John Rucynski

John Rucynski grew up in New York, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Texas, and Wisconsin before leaving the US to settle in Japan, with stops in Morocco and New Zealand along the way. He is currently associate professor in the Center for Liberal Arts and Language Education at Okayama University.

He has co-written (with Alice Gordenker) three textbooks for use in university English language courses in Japan, including Surprising Japan! and Working in Japan: Video Interviews with 14 Professionals.

His main research interest is the role of humor in foreign language acquisition and intercultural communication. This passion has resulted in two edited volumes, New Ways in Teaching with Humor and (with Caleb Prichard) Bridging the Humor Barrier: Humor Competency Training in English Language Teaching.

Speaking of passion, his latest work is the edited volume A Passion for Japan: A Collection of Personal Narratives.