Lakeland College

Lakeland College Japan Faculty

The faculty of Lakeland College Japan are committed to providing intellectual, moral, and professional leadership for their students. They draw upon a wide diversity of experience of living and learning in Japan and around the world. With the College's small class sizes, faculty are amply accessible to students.

Dr. Emmanuel Opare-Addo
Assistant Professor of Math & Science

Emmanuel Opare-Addo completed his PhD in Geology at the University of Cambridge in 1992, and was subsequently a post-doctoral research fellow at the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (Riken) between 1992-1993. He worked as a Research Associate at the University of Electro-Communications (Tokyo) from 1993 to 1998.

Over the past years, Dr. Opare-Addo has presented his work at the Universities of Tokyo, Nagoya and Kyoto, among others. He is a fellow of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, Cambridge Commonwealth Society, American Geophysical Union, Geochemical Society of America and Mineralogical Society of America.

Since joining Lakeland College in 1994, Dr. Opare-Addo has taught courses in both Science and Mathematics. Dr. Opare-Addo has lived on all the major continents of the world, likes to do geological fieldwork and pursue his research interests in his spare time. His other hobbies include reading, watching animals, traveling and sharing time with people.

Ms. Barbara Turoff
Assistant Professor of History & Humanities

Barbara K. Turoff grew up in New York City where she studied Music and frequented the museums, concert halls and theaters on and off Broadway. At Douglass College of Rutgers University, she majored in Literature and History, and upon graduation in 1960, embarked upon a career in education. She has held teaching positions in high schools, community colleges, and universities in the United States, Spain, and Japan.

Turoff's special field is the History of American Women. In addition, she has a strong interest in Holocaust studies and in the 1980's with several colleagues engaged in an oral history project interviewing Holocaust survivors in the Ohio area.

Since her appointment at Lakeland College, Turoff has primarily taught the Humanities and History. Not an advocate of passive learning, Turoff steers away from lecture. She encourages dialogue in the classroom and requires extensive research so that students can explore their own interests in depth.

Turoff's interests outside the classroom are, for the most part, an extension of her professional activities. She often travels to Europe to attend art exhibits, concerts and theater productions. A favorite pastime is poking around in secondhand bookstores looking for books by and about women. At home, she enjoys puttering with plants, jogging along the river, and keeping in touch with family and friends, including former students.

Mr. Luis Poza
Assistant Professor of General Studies

Mr. Poza holds a Master's degree in English (concentration in TESOL), and a Bachelor's degree in Japanese Language (summa cum laude) from San Francisco State University. For more than four years, Mr. Poza served as the Academic Coordinator for Lakeland College Japan, overseeing the academic program during a period of sustained growth, and actively promoting student activities as well as the campus Internet and computer services. Mr. Poza is the chief designer of the English-language web site for LCJ.

Mr Poza has travelled extensively over the past few decades in Japan, and has long held a strong personal interest in its language and culture. He came to work at Lakeland College permanently after more than a decade of work and study in Japan.

Ms. Tracey Woodson
Assistant Professor of General Studies

Ms. Woodson was raised and educated in Austin, Texas. She studied Anthropology, Political Science, and Latin American Studies at the University of Texas, where she received her M.A. in 1996. Before coming to Japan, Ms. Woodson taught Comparative Politics and Academic Writing in Mexico at the University of the Americas and the Monterrey Technological Institute.

Ms. Woodson is committed to helping her students pursue the integration of their activities, values, and relations with others. Toward this end, she regularly organizes educational gatherings and field trips. An avid artist, Ms. Woodson enjoys helping her students find ways to express themselves through creative projects. Her hobbies include painting, carving, and writing.

James Mark Shields
Assistant Professor of Religion and Humanities

In 1993 Mr. Shields earned an M.A. in social and political philosophy at the University of Cambridge, where, under the tutelage of Anthony Giddens, Director of the London School of Economics, he focused on fundamentalism as a religious and political phenomenon with roots in the Reformation. He continued his studies of religion in Canada, his home country, receiving an M.A. from McGill University in 1997. In the fall of 2000, Mr. Shields was awarded a Japanese Government Fellowship to study at the Institute of Japanese thought at Kyoto University, Japan. His doctoral research was directed toward a recent movement in Japanese Buddhist scholarship known as Critical Buddhism.

Mr. Shields has published widely on his areas of interest and research, and speaks German, Spanish, French, and Japanese in addition to his native English.

Mr. Andrew Conning
Academic Coordinator

Andrew Conning has been involved in international education for the past twelve years as a student, researcher, teacher, advisor, and manager. In 1993 he received his B.A. from Georgetown University, where he studied languages and international affairs. In 1995 and 1996, he established and managed a program for international study and volunteer service in Mexico City. Between 1997 and 1999 he researched issues of cultural adaptation among rural-urban migrants from the Mixtec region in Southern Mexico. In 1999, he received his M.A. in Cultural Anthropology and moved to Japan, where he has helped hundreds of students obtain the rewards of international education and global citizenship.

Mr. Conning enjoys challenge and adventure in any form, and sharing his challenges and adventures with others. He encourages participants in the Study Abroad program to seek their own personal and intellectual challenge in Japan and to leave their assumptions at the door!