MLO 4: Secondary Culture Other Than Hispanic Cultures:
When looking at secondary culture, we see that students are invited to immerse themselves in courses that view different cultures and look at the multiple perspectives found in them in the hopes that they can make a comparison between Hispanic cultures and the other culture studied. The course I completed looked at cultural aspects of Japan ( JAPN 410 Quakes and Nukes JAPN 311 Social Issues in Japan) and a course that focused on the literature of Japan (JAPN 309 Masterpieces of Japanese Literature). Through these courses I was not only able to look at aspects of Japanese culture but also immerse myself in the literary culture of Japan. To demonstrate these ideas I examined upon studying a different culture, an assignment from JAPN 410 was a discussion post that focused on an environmental impact big companies have on the people of Japan. This assignment shows how we are analyzing cultural aspects of Japan and how the people take these environmental issues as a serious topic, and comparing this behavior to Hispanic cultures and how they share similar or different concerns for the environment. Another example can be found in my JAPN 311 course in which I study the issue of Globalization In Japan looking at all aspects of life from the military to the beauty industry, once again looking at secondary cultural aspects that are not apparent in Hispanic cultures. Another example of secondary cultural knowledge can be found in my JAPN 309 course in which one of our Final Exams included analyzing excerpts of Japanese poetry using a close analysis form. Here I was able to establish different writing patterns seen in Japanese culture and Hispanic cultures, which helped me annotate major differences between these bodies of literature. These courses opened a new window of perspective and helped me expand my cultural knowledge on issues affecting those outside our field of study as well as making comparisons between cultures and analyzing many aspects of them.