Japanese Area program offers COIL projects in the upper level language courses and the culture courses to collaborate with students at Nanzan University and Nagoya University of Foreign Studies in Japan.
COIL stands for Collaborative Online International Learning and students can experience language and cultural exchange without traveling to Japan. All COIL projects are with Nanzan University unless it indicated.
Past COIL courses include
Fall 2023
- JPNS 301 with Nagoya University of Foreign Studies – Create a presentation video of your topic choice that is chosen among the following topics in the U.S. and Japanese contexts;
Choose one of the following topics. In your video you will need to discuss common perceptions related to your chosen topic in the U.S. and Japanese contexts: 1) Food culture, 2) Language and communication, 3) Gender, 4) Social norms, and 5) Educational system. Then identify, investigate and bust two myths (something that is commonly thought to be true but is not actually true) – one for each country. Create an 8-10 minute group video including slides. - JPNS 309 – Project Based Learning (PBL COIL): Create a presentation video to suggest a new product/service related to SDGs for brother, a Japanese company, can develop for future considering their existing products/services and their business policy.
- MLL 316 – Create a 8-10 minute video about the following topic. Based on your experiences, explain one of the following situations include a few scholarly articles to support your claim; 1) Explain what you need to pay attention to when communicating with those who have different cultural backgrounds, 2) Explain similarities and differences between English and Japanese including cultural background by giving a few examples and the reasons, and 3) Explain similarities and differences between English conversation and Japanese conversation in a specific situation by creating conversation in both languages. Share each of your individual stories related to the topic. and include the reason(s) why you choose the topic.
Spring 2023
- JPNS 302 with Yokohama City University – Create a presentation video of analysis if Japanese culture that people consider in the U.S. and American culture that people consider in Japan are accurate.
- MLL327 – Create a presentation video of your choice of cultural point in the U.S. and in Japan.
Fall 2022
- JPNS 301 with Nagoya University of Foreign Studies – Create a presentation video of your topic choice that is chosen among the following topics in the U.S. and Japanese contexts; 1) Food culture, 2) Language and communication, 3) Gender, 4) Individuality, and 5) Educational system. Then identify, investigate and bust a myth/myths (something that is commonly thought to be true but is not actually true) in each country. The main focus in the video should be on your own experiences and opinions related to the topic.
- JPNS 309 – Project Based Learning (PBL COIL): Create a presentation video to suggest a new product/service related to SDGs for brother, a Japanese company, can develop for future considering their existing products/services and their business policy.
- MLL 317 – Created a presentation video of your cultural topic choice after choosing a section for two films (one from American and the other from Japanese) that depicted the other culture. Analyze whether the description is accurate or not. Explain what role the cultural point plays in the film.
Spring 2022
- JPNS 302 with Nanzan University and Aichi Gakuin University – Created a presentation video about social issue(s) surfaced by COVID-19 in Japan and in the U.S.
- MLL 333 – Created a presentation video about Japanese Food Culture.
Fall 2021
- JPNS 301 with Nagoya University of Foreign Studies – Created a presentation video after choosing one topic from 1) What is diversity and how does it manifest in your society? 2) What is discrimination and how does it manifest in your society? and 3) What are stereotypes and what stereotypes are evident in your society?
- JPNS 309 – Project Based Learning (PBL COIL): Created two trip-plans for Summer Anime course at Nanzan University. Consulted by Japan Travel Bureau (JTB), Central Japan Tourism Association and Koseikan.
- MLL 316 – Created a presentation video about similarities/differences of how two English articles about a same topic reported in newspaper; one is published in Japan and the other in the U.S.
Spring 2021
- JPNS 302 – Created a presentation video about an environmental issue in Japan/U.S. by comparing how each country is handling the issue
Fall 2020
- JPNS 301 – Created a presentation video after choosing one topic from 1) What is diversity and how does it manifest in your society? 2) What is discrimination and how does it manifest in your society? and 3) What are stereotypes and what stereotypes are evident in your society?
- MLL 317 – Created a presentation video about How characters communicate in Japanese and American films. What are the similarities/differences and why those exist?
Spring 2020
- JPNS 302 – Created a presentation video after choosing one topic from 1) How has the Japanese government been handling COVID-19, process and rational of the government’s policy, comparison to American system, 2) How should the governments handle the social issues cased by COVID-19?
Fall 2019
- MLL 316 – Wrote a summary of the reasons of similarities/differences of two English articles in one topic (one article is published in Japan while the other in the U.S.)
Spring 2019
- JPNS 302 – Exchanged feedback to small group presentations that the partner’s institution created in their foreign languages