Multicultural Japan

Course Description: Although often described as one of the most ethnically homogenous countries in the world, Japan has recently seen calls to reinvent itself as a multicultural society. These calls are especially urgent as Japan faces the challenges of an aging population and a globalizing world. At the same time, Japan has never been completely…

Read more Multicultural Japan

Japan’s Aging Society

Course Description: This course uses authentic Japanese-language materials organized around a theme in order to expand students’ vocabulary, cultural literacy, and competency in written and spoken Japanese. Students will develop knowledge and fluency in the thematic area in addition to building self-study habits for continuing toward broader proficiency in Japanese. Class discussions will be conducted…

Read more Japan’s Aging Society

Japan, Nature, and the Environment

Course Description: This course uses authentic Japanese-language materials organized around a theme in order to expand students’ vocabulary, cultural literacy, and competency in written and spoken Japanese. Students will develop knowledge and fluency in the thematic area in addition to building self-study habits for continuing toward broader proficiency in Japanese. Class discussions will be conducted…

Read more Japan, Nature, and the Environment

Global Feminisms

Course Description: In a viral TED Talk titled “We Should All Be Feminists,” Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie stated, “That word feminist is so heavy with baggage, negative baggage. You hate men, you hate bras, you hate African culture, that sort of thing.” Indeed, feminism is among the most fraught terms commonly in use both…

Read more Global Feminisms

Japanese Literary Translation

Course Description: In this experiential learning course, students work as a team to translate a modern Japanese short story into English for publication. The course is project based, taking students through the process of completing a polished translation, from initial close reading, drafting, and iterative revision and editing. Develops skills in reading comprehension and speed,…

Read more Japanese Literary Translation

Teaching with Wikipedia

Wikipedia editing assignments are an excellent way to introduce students to the basics of research. Students in my Japanese and Korean pop culture course contributed high-quality information to articles ranging from The Kojiki to My Brother’s Husband. Sample from student presentation: See our course page for more.

Read more Teaching with Wikipedia