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.
Throughout the course Japanese Visual Culture and Media, I gained a better understanding of Japan as a country, in particular from a visual and cultural stand point. The course was instrumental in developing and understanding my ideas about Japan's history and society. After completion of this course I gained valuable information, one of the concepts that I was drawn to, was the idea of Kami. Kami is a spirit that is thought to exist in every aspect of life, it’s thought to be an inner soul that everything on the planet possesses, and I found this particularly interesting because I had never heard of any such thing before. This idea that all living and non-living things have a soul was and interesting idea to me that allowed me to understand their philosophy behind being at peace with the world around them. In order to complete Major Learning Outcome 4: Secondary Culture Knowledge, students had to immerse themselves in a secondary culture completely foreign to them. I fulfilled this requirement by taking the Japanese Visual Culture course. The course placed a great emphasis on understanding the Japanese culture and society through visual media. This was important in understanding traditions and beliefs because is allowed each individual to make personal observations. By fulfilling this MLO students were allowed to understand Japanese culture more in depth and understand many of the cultural movements that go on in Japan, like Anime. Prior to taking this course I personally saw Anime, as the equivalent to cartoons, but through taking this course I learned that it is more than a cartoon and that its influence spread throughout the country and in some cases the world. My understanding for many of the Japanese rituals and beliefs where clarified in this course, for example, my understanding of the Geisha. Before taking this course I believed that Geisha were glorified prostitutes, but soon came to realize that they were more than that, and they played vital role in the ritual of tea ceremonies. I also broadened my knowledge on spiritual and ritualistic practices, this Japanese Visual Culture and Media course exposed students to valuable historical and social information pertaining to present day Japanese culture. Overall, I feel like at the end of the course I had a better understanding and appreciation for foreign cultures and have refrained myself from making judgments before allowing myself the opportunity to truly immerse myself in the understanding of that culture.
Here are is a link providing evidence for material completed towards this MLO: Japanese Culture and Media
Here are is a link providing evidence for material completed towards this MLO: Japanese Culture and Media