JAPN 311: Social Issues in Japan
Course description:
As the drive to rebuild modern Japan after WWII slowed, latent and new social problems have become visible. This course offers interdisciplinary perspectives on issues such as care of the elderly and homeless, equal treatment of minorities, gender and labor issues, domestic and world ecological concerns, and relevant institutions that promote or attack prejudice towards heterogeneous social groups. Taught in English.
This course meets MLO4
As the drive to rebuild modern Japan after WWII slowed, latent and new social problems have become visible. This course offers interdisciplinary perspectives on issues such as care of the elderly and homeless, equal treatment of minorities, gender and labor issues, domestic and world ecological concerns, and relevant institutions that promote or attack prejudice towards heterogeneous social groups. Taught in English.
This course meets MLO4
Course Reflective Narrative:
To have a successful understanding of Japan, as a second culture, we analyzed different aspects within the community. A thorough analysis of issues such as, Japan's transformations after WWII, labor issues, gender inequalities and minorities injustices, were covered under readings, class discussions and blog posting. Strongly, after every topic was completed, I had a greater understanding of what type of life style and obstacles many Japan civilians had to go through. The use of blog posting, was the most beneficiary skill, as it provided improvement in necessary writing skills, critical thinking and preparation for the mini-research paper, given at the end of the course. The blog posts consisted of a formal and academical brief summary of each topic and after posting on a program utilized by the university, we shared our perspectives with classmates: this was also a similar activity used in Spanish 304. As far as, topics the one that stood out the most to me and that intrigued my curiosity to write about in the mini-research essay, was the abuse of rights. During the introduction to gender issues, different generations of women were presented in the articles to have been suffering from injustices as their rights were not being respected, but the Japanese women who lived through the WWII comfort women system and brothels used by the United States military personnel, were the generations I found to be most affected. After exploring the topic a bit more, I centered my final paper in it. Also, I plan to continue the examination of this topic, by comparing and differentiating the injustices of women in both countries: Mexico and Japan, as I discovered that in both countries the government plays a huge role in the injustices many women face.
To have a successful understanding of Japan, as a second culture, we analyzed different aspects within the community. A thorough analysis of issues such as, Japan's transformations after WWII, labor issues, gender inequalities and minorities injustices, were covered under readings, class discussions and blog posting. Strongly, after every topic was completed, I had a greater understanding of what type of life style and obstacles many Japan civilians had to go through. The use of blog posting, was the most beneficiary skill, as it provided improvement in necessary writing skills, critical thinking and preparation for the mini-research paper, given at the end of the course. The blog posts consisted of a formal and academical brief summary of each topic and after posting on a program utilized by the university, we shared our perspectives with classmates: this was also a similar activity used in Spanish 304. As far as, topics the one that stood out the most to me and that intrigued my curiosity to write about in the mini-research essay, was the abuse of rights. During the introduction to gender issues, different generations of women were presented in the articles to have been suffering from injustices as their rights were not being respected, but the Japanese women who lived through the WWII comfort women system and brothels used by the United States military personnel, were the generations I found to be most affected. After exploring the topic a bit more, I centered my final paper in it. Also, I plan to continue the examination of this topic, by comparing and differentiating the injustices of women in both countries: Mexico and Japan, as I discovered that in both countries the government plays a huge role in the injustices many women face.