MLO 4: Secondary Cultural Knowledge
In addition to the Spanish language and Hispanic cultures, the student demonstrates a general knowledge of a socio-cultural group other than a Hispanic one or mainstream American culture. The student develops a basic understanding of the ways of thinking (ideas, beliefs, attitudes, values, philosophies), the behavioral practices (patterns of social interactions) and the cultural products – both tangible and intangible (for example, art, history, literature, music) – of the second culture.
The course that was completed for this MLO is JAPN 308. Meeting the outcomes of this MLO are supported by the course that I have completed. In this case, JAPN 308 was the only class that falls in this category. This class was about the Japanese pop culture; it investigates social themes ranging from post-holocaust Japanese hedonism to childhood fantasies by looking at Manga comic books, Anime animated movies, and popular music from Enka to J-Pop to Karaoke, as well as fashion and style, popular technology, consumerism, and environmental issues (class description). An area within the MLO have I have developed is that I gained knowledge of culture that is different from my own (Hispanic/American culture). I learned that the Japanese pop culture has many unique things that other cultures do not have. Some examples of this are Kei-cars (smaller than your average car), bento boxes, the concept of kawaii, etc. An area that I wish to continue to develop after completing your degree is to learn Japanese. I think that it would be really helpful, especially if one is interested in their pop culture, so that one does not have to rely so much on the subtitles, dubbing, and/or translation of anime, manga, and other things that contain the Japanese language. An area of the MLO that I found challenging was Japanese art. I dealt with this challenge by asking the other students (most of them were Japanese majors or Japanese) what each ukiyo-e (a type of Japanese art), that was shown in class, meant. It contains a lot of symbolism and hidden clues about what it is about. This MLO contribute to my personal intellectual growth by helping me better understand the Japanese culture. I watch anime and read manga. In doing so, I would tend to have questions about some concerts that were shown in them. Now with a broader aspect of the Japanese culture, I know understand some of them, like in the movie "Princess Mononoke," which contains kami and "Spirited Away," which also shows the concept of kami.
The course that was completed for this MLO is JAPN 308. Meeting the outcomes of this MLO are supported by the course that I have completed. In this case, JAPN 308 was the only class that falls in this category. This class was about the Japanese pop culture; it investigates social themes ranging from post-holocaust Japanese hedonism to childhood fantasies by looking at Manga comic books, Anime animated movies, and popular music from Enka to J-Pop to Karaoke, as well as fashion and style, popular technology, consumerism, and environmental issues (class description). An area within the MLO have I have developed is that I gained knowledge of culture that is different from my own (Hispanic/American culture). I learned that the Japanese pop culture has many unique things that other cultures do not have. Some examples of this are Kei-cars (smaller than your average car), bento boxes, the concept of kawaii, etc. An area that I wish to continue to develop after completing your degree is to learn Japanese. I think that it would be really helpful, especially if one is interested in their pop culture, so that one does not have to rely so much on the subtitles, dubbing, and/or translation of anime, manga, and other things that contain the Japanese language. An area of the MLO that I found challenging was Japanese art. I dealt with this challenge by asking the other students (most of them were Japanese majors or Japanese) what each ukiyo-e (a type of Japanese art), that was shown in class, meant. It contains a lot of symbolism and hidden clues about what it is about. This MLO contribute to my personal intellectual growth by helping me better understand the Japanese culture. I watch anime and read manga. In doing so, I would tend to have questions about some concerts that were shown in them. Now with a broader aspect of the Japanese culture, I know understand some of them, like in the movie "Princess Mononoke," which contains kami and "Spirited Away," which also shows the concept of kami.