The Japan Experience: Kyoto – Language, Culture & Exchange

JAPN 235

Led by Dr. Yukiko Onitsuka

The Japan Experience: Kyoto is designed to provide students an opportunity to use their Japanese language skills in real life situations and deepen their understanding of Japanese language and culture through experiential learning.

Japanese language learning through activities and cultural experiences will include student exploration of the local neighborhood with a report from the students of their findings in class as well as several cultural activities such as Zen meditation, tea ceremony, calligraphy activity, Japanese cooking class, etc.

Exchanges with local college students will include Ritsumeikan University’s “Buddies” program where Japanese student volunteers are paired with participants to improve conversational skills and become better acquainted with the campus and Kyoto. This will allow participants to reinforce their language skills, develop better communication skills, and deepen cultural understanding in both classroom and real-life settings.

Students will complete individual exploration projects during the course. They will design their own projects using resources available in Kyoto before the trip and prepare for it. Project themes will be chosen by students based on their interests. At the end of course, students will give presentations in Japanese, demonstrating their language proficiency development. JAPN 235 counts as a CAS Global & Cultural Diversity course.

Prerequisite Requirements: JAPN 201 or instructor consent required; instructor consent required to register in SIS.

Estimated Cost: TBA includes lodging, meals, ground transportation, site visits and other activities.  Tuition and airfare extra.

Contact: Dr. Yukiko Onitsuka, Associate Professor of Japanese
Case Western Reserve University
Department of Modern Languages & Literatures
yukiko.nishida@case.edu

Apply: http://studyabroad.case.edu/