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.
There are two pathways by which this outcome can be fulfilled:
There are two pathways by which this outcome can be fulfilled:
- The student completes at least one upper division course whose focus is a socio-cultural group not reflected by a Hispanic culture. General areas to choose from are: literature, the social sciences (anthropology, geography, history, political systems), art history, music history and/or the second cultural group.
- With faculty approval, the student may opt for a more individual pathway, choosing to independently study, research and analyze the working components of the second culture.
JAPAN 311 helped me attain the MLO 4 requirement by learning about Japan’s people and beliefs. Before taking this class I did not know anything about Japan or any other culture. All I knew was about Mexico’s culture because I was born there. I liked taking this class because I made great Japanese friends. That was the best part of taking this class because I learned many things from them. I have to mention that my Japanese friends helped me understand the Japanese concepts that were difficult to understand; they also taught me how to say some words in Japanese. I achieved the MLO 4 outcome by learning about specific Japanese concepts. For example, in class we talked about Hikikomori which affects men more than women. I did not know anything about this concept, and it took me some time in order to understand it completely. Even though the teacher gave us the definition of Hikikomori, I had trouble understanding it. Hikikomori seemed confusing to me, until one of my Japanese friends explained it to me. Hikikomori basically means isolating from society. I saw a video about a guy who did not want to have any interaction with other people. He did not even want to have a normal relationship with his family, he just wanted to be in his room the whole day. In Japan, guys tend to become Hikikomori because of all the pressure they get from society and family. In Japan, all teenagers have to be excellent students and great people. If they do not demonstrate that they are good people and good students, society judges them. The way society judges in Japan is extremely different from the US. Here, we do not really care about what other people say, but in Japan everyone cares about what others say. There is a great amount of pressure for teenagers who are still growing and experiencing; that is why they prefer to become Hikikomori people. This class helped me meet the MLO 4 requirement because in this class I also learned about how people in Japan interact with each other. There are two main words that people in Japan use to differentiate family and acquaintances. I really liked this section of the class because we all had to identify who we consider our family. It was an interesting activity because one of my classmates said that she does not consider her uncles as part of her family. It was interesting because I also think that way, I do not consider my uncles as part of my family. That was the first time that I found someone who shared the same ideas with me.
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