Hiroshima University Syllabus

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Japanese
Academic Year 2024Year School/Graduate School Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences (Master's Course) Division of Humanities and Social Sciences Humanities Program
Lecture Code WMBV4001 Subject Classification Specialized Education
Subject Name 自然地理学特別講義
Subject Name
(Katakana)
シゼンチリガクトクベツコウギ
Subject Name in
English
Special Lecture on Physical Geography
Instructor HIRANO JUNPEI,GOTOU HIDEAKI
Instructor
(Katakana)
ヒラノ ジュンペイ,ゴトウ ヒデアキ
Campus Higashi-Hiroshima Semester/Term 1st-Year,  First Semester,  OutOfTerm(1st)
Days, Periods, and Classrooms (O1) Inte:See the bulletin board for detail.
Lesson Style Lecture Lesson Style
(More Details)
 
Mainly lectures, heavy use of blackboard writing 
Credits 2.0 Class Hours/Week   Language of Instruction J : Japanese
Course Level 6 : Graduate Advanced
Course Area(Area) 23 : Arts and Humanities
Course Area(Discipline) 12 : Geography
Eligible Students
Keywords Quaternary, climate change, proxy data, climate reconstruction, Little Ice Age, Little Climatic Optimum 
Special Subject for Teacher Education   Special Subject  
Class Status
within Educational
Program
(Applicable only to targeted subjects for undergraduate students)
 
Criterion referenced
Evaluation
(Applicable only to targeted subjects for undergraduate students)
 
Class Objectives
/Class Outline
Students will learn about climate formation and its relationship with daily life in order to be able to discuss physical geography from a bird’s-eye view. 
Class Schedule lesson1 Guidance, what is a “climate system”
lesson2C haracteristics of climate change during the Quaternary period (approximately 2.6 million years)
lesson3 Glacial/interglacial cycles and their factors
lesson4 Climatic environment of the last ice age (1)
lesson5 Climatic environment of the last ice age (2)
lesson6 Transition from glacial to post-glacial period
lesson7 Stable climate for past 10,000 years
lesson8 Climate change over the past 2,000 years
lesson9 Climate during the Medieval Warm Period
(Little Climatic Optimum)

lesson10 Climate of Little Ice Age
lesson11 Attempts to reconstruct climate from ancient documentary materials: Reconstructing climate based on cherry blossom flowering records
lesson12 Attempts to reconstruct climate from ancient documentary materials: Reconstructing climate based on lake freezing/break-up records
lesson13 Attempts to reconstruct climate from ancient documentary materials: Reconstructing climate using diary weather records from Edo period
lesson14 Reconstructing climate disasters in history:
Case study of typhoon course estimation

lesson15 Summary

These lectures will explain the characteristics of climate change and the causes of change during the Quaternary period (approximately 2.6 million years), which is the era in which humans evolved and spread across the Earth. Additionally, students will learn about the methods to reconstruct past climates, for which no meteorological observations are available, by using various proxy data. 
Text/Reference
Books,etc.
Textbooks are not specified.

References:
Nakagawa, T., 100,000 years of History of Humanity and Climate, Tokyo: Kodansha Bluebacks.
 Le Roy Ladurie, E. (Inagaki, F., trans.), Abrégé d'histoire du climat du Moyen Âge à nos jours [Abridged History of the Climate from the Middle Ages to Modern Times], Tokyo: Fujiwara Shoten.

References other than those listed above will be introduced during the course.

 
PC or AV used in
Class,etc.
 
(More Details) PowerPoint will be used in addition to handouts.
 
Learning techniques to be incorporated  
Suggestions on
Preparation and
Review
Instructions will be given during the course. 
Requirements none 
Grading Method Quizzes will be given at the end of each day of the intensive lecture, and students will be evaluated based on their total score. 
Practical Experience  
Summary of Practical Experience and Class Contents based on it  
Message  
Other Class improvement surveys are conducted for all class subjects; therefore, please cooperate by filling out the survey. Instructors will provide comments on the responses and use them for future improvement. 
Please fill in the class improvement questionnaire which is carried out on all classes.
Instructors will reflect on your feedback and utilize the information for improving their teaching. 
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