Japan Field Seminar
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Summer 2009 |
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Instructors:
Dr. Todd Stradford stradfot@uwplatt.edu
Texts: Required for you to purchase and carry with you (it's small).
For a detailed view of the day by day plans, click on the "itinerary" above.
UWP: You must sign up for either LAE 3000 for 1-3 hours (rail trip only)
or or GEO 3960, 6 credit hours (full 6 weeks in Japan).
1-3 credit hours from the following course:
6 credit hours from the following course:
The "essays" are partial requirements for the 6 week course, and are the full assignment for the 3-credit 19-day rail trip course.
For the essays, you will keep a geographic journal/notebook of your experiences recording questions, curious interests, and observations.which include comparisons of landscapes made from the trains and at stops during the JR Pass trip. You will be given a take home set of essay questions that you will need to answer concerning the observations you made. The questions will be given before arrival, so specific notes and photos can be taken along the way that address each question. Photos should support each answer.Rail & Field trips
Pay attention to the instructor. Review essay questions before you arrive in the pertinent area and then take notes and photos as they pertain to each essay. Some essays are answered by observing the landscape outside the train or car window, so you must pay attention as we ride. Otherwise, your answer will not be specific enough to receive credit. Sleeping, reading, or chatting while in transport is not advised. Remember, you must document the questions with photos from that area. Photos from other areas are considered a greater negative than no photo because it seems as if you can't tell one place from another. Don't just take pictures of yourself standing in front of shrine entrances, for example; take pictures of the landscapes.
Compare your journal, notes, and observations to that of John Bennett, who traveled through Tohoku in 1949-1951. You should be looking for similar observations. For example, he noted that a major difference between mountain villages and plains farmland was that all the mountain fields had fences, whereas the lowland paddy did not. A difference such as this should trigger the question "why?" There are differences in the landscapes wherever we travel, and it is up to you to find them.
Yatsushiro - 5 June to return.
Weekends are free but it is recommended that you use part of this time to get research data. Sometimes, the host family will take an interest and help out. Don't expect this, however, as they can be busy themselves.
Requirements.
Essays and research are due at the end of the summer by 1 September. See the essay question and research pages for details.
Outcomes:
It is expected that students who take the 3 week course will gain an understanding of the various landscapes of Japan and the human influence upon them by the readings and direct observation. The 6-week students will gain further insights by detailed observations of a local area through field trips and the research problem.