MLO 3: Secondary Culture Other Than Japanese 3.1 Students describe concepts of culture and use that understanding in their comparison of the Japanese culture with a second culture other than Japan. 3.2 Students will analyze and make connections between the perspectives, ways of thinking, behavioral practices, and cultural products of a second culture other than Japanese.
Reflective Narrative: I can't say much in regards to this MLO as far as classes at CSUMB are concerned. I ended up taking classes while studying abroad to meet this requirement. The first semester I was abroad in Japan at Toyo University I took a class about the economy in South East Asia. It was very interesting learning about how underdeveloped countries mainly start to grow from investments made by developed countries in the form of creating some form of major production operation in that country, such as creating factories or creating large farms for certain climate specific crops. Even though from our own point of view, companies are outsourcing jobs to other countries to probably just save money, which is true, this also helps underdeveloped countries boost their own economy. My second semester at Toyo University I took a class which was labeled as "European Literature A", but was actually about Asian-American literature. The class only had 4 students including myself taking it, all of which were international students. Thanks to that we had a lot of really good discussion with the professor about the various books and passages we read as well as discussions about the lives of the authors. The world is more connected then it has ever been, thanks to the advancements in both communication technology and transportation. This in turn has made the world smaller than it has ever been. It's important for humans as a whole to learn about and respect the various cultures that we will encounter in our lives. Being open minded and understanding our differences will help us all grow together and create a peaceful world.