MLO 2: Culture
2.1. Students develop a comprehensive understanding, appreciation and knowledge of Japanese culture: perspectives (ideas, beliefs, attitudes, values, philosophies), practices (patterns of social interactions) and products (both tangible and intangible, for example, art, history, literature, music).
2.2. Students develop analytical and critical thinking in areas, such as how Japan’s cultural background influences modern Japanese life, how to compare their own culture with the Japanese culture, or how Japanese culture relates to other world cultures in an age of global inter-relatedness.
Courses Taken:
~JAPN 215: Cool Japan
~JAPN 308: Japanese Pop Culture
~JAPN 306: The Japanese Mind
~Japanese Society (Took in Japan)
~Japanese Culture (Took in Japan)
Reflective Narrative:
2.1: The Cool Japan and Japanese Pop Culture courses developed my understanding and knowledge of Japan's culture. In Cool Japan, we focused on different aspects of Japanese traditional culture and pop culture and how they evolved and influenced one another. For example, Manga, Anime, Cinema, literature, performance art, music, and fine arts were some of the topic we studied in class. In the final group project for this class and explained Japan's tourism and leisure culture. In the presentation, we discussed several regions' climates, festivals, famous locations and temples/shrines (see Cool Japan Presentation). The Japanese Pop Culture course, as well, focused on similar topics, such as music, literature, artistic media, and hi-tech products. An interesting aspect about this course, that I really enjoyed, was it wasn't strictly focused on anime and manga, but touched on topics such as Japan's Kawaii (cute) culture, or the idea that Kami (gods/spirit) can exist in any object and how they are portrayed in many different T.V shows and films. For the group project for this course, we focused how genders are represented in different aspects of Japan, such in Kawaii culture, fashion and anime (see Japanese Pop Culture presentation). Japanese Society, is a course I took while studying in Japan and focused on topics such as class, gender, family, education, work, and minorities living in Japan. Each homework assignment had us answering a set of questions based on an article that was assigned, such as answering questions based on education in Japan and phenomenons that have occurred because of it (see Japanese Society Homework).
~Cool Japan Presentation
~Japanese Pop Culture Presentation
~Japanese Society Homework
2.2: For this part of the MLO 2, Japanese Mind and Japanese Culture develop analytical and critical thinking of Japan's culture. First, in the Japanese Mind course there was daily group discussion, where we would answer a set of question and giving our own opinions as our answers and then shared them with the class. For the final paper, I discussed the importance of harmony in Japan and why and how it is maintained (see Japanese Mind Final Paper). The second course, Japanese Culture, was another course I took while in Japan that focused on aspects of Japan's culture which are different from the typical culture class. For example, topics such as the Nihonjinron, invented traditions and popular images of "being Japanese." Similar to Japanese Society course, there was daily reading assignments that we had to write about, however we were able to discuss our own opinions about the topic (see Japanese Culture Homework).
~Japanese Mind Final Paper
~Japanese Culture Homework
2.2. Students develop analytical and critical thinking in areas, such as how Japan’s cultural background influences modern Japanese life, how to compare their own culture with the Japanese culture, or how Japanese culture relates to other world cultures in an age of global inter-relatedness.
Courses Taken:
~JAPN 215: Cool Japan
~JAPN 308: Japanese Pop Culture
~JAPN 306: The Japanese Mind
~Japanese Society (Took in Japan)
~Japanese Culture (Took in Japan)
Reflective Narrative:
2.1: The Cool Japan and Japanese Pop Culture courses developed my understanding and knowledge of Japan's culture. In Cool Japan, we focused on different aspects of Japanese traditional culture and pop culture and how they evolved and influenced one another. For example, Manga, Anime, Cinema, literature, performance art, music, and fine arts were some of the topic we studied in class. In the final group project for this class and explained Japan's tourism and leisure culture. In the presentation, we discussed several regions' climates, festivals, famous locations and temples/shrines (see Cool Japan Presentation). The Japanese Pop Culture course, as well, focused on similar topics, such as music, literature, artistic media, and hi-tech products. An interesting aspect about this course, that I really enjoyed, was it wasn't strictly focused on anime and manga, but touched on topics such as Japan's Kawaii (cute) culture, or the idea that Kami (gods/spirit) can exist in any object and how they are portrayed in many different T.V shows and films. For the group project for this course, we focused how genders are represented in different aspects of Japan, such in Kawaii culture, fashion and anime (see Japanese Pop Culture presentation). Japanese Society, is a course I took while studying in Japan and focused on topics such as class, gender, family, education, work, and minorities living in Japan. Each homework assignment had us answering a set of questions based on an article that was assigned, such as answering questions based on education in Japan and phenomenons that have occurred because of it (see Japanese Society Homework).
~Cool Japan Presentation
~Japanese Pop Culture Presentation
~Japanese Society Homework
2.2: For this part of the MLO 2, Japanese Mind and Japanese Culture develop analytical and critical thinking of Japan's culture. First, in the Japanese Mind course there was daily group discussion, where we would answer a set of question and giving our own opinions as our answers and then shared them with the class. For the final paper, I discussed the importance of harmony in Japan and why and how it is maintained (see Japanese Mind Final Paper). The second course, Japanese Culture, was another course I took while in Japan that focused on aspects of Japan's culture which are different from the typical culture class. For example, topics such as the Nihonjinron, invented traditions and popular images of "being Japanese." Similar to Japanese Society course, there was daily reading assignments that we had to write about, however we were able to discuss our own opinions about the topic (see Japanese Culture Homework).
~Japanese Mind Final Paper
~Japanese Culture Homework