I have developed a college/university class on the theme of apprentice pedagogy. None of my nine teachers in Japan “taught” me in a conventional sense. In fact, all of them demanded a completely silent workshop. In Japan, the apprentice is expected to learn by observation, and in some cases by stealing their master’s secrets. In my college courses we build a boat or teahouse together in a silent workshop, approximately forty hours total. Students journal about the experience, write papers, and discuss readings in our conventional class sessions outside of the workshop, hours determined by the school’s requirements. To date I have taught this course at Middlebury College (2015, 216, 2018, 2020, and 2026 Winter Terms), Bates College Short Term, University of Illinois, Deep Springs College Summer Term, and Harvard University. The courses end with a traditional Shinto ritual.

I also taught a semester-long boatbuilding courses at the University of Vermont, and the Hannaford Career Center (four years), both centered on the research, documentation, and replication of traditional boats of Lake Champlain.

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