Why Diversity Training and Awareness is Important

Recently, my roommate's teaching assistant (TA) received quite a bit of attention.  He sent an email to his supervisor explaining why he refused to attend further Diversity Training sessions required by the University of Wisconsin - Madison for TAs.  I found his explanation quite frustrating.  The reason why he gained some notoriety (and why I could even read said email) was due to the fact that he included some conservative news/blog outlets in the correspondence.  I don't want to go into too much detail regarding this email because I did not attend these sessions so I do not want to assume.  The only thing I would like to say before continuing on is that whether you approve of someone's characteristics you shouldn't cause significant damage.  Calling a transgender student by the wrong pronouns harms said student.  Perhaps without diversity training you might not realize the consequences of your actions because it wouldn't harm you.  People come from different schema and it isn't unexpected for you to step on a few metaphorical toes if you aren't aware of your surroundings.  For example, in some cultures showing the bottom of your shoe is offensive.  In my culture that isn't offensive, so I could unintentionally offend someone.  I've had moments in my life where someone unintentionally was rude or racist towards me.  I understood that it wasn't their intention so I tried to brush it off, but it doesn't take away from how it made me feel.  Most of these occurrences were in Japan.  Japanese people don't typically deal with people from other cultures, so I expected as much.  But that doesn't mean that Japanese people should just ignore the issue.  It is one of the major reasons why I wouldn't want to live in Japan for over five years.  Why would I want to live in a society that keeps on stepping on my metaphorical toes and doesn't bother to say they are sorry?

Teaching History & Literature in High School

My freshman year of high school the teachers did an interesting thing where they tried to connect the literature we were reading with the same period of US history that we were learning.  They tried something similar during sophomore year with world history, but it was less successful.  I've been reminded recently of this curriculum organization while taking a course in American literature at the university level.  Context is incredibly important to understand references, themes, and writing style.  Although, one issue with teaching in this format during freshmen year is that the earlier period is significantly more difficult.  I had a rough time reading some 17th and 18th century literature due partly with mythological and biblical references.  I felt like I needed to take a theology and mythology class in order to fully comprehend the works.  Any-who, I am going to try to recall what I read that year: Grapes of Wrath, A Raisin in the Sun, Romeo & Juliet, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Of Mice & Men.  I can't remember what else we read.  I would like to make some suggestions for a similar curriculum (but better in my opinion).  [I'm only basing this off of what I have read or what I know other freshmen classes read.  I would like recommendations for major works by minority authors throughout American history.]

Scarlett Letter [Puritans]
Declaration of Independence [Revolution]
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn/ Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass [Slavery]
'Gettysburg Address'/ Cold Mountain [Civil War]
The Great Gatsby [Roaring 20s]
Quicksand & Passing / various music & poetry [Harlem Renaissance] 
Of Mice & Men [Great Depression]
Catch-22 / Slaughterhouse-Five [WWII]
A Raisin in the Sun/ 'I Have A Dream' [Civil Rights Movement]

My biggest complaint about my US history class is that we didn't get very far.  We ended our studies after the Vietnam War, and we didn't spend much time on it either.  I wasn't alive during the Korean War and I was born around the time of Black Hawk Down.  Therefore, there are a lot of significant events in US history that I had to learn about on my own.  For this reason I don't think the literature class needs to touch on everything that the history class does.  If there are multiple novels for one period they can split the students up into reading circles.  This lets the students have some choice in which work they read.  Plus, they can have group presentations on the themes of said piece. 

Japanese Women, Under Utilized Members of the Labor Market: A Human Resources Perspective

The Demographic Issue
Let's begin be reviewing Japan's population distribution situation.  Japan's population is changing drastically, in a negative way.  A healthy population should be in the shape of a triangle.  Japan's population is gradually turning into an upside down triangle, where there are more elderly than young people.  The birth rate is only 1.37 per woman, while 2.1 is the necessary rate to keep population stable.  According to government forecasts, within 50 years the population will drop by almost a third.  One in three Japanese people will be over 65.  United Nations recommended that, in order to have the same working-age population as they did in 1995, Japan needs 33.5 million immigrant from 1995 to 205o.  An average of 609,000 immigrants per year.  However, the majority of Japanese people oppose this.  So what else can help alleviate this crisis for the Japanese economy?

My Japan Trip II: Hiroshima, Miyajima, & Tokyo

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park

This is a continuation, as you can see from the title, of my trip with family around the main island of Japan.  I included general tips about transportation in the previous post.  Feel free to ask questions.  I might add places and restaurants that I visited on different trips.   

General Tip: A lot of shopping areas and sightseeing spots close around 5/6pm, so plan ahead.  If you are mostly sightseeing and running around shopping then just wake up and go to bed early.  On the other hand, if you want to party like it is 1999 then you need to figure out when is the last train/ bus/tram you need to catch in order to get back to your hotel.  Taxis can be expensive depending on the city, so I use them as an emergency option.  Although, if you want an experience plan to go clubbing until late and then either head to a 24hour family restaurant (Dennys) or a karaoke spot to either sleep or go for an all-nighter.  The trick to doing karaoke all night (after eating at a bar then clubbing) is to bring caffeine.  You'll probably lose your voice early on, but that'll just make things funnier.  

My Japan Trip Part I: Nagoya, Inuyama, Kyoto, Arashiyama, & Nara

After spending a year abroad in Nagoya, Japan some of my family came over to visit and travel.  I planned an itinerary for four major cities and three day trips to neighboring areas.  I'm going to give you an overview of where we went, where we staid, where we ate, and what we did. I will also include what was on my list of possible activities and such that we didn't get to.  My family is from the Midwest of the United States so they were tired in the middle of the day, so we made time for naps or recharging sometime after lunch or before dinner.  I'm 21 so it is normal for me to stay up late, but my parents go to bed around 10pm.  In other words, there was no night life included.  (The popular, foreigner-friendly club in Nagoya is ID-cafe in Sakae.)

General Tips:
If you are traveling from city to city on the shinkansen then you should order a JR pass.  If you plan on running around then you should consider purchasing a day pass for the subway or bus (based on what city you are in).  Otherwise a train/bus re-chargeable card (that now work in all major cities) will speed up commuting. 

Nanzan University CJS Program Experience & Review

I, through an exchange program with UW - Madison, studied abroad at Nanzan University (南山大学) from September 2012 to May 2013.  UW - Madison offered year long exchange programs at Hokkaido University, Keio University, Nanzan University, and Sophia University.  They have since added Kyoto University.  The reason why Nanzan University was my first choice was because it was the only option out of the four which offered a home-stay as part of its program.  Due to this differentiation aspect, Nanzan University was highly recommended by the Japanese department.  I had studied Japanese for two years at the university level (24 credits total) prior to going abroad.  I will share an overview of my experience and my review of their program.  Please feel free to contact me with questions.