GENERAL SOCIETY- RELATED TOPICS Purpose: to identify various current general society-related topics, in Japan or elsewhere, and discuss their potential impact. Such topics may include subjects like: trends in youth attitudes, global warming, job security, the greying of society, changes in social security coverage, female work force participation,specific shortages in the labour market, etc. Some focus on Japan will be tolerated, but the seminar will also aim to draw the students' attention to what is going on in other areas of the world (not only in the USA, also in Asia, Europe, etc.). Method: students will be asked to employ their own initiative to find worthwhile topics, as well as to select relevant articles/data from preferably English-language sources (magazines, newspapers, internet and the like). Depending on existing needs, the seminar leader may introduce topics of his own choice in order to guarantee relevant coverage and discussion. On a rotating base, depending on such factors as class size and language proficiency, students will be required to submit an article selected by themselves and to provide proper comments which in turn can serve as base for group discussion.
English: where possible, English will be the preferred language (of data collected and of discussions), but Japanese source materials will also be accepted on condition that the student will provide comments in English to go with such data.
Regular class attendance will be required, as well as active participation in topic selection and class discussions. At the end of the term, students may be asked to prepare a paper in which they review/ summarize what has been discussed in class, or in which they introduce a new topic from relevant sources and provide their own comments (like done in class before). Grades will be based upon active participation in class (30%), materials and comments presented (30%) and the final term paper's contents (40%).