can there be positive aspects to "playing at war"? Join this lecture and learn about Airsoft from the perspective of a player, ELP teacher Neal Newbill.

• For more information about the Lecture in Japanese, please click here.

The ELP Lecture Series is open to students, faculty, staff, and anybody else whose English skills could use a bit of a challenge. This is a great opportunity for you to have a little overseas study experience right here at home. The first fourteen lectures in the ELP Lecture Series can be watched here:

• ELP Lecture Series

• For more information about the ELP in Japanese, please click here.

The lecture will be in English with no translation. There is no fee to attend, and reservations are not necessary.