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:
Japanese Cinema
Japanese Mind
Social Issues in Japan
*Click the links to see samples of my work for each course
Japanese Cinema
Japanese Mind
Social Issues in Japan
*Click the links to see samples of my work for each course
2.1 For this MLO, I developed a deeper understaning of Japanese culture by taking a Japanese Cinema class by Professor Takahashi. This course although sounds fun, was very demanding as critical analysis of films was necessary. Lectures were held every class to introduce different parts of Japanese culture that would assist in our analysis of the films and their connection with real life culture, Films we watched varied from older varieties by director Kurosawa, modern films, Japanese independent films, a one animation film. Overall this course was able to show how deep rooted Japanese culture is in every day life.
2.2 The Japanese Mind course was crucial in helping my critical thinking and understanding of how and why Japanese act and behave in certain ways according to the situation. What was unique about Professor Takahashi's courses is that there is always a large number of Japanese exchange students in the classes, sometimes equaling half of the class. This allows there to be deeper group discussions in class which really allowed me to hear first hand students' opinions about the given topic. When I had studied abroad there were many times that I could not understand why Japanese people reacted a certain way or how important job hunting was for students. This course cleared up and made sense of nearly every situation I had been questioning about. Further, the biggest take away of the course for me was the topic of the Japanese education system and business practices, both of which have extreme relevance to my future. Professor Takahashi had us watch documentaries, read numerous articles, and hold many group discussions on these topics which enriched my overall understanding of these topics. Inaddition, Social Issues (JAPN-311) added to this MLO by allowing for critical thinking and forming hypothesis about how Japanese culture and thinking affects its own peception of societal issues.
2.2 The Japanese Mind course was crucial in helping my critical thinking and understanding of how and why Japanese act and behave in certain ways according to the situation. What was unique about Professor Takahashi's courses is that there is always a large number of Japanese exchange students in the classes, sometimes equaling half of the class. This allows there to be deeper group discussions in class which really allowed me to hear first hand students' opinions about the given topic. When I had studied abroad there were many times that I could not understand why Japanese people reacted a certain way or how important job hunting was for students. This course cleared up and made sense of nearly every situation I had been questioning about. Further, the biggest take away of the course for me was the topic of the Japanese education system and business practices, both of which have extreme relevance to my future. Professor Takahashi had us watch documentaries, read numerous articles, and hold many group discussions on these topics which enriched my overall understanding of these topics. Inaddition, Social Issues (JAPN-311) added to this MLO by allowing for critical thinking and forming hypothesis about how Japanese culture and thinking affects its own peception of societal issues.