معرفی
Ritsuko Narita Larson serves as an Associate Professor (Non-Tenure Track) of Japanese within the Asian Languages and Cultures Department at Macalester College. She instructs second and third-year Japanese language courses while actively shaping departmental cultural programming through event coordination and student mentorship.
Her academic foundation includes a Ph.D. in Japanese Linguistics from the University of Hawai’i. Research interests span language pedagogy, pragmatics, second language acquisition, discourse analysis, conversation analysis, and computer assisted language learning. Narita-sensei integrates cultural context into language education to cultivate lifelong learners, emphasizing real-world relevance through student-driven topics and authentic communication scenarios.
She spearheads key departmental initiatives including the annual Poetry Contest, Language Fair, Japanese Chatime gatherings, and career development events featuring JET program representatives and alumni. Her advising extends to student coordinators of the Japanese Culture Club and Japanese House programming, fostering immersive cultural engagement beyond the classroom. Teaching philosophy centers on the principle: 'To teach is to touch a life forever,' with demonstrated commitment to building supportive Japanese learning communities through personalized student interaction and alumni connection.
