For five days from August 30 to September 3, Philosophy (Lecture): Topics in Applied Modal Logic 2021 was held as a course offered by Hokkaido Summer Institute (HSI) 2021. This lecture was given online by Associate Professor Katsuhiko SANO, Dr. Jeremy Seligman, Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland and Dr. Tomoyuki YAMADA, Professor Emeritus at Hokkaido University.
From August 30 to September 3, Dr. Seligman delivered lectures on topics: time, belief and society, respectively. On the fifth day, Dr. Yamada graciously expounded pragmatics by dividing speech acts into four phases: commanding, promising, requesting and asserting.
The lectures by Dr. Seligman, comprised of preparation via prior video recording, Zoom lectures and subsequent assignments, were designed to enable participants to steadily understand and apply the lecture content. In lectures via Zoom in which participants used Breakout Rooms and Line groups for lectures, students were able to deeply understand the lecture content by communicating with lecturers and teaching assistants. On the final day, individual groups made presentations about the group project they worked on based on the lectures. Following this session, Dr. Seligman and other lecturers asked questions, made comments and conveyed their appreciation. Students expressed that it was novel for them to have so many opportunities to engage in discussion with other students, and that lecturers painstakingly answered their questions, showing that this was a fulfilling week for them.