My JALT PanSIG Conference History.

My first ever JALT conference as an attendee and young researcher was the 12th PanSIG conference in May 2013 in Nagoya, at Nanzan University. The theme was “From Many, One: Collaboration, Cooperation, and Community” with the JALT Peer Support Group, SIGs, Plenary Judith Hanks, and a Panel Discussion.

The 13th PanSIG conference in May 2014 in Miyazaki, at Miyazaki International University. The theme was “Sustainability: Making Teaching and Learning Last” was too far away for me and too expensive, so I sat this one out.

The 14th PanSIG conference in May 2015 in Kobe, at Kobe University of Foreign Studies, had the theme: Narratives: Raising the Happiness Quotient, which produced a nice handbook and some interesting presentations and personalities.

The 15th PanSIG conference in May 2016 in Okinawa, at Meio University, Nago, was my first off-island conference. The theme: Innovations in Education, is where I enjoyed a whole stuffed and roasted pig, along with many, many happy academics. It was a really good conference in lovely weather, and at a lovely venue. This is where I met Norman Fewell and reunited with the famous George MacLean.

The 16th PanSIG conference in May 2017 in Akita, at Akita International University, was the first conference where we had to be on the lookout for wild bears around campus. I remember the lanterns on the large sticks that were carefully hoisted in the air by men wearing traditional clothes while music was played in the open courtyard between buildings. This is also where I met a young teacher called Matthew from a nursing university, whom when asked about the journal submissions, thanked me for taking over as editor. Quite a shock and a challenge, but with the help of some veteran academics and the incredible Aleda Krauss, I got through and produced a very tidy journal that year as the Journal Editor for the first and only time. It nearly broke me, like a PhD. The theme was “Expand Your Interests. Again on the executive team as PanSIG Journal Editor: Brian Gallagher with PanSIG Journal Assistant Editor: Gavin Brooks. I was also the Forum Coordinator.

The 17th PanSIG conference in June 2018 in Tokyo, at Toyo Gakuin University. I was PANSIG Journal editor again with Debopriyo Roy. I presented for SDD, A Comprehensive Student Planner Design for Debates. https://pansig.org/sites/default/files/pansig2018handbook-v3.pdf

The 18th PanSIG conference in May 2019 in Nishinomiya, at Konan University CUBE, had a Panel discussion with Kensaku Yoshida and a plenary. This was the first time to meet Brent Jones and Roger Palmer, who were a fantastic team and teachers who really helped teachers. Hence, their group THT. I was a proposal reader this year. I presented "PSG Help Rising to the Publish-or-Perish Challenge" here with Suwako Uehara and Paul Beaufait. https://pansig.org/publications/2019/PanSIG2019Handbook.pdf

SARS CoVid-19 time. The 19th PanSIG conference (planned for Niigata) in June 2020 was a one-day online conference, and the 20th PanSIG conference in June 2021 (planned for Shizuoka) was online. The theme, Plenary, Panel Change of mode: SIGs are asked to take part in PanSIG.

The 21st PanSIG conference in July 2022 in Nagano, at The University of Nagano, was my first time riding my motorbike to a conference in the sunshine and over the mountains via a stopover at someone's house for a night out and to see Matsumoto castle. The theme was “(Re)Imagining Language Education”.

The 22nd PanSIG conference in May 2023 in Kyoto, at Kyoto Sangyo University, was a wet one with honking rain, but a few nice photos for profiles and a whisky or two with a now dearly departed Scotsman. That theme was “Looking Forward: Sustainable Futures in Language Education.” 

The 23rd PanSIG conference in May 2024 in Fukui, at Fukui University of Technology, was another bike ride, this time on a bigger bike, and at breakneck speed over hills and around reservoirs beyond sunset and into the dusk and darkness. Fukui has some nice dinosaurs to see, and the conference, themed “Back to the Basics” saw some great performances of taiko drummers as well as PIESIG presenters. 

The 24th PanSIG conference in May 2025 in Chiba, at Kanda University of Foreign Studies, started well with food, beer, and baseball. The theme was autonomy, “Agency and Autonomy in Language Learning”, which was fitting because I learned about myself a little more there, plus it was nice to be back in the prefecture that I had first lived in upon entering Japan over 2 decades before.

The 25th PanSIG conference in May 2026 in Nagoya at Chukyo University was not to be for me. The theme was “Building Language Competencies through Community,” which apparently I was not part of this time. I stopped supporting PanSIG when I became president of JALTCALL because there were not enough hours in the day, in the week, in the year to do everything that I was normally doing on top of my own university and the adjunct work.

Hopefully, at the 26th PanSIG conference, which is planned for May 2027, in Oita, Beppu at APU, I will get the final chance to meet up with PanSIGers before bowing out for some time to finish off my doctorate.

Looking back at a collection of effort from 2013 to now, I feel that I have put a huge chunk of success into this group of academics and teachers that I am proud of, and I feel that I left my legacy there for those interested in respecting the effort that was made. Some people in this group are exceptionally special individuals and give far more than they receive. For this, and the multitude of things that you will never discover that they did for everyone, they should be respected and thanked. I thank them. So should the rest of the community, both veteran and novice. I appreciate you and all that you do.

The Notebook LM version tried its best but got things quite a bit wrong...

Throughout the various PanSIG conferences documented in the sources, Anthony Brian Gallagher (often cited as Brian Gallagher), primarily affiliated with Meijo University, has been a significant contributor through executive leadership, editorial roles, and academic presentations.

Positions and Committee Roles

Gallagher has held several leadership and service positions within the PanSIG conference committees:

• SIG Forums Chair: Held this role for the PanSIG 2024 conference.
• SIG Forums & Posters Chair: Served in this capacity for PanSIG 2025.
• PanSIG Journal Editor: He served as the Editor for the PanSIG Journal in 2017 and 2018.
• SIG Liaison: Served as the liaison for the Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) SIG in 2023.
• Handbook Proofreader: Contributed as a proofreader for the PanSIG 2022 handbook.
• Proposal Reader: He has frequently volunteered as a proposal reader, with his service noted for the 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2023 conferences.
• SIG Volunteer: Acted as a volunteer for the CALL SIG during the 2022 conference.

Conference Presentations and Forums

Gallagher’s presentations span topics from technology and debate to academic writing and pedagogical strategies:

• Forum on Mental, Physical, and Psycho-Social Issues with Technology (2016): A collaborative 90-minute forum exploring health and social issues related to technology use, such as sleep disturbance and eye strain.
• A Comprehensive Student Planner Design for Debates (2018): Introduced an original student template designed for the entire debate process, including planning, note-taking, and analysis.
• PSG Help Rising to the Publish-or-Perish Challenge (2019): A co-presentation raising awareness of the JALT Writers' Peer Support Group (PSG) and its role in helping educators achieve publication.
• Discussion Booklet Creation and Kindle Direct Publishing (2022): A research-oriented presentation on producing student booklets and navigating the Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) system for self-publication.
• EFL Games with CALL (2022): A joint forum discussing the intersection of gameplay and technology in language education.
• Effective Whiteboard Strategies (2023): A poster presentation demonstrating design strategies to improve whiteboard usage for better information flow and student engagement.
• JALTCALLSIG Forum (2023): Participated in an open-discussion panel regarding current social media topics in CALL, such as AI chatbots.
• Unlock the Key to Writing Abstracts (2025): A research-oriented presentation analyzing three years of PanSIG handbook data to provide tips for crafting high-quality academic abstracts.
• Stage to Classroom: Developing EFL Skills with Drama Games + Film Studies (2025): A collaborative PIE (Performance in Education) SIG forum session.