Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Upon successful completion students should be able to:

1. Use an understanding of key ideology and terminology on concepts such as imperialistic past, neonationalism, cultural pride, modern social issues, marriage and religion and use critical thinking to evaluate historical changes and their impact on current Japanese society.
2. Recognize the social contributions of Japan based on a deepened understanding of its history, ecology, society, politics, and culture in order to appreciate and evaluate cultural diversity in the global community.
3. Identify culturally grounded assumptions of one’s own and apply a basic understanding of Japanese culture, social and political issues, perspectives, and forms of expression, to resolve cultural conflicts.
4. Enhance citizenship skills through the practice of selfappraisal and examination of one’s personal beliefs in comparison to the beliefs of others.
5. Apply cultural understandings learned in class effectively in authentic interactions with native speakers of Japanese.

• Active participation in small group discussions
• Active participation in inter-active class discussions
• Conceptual written tasks to assess understanding of cultural and social themes in readings and films
• Individual and group presentations

The following themes will be explored in the course:

Cult, environment and modern Japanese social issues
Marriage and divorce