2026 (Current Year) Faculty Courses Liberal arts and basic science courses Humanities and social science courses
Essence of Humanities and Social Sciences62:Language and Body
- Academic unit or major
- Humanities and social science courses
- Instructor(s)
- Hiroyuki Akama
- Class Format
- Lecture
- Media-enhanced courses
- -
- Day of week/Period
(Classrooms) - Class
- -
- Course Code
- LAH.S452
- Number of credits
- 100
- Course offered
- 2026
- Offered quarter
- 4Q
- Syllabus updated
- Mar 5, 2026
- Language
- Japanese
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is achieving explosive evolution through large language models (LLMs) that superhumanly mimic linguistic activity. Its origins stemmed from the idea of replacing the brain's neurons with machines performing logical operations.While AI has reached levels indistinguishable from human intellectual and emotional responses—such as conversational ability—it still lacks certain biological traits, including linguistic functions like negation, bodily experience with the environment, and the self-acceptance and repair of impairments. This lecture returns to the fundamentals and origins of psycholinguistics, cognitive linguistics, and computational neurolinguistics. It explores the relationship between language and the body by touching on core concepts such as embodiment theory, psychoanalytic language theory, mental disorders and language impairments, and the neural basis of the bilingual brain. Through this exploration and deepening, it attempts to re-examine the present and future of AI from philosophical and epistemological perspectives.
Course description and aims
Building on foundational knowledge of applied linguistics, expand your epistemological perspective from biological foundations to AI.
Keywords
Psycholinguistics, Cognitive Linguistics, Computational Neurolinguistics, Philosophy, Epistemology
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
The course primarily follows a lecture format using slides, while also incorporating group discussions and presentations on free-choice topics based on themes set by the instructor or proposed by students.The following course plan is tentative and may be replaced with a different theme depending on student interest.
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | Open Discussion: What interests do students have regarding language and the body? |
An Invitation to Applied Linguistics |
| Class 2 | What is known about the biological basis determining language ability? |
Biolinguistics, Bioinformatics |
| Class 3 | Is it possible to fully explain language solely through the command system from the language brain to language-related organs? |
Body-based linguistics, Neuroscience, Neuropsychology |
| Class 4 | How can we teach artificial intelligence without a biological body to understand embodiment? |
Embodied cognition and Linguistics |
| Class 5 | How can artificial intelligence learn to process the twists of the human mind, such as irony and humor? |
AI, Rhetoric, Psychoanalysis |
| Class 6 | Is there an essential difference between episodic memory and semantic memory in the relationship between human experience and language? |
Memory Theory and Emotion |
| Class 7 | Final Presentation Session: Building on our previous lessons, let's listen to presentations by interested students and engage in free discussion. |
Opening up your linguistics |
Study advice (preparation and review)
To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to course material.
Textbook(s)
Science Tokyo LMS will distribute lecture materials via PowerPoint, so no specific textbook is assigned.
Reference books, course materials, etc.
Hiroyuki Akama “Neuroscience, Neurophilosophy, and France”, Kindle eBook & Paperback Edition (https://x.gd/8cxG2), ISBN-13: 979-8282823110
Lecturer's Homepage: https://sites.google.com/site/akamatitechlab/
Evaluation methods and criteria
Submit a mini-report reflecting on each class session to Science Tokyo LMS. Additionally, either submit a final report or give a free presentation during the 7th class session (choose one).
Related courses
- none
Prerequisites
There are no specific prerequisites for enrolling in this course.
Other
None