Dates:
Summer I 2010 (dates to be determined)Dialogue Leaders:
Prof. Bruce Wallin (b.wallin@neu.edu) and Prof. Kosaku Dairokuno, Meiji University, Tokyo, Japan)Course Credits:
POLS 4937 Government and Politics Learning Abroad (4 SH) and INTL 4938 Dialogue of Civilizations (4 SH)Course Description:
The course will introduce students to public policy and administration issues in Japan, to allow them to compare them to similar issues in the United States. The course will also expose students to the civilization and culture of Japan, the societal basis for government and policy.Students will be divided into teams and assigned a public policy area to research, comparing the issues relating to that policy area in Japan to the same public policy in the United States. The research will focus on the current issues relating to the assigned policy area in each nation, any problems it may face, and potential reforms. A summary will make final comparisons between the public policy issues in the two nations. At the conclusion of the trip students will compose a PowerPoint presentation of their findings.
Before the visit to Japan, students will gather information about their policy area using books, articles, Internet resources, and the primary Japanese newspapers available in English: The Japan Times, The Asahi Shinbun, and The Daily Yomiuri. Research using the Internet and newspapers will continue while the students are in Japan. Through lectures by, and meetings with, Japanese professors and students, participants will have the opportunity to learn more about their policy area.
The course also seeks to introduce students to Japanese civilization and culture, which provides the context for political and governmental (as well as societal) issues. This will be accomplished through visits to important Japanese cultural institutions, including, for example, museums, shrines, and temples, as well as through their interaction with Japanese university students. Students will keep daily journals and write a short paper reflecting on their experience in, and impression of, the country and its people.
Most of the four weeks in Japan will be spent in central Tokyo, with a four-day trip to Kyoto. Students will also spend three days with fifteen Japanese university students at the Meiji University guesthouse in the Lakes Region near Mt. Fuji. This will give the students time to exchange ideas on political, policy, and cultural issues.
Cost:
Summer tuition for 8 NU credits plus additional costs TBD.Application Process:
The program is open to students of any major. No prior knowledge of the Japanese language is required. Download the Dialogue of Civilizations application and waiver form. Turn in two copies of each completed form and two copies of your unofficial transcript to the Office of International Study Programs in 10 BV.Application Deadline:
December 1, 2009For more Information:
Contact Prof. Bruce Wallin at b.wallin@neu.edu/617-373-4405Disclaimer:
Some information posted here is tentative and subject to change based on costs and dates of available flights. The website is updated as current information becomes available.