Study Abroad Program: Students Offered Trip To Japan For Humanities Credits
The Study Abroad Program at the college is accepting students interested in studying in Japan.
This opportunity will allow students to gain 15 credits in art, photography, and humanities. Classes offered at Art 100: Art Appreciation, Photography 111: Beginning Digital Photography, and Humanities 186: Japanese Cultural Studies.
In Art Appreciation, students will learn to understand artworks and styles across time and cultures of the world with a special emphasis on Japanese art. It will introduce the basic elements, the principles of art, and the media with which artists create. These include themes such as visual culture, entertainment, technology, nature, mortality and immortality, mind and body, sexuality, and power and politics.
Explicit connections between art and daily life will be examined and suggestions for interacting with it will be provided. Tokyo offers an extremely large number of art museums and galleries, which will complement the classroom education.
Beginning Digital Photography introduces the aesthetic and technical theories and techniques of digital photography. Through classroom instruction and field trips to exciting Tokyo neighborhoods such as Harajuku, Akihabara, Shinjuku, and the Tsukiji fish market, students will learn about camera and lens operation, memory cards, file formats, exposure, white balance, composition, lighting, creativity and image editing software.
Students will also visit various Tokyo photography museums and galleries. The course requires a digital camera and laptop computer.
The last class you will be taking is Japanese Cultural Studies. This class offers an introduction to Japanese society and culture by examining its history, people, and traditions. Students will engage in critical discussions about the differences between American and Japanese cultures.
This course facilitates student orientation to Japan and will provide essential conversational Japanese language skills needed to communicate in basic daily life.
Cultural and language activities may include welcome, Halloween, sayonara parties, a game night, field trips to shrines, temples, museums, pop culture centers and neighborhoods, a school festival, sports festival, food, movies, music and daily interaction with your Japanese student campus attendant friends. Patrick Navin of the fine arts division will be the faculty member accompanying students on this trip.
The trip to Japan will take place from Sept. 25 to Dec. 5. The cost for studying in Japan is $6490 with a $450 deposit. This includes round-trip group airfare on program dates from Seattle to Tokyo, some cultural activities and excursions, pre-departure and arrival orientations, welcome and farewell parties, and basic medical insurance for students.
There is a cheaper option of $5390 that does not include travel cost but the student must then pay airfare. Some of the cost not included are tuition, books, passport, visa fees, and other fees.
Students will be attending Kogakuin University in Hachioji, Tokyo.
While at Kogakuin University, students will be accommodated in shared apartments contracted by the university.
These are small Japanese-style lodgings with futons, a kitchenette, and bathroom.
Students will generally share an apartment with other students in the group. Housing accommodations are subject to change depending on availability (alternate arrangements provided).
Students can find many food choices right at the Hachioji campus, while the town of Hachioji offers many additional food options, including grocery stores and familiar chains such as Starbucks or Burger King.
While Japan has the reputation of being expensive, one can make the same inexpensive and everyday food choices that are enjoyed by the local population. Small noodle shops offer delicious and very reasonably priced dishes while others offer tempura, sushi, and bento-box lunches.
Some of the activities students will experience are a visit to Harajuku: Meiji Shinto-Jingu, a shrine, Yoyogi Park, Takeshita-Dori, and Omotesando Street. Trips to the beautiful Shibuya Shinjuku, Shinjuku Koen, Photography galleries Asakua: Senso-Ji, and many more places.
Other field trips are optional and may require an additional fee. There will also be plenty of opportunities to do your own exploring using convenient public transport or tour specialists.
Each year, the study abroad program introduces other trips that are offered to students. In the past, the program has done trips to places such as Spain, Austrailia, Scotland, Taiwan and other many places around the world.
