Paper short abstract:

I present my ideas on a new advanced Japanese language course on the topic of "war and peace" to be taught in the second year of the Japanese Master program of Ca' Foscari University. Two are topics addressed, (1) thinking critically about social inequality, and (2) war and peace.

Paper long abstract:

There is no such thing as "just Japanese language", nor is there an activity such as "just teaching Japanese". Saying something implies doing something and taking a stance towards the world and towards others. Communication is loaded with conflict due to clashes of personal and group interests and asymmetrical power relations. Critical pedagogy is aware thereof, and therefore raises crucial questions. What we are actually involved in when we teach Japanese? What are objectives of our Japanese language classes or projects? How do we expect or hope our students to behave? Being critical implies, in my opinion, being self-conscious critical in order to understand and undo aspects of domination and inequality. "War and peace" is an adequate topic to engage in such activities. Teaching a Japanese language course which seeks to foster critical reflection on war and peace has to therefore depart with reflections on one's own position in society.

In this talk, I present my ideas how to design a new advanced Japanese language course on the topic of "war and peace" to be taught in the second year of the Japanese Master program of Ca' Foscari University in the winter semester 2017. Students' language proficiency in this course corresponds at least to JLPT level 2. Two distinct topics will be addressed in the 15 sessions of this course on the basis of Japanese texts. Firstly, thinking critically about social inequality in Japanese and Italian society (4 sessions). Secondly, exploring the topic of war and peace (10 sessions). The course ends with a final discussion (1 sessions). In the third and major part, three events / issues will be studied: (1) Italian support of Japan's racial equality proposal at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, (2) the Tripartite Pact between Italy, Japan and Germany in 1940, and (3) discussions and interpretations of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution. In my talk, I present details on the objectives, materials and activities of this course in order to discuss them with other panelists and the plenum.