Rutgers Meets Japan: Revisiting Early U.S.-Japan Encounters
Faculty Leader: Haruko Wakabayashi (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), Asian Languages and Cultures
Travel Dates: May 17 - 30, 2020
Class Meeting Times: Tuesdays & Fridays: 11:30AM - 12:50PM, Honors College-E128, College Avenue Campus
Program Costs: Approximately $1,750
Course Number: 01:090:295:H3, 3 credits and Study Abroad 1-credit (Honors Students will receive a total of 4 credits).
The field experience, led by Professor Haruko Wakabayashi (Asian Language and Cultures) and Dr. Fernanda Perrone (Alexander Library Special Collections), will explore Japan that William E. Griffis saw 150 years ago and the legacies of early Rutgers-Japan relationship that are present in Yokohama, Fukui, and Tokyo. Through walking tours, museum and archival visits, and engagement in seminars and workshops with Japanese students and scholars, students will investigate the nature of early cultural contacts between the United States and Japan and the diverse perspectives through which the encounters have been remembered and told.
Host institutions: Ferris Women’s High School/University (Yokohama), Fukui University, and Fukui Prefecture/City
This trip is part of an Interdisciplinary Honors Seminar "Rutgers meets Japan: Revisiting Early U.S.- Japan Encounters". Students will register for this 3-credit course and add a 1-credit study abroad experience.
In this course, students will:
- Critically examine the diverse perspectives through which encounters between individuals are remembered and told
- Explore how cultures meet, conflict, and achieve mutual understanding and appreciation
- Examine how cultures may be misrepresented or redefined
- Curate an exhibition as a final project at the Alexander Library using materials from Rutgers’ own William E. Griffis Collection.
