We have set the dates and times for our first week of meetings, as well as potential times for our more permanent schedule. For this week, we will be meeting at:
Tuesday, 9/14, 4-6pm, MAK B-2-226
Thursday, 9/16, 2-4pm, MAK B-2-241
Friday, 9/17, 3-5pm, MAK D-2-168
There are three two-hour sessions per week, so people can feel to come and go as their schedules permit. Hopefully everyone who wants to come and make it to at least one of these three sessions. For they time being, we will be sticking with this schedule, but for Fridays we will be using a different room than that for the first week. The "permanent" schedule will be:
Tuesdays 4-6pm, MAK B-2-226
Thursdays 2-4pm, MAK B-2-241
Fridays 3-5pm, MAK B-2-116
That's "pending room reservation approval" of course, but it should be fairly stable.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Japanese Conversation Table
As I've already mentioned to many of you, I'm trying to get the GVSU Japanese Conversation Table up and running again this year. What is the JCT? Well, to quote from the Official Facebook Page:
The GVSU JCT is a forum to practice communicating (in both oral and written forms) in Japanese. It is casual, social, and centered on topics of interest to its members.
The JCT is NOT:
- centered on GVSU Japanese language courses
- limited to those enrolled in Japanese classes
- limited to those with advanced Japanese skills
- a forum for getting help on your homework
The official goal is to improve language skills through active use of the language rather than through targeted study. It is not intended to replace language classes, but to reinforce what is learned through practical use in a casual setting.
Now to be clear, I do think it would be valuable to schedule times to study and collaborate with others in your individual classes. I'd just like the JCT to be separate from this and concerned with communication rather than homework, etc. I'd like to schedule two afternoon meetings per week, to try and accommodate as many different schedules as possible. I'll be holding an informal meeting to gauge interest this Thursday (9/9) at 2pm in MAK Room B-2-226. If you are interested in the JCT, please either come to this meeting or send me an e-mail (robinjer@gvsu.edu) with some alternative times that might work for you. Hopefully we can manage to put some times together that will work for you.
The GVSU JCT is a forum to practice communicating (in both oral and written forms) in Japanese. It is casual, social, and centered on topics of interest to its members.
The JCT is NOT:
- centered on GVSU Japanese language courses
- limited to those enrolled in Japanese classes
- limited to those with advanced Japanese skills
- a forum for getting help on your homework
The official goal is to improve language skills through active use of the language rather than through targeted study. It is not intended to replace language classes, but to reinforce what is learned through practical use in a casual setting.
Now to be clear, I do think it would be valuable to schedule times to study and collaborate with others in your individual classes. I'd just like the JCT to be separate from this and concerned with communication rather than homework, etc. I'd like to schedule two afternoon meetings per week, to try and accommodate as many different schedules as possible. I'll be holding an informal meeting to gauge interest this Thursday (9/9) at 2pm in MAK Room B-2-226. If you are interested in the JCT, please either come to this meeting or send me an e-mail (robinjer@gvsu.edu) with some alternative times that might work for you. Hopefully we can manage to put some times together that will work for you.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Happy New (Academic) Year!
Welcome back, everybody! And to those of you who are new to Grand Valley, or at least new to this blog, Welcome! This really feels like a fresh new semester for me because, for the first time in two years, I have two classes almost entirely filled with new faces. I taught both JPN 101-102 and JPN 201-202 when I first arrived at Grand Valley two years ago, and then JPN 201-202 and the third-year students last year, so I got to know those students really well but didn't see all that many new students. Now most of my JPN 201 class were studying with Abe Sensei in the first year, so it all feels new and I'm eager to get started with all the plans I have for the program. I hope you are all returning from summer vacation with renewed energy as well.
I haven't been posting much over summer vacation, but that doesn't mean there hasn't been much happening. Most of it has been "behind the scenes" stuff, but there have been some major developments that are only just now starting to bear fruit. In fact I have enough material for three or four of these updates, so I'll just summarize a few of the topics for now and leave the details to upcoming posts. First, I did make a trek to Japan over the summer and took a look at the partner institution where I'll be building a faculty-led study abroad program starting next year. The final proposal is almost complete, and I'll post the full details soon. The past president of the JCA, Keren Benavides, is on her way to Japan for a year of study abroad, but the new president has met with some of the regular members to start planning this year, and there should be some announcements about meeting times, film series, etc. fairly soon. And there seems to be a lot of interest in getting my proposed Japanese Conversation Table up and running as well. I'll be posting more details about that before the weekend is done, and holding an initial meeting to gauge interest sometime next week. I'll also be trying to see how many students might be interested in a trip to Chicago in December for the annual Japanese Language Proficiency Test. For now, though, enjoy the long Labor Day weekend and I'll see you next week.
I haven't been posting much over summer vacation, but that doesn't mean there hasn't been much happening. Most of it has been "behind the scenes" stuff, but there have been some major developments that are only just now starting to bear fruit. In fact I have enough material for three or four of these updates, so I'll just summarize a few of the topics for now and leave the details to upcoming posts. First, I did make a trek to Japan over the summer and took a look at the partner institution where I'll be building a faculty-led study abroad program starting next year. The final proposal is almost complete, and I'll post the full details soon. The past president of the JCA, Keren Benavides, is on her way to Japan for a year of study abroad, but the new president has met with some of the regular members to start planning this year, and there should be some announcements about meeting times, film series, etc. fairly soon. And there seems to be a lot of interest in getting my proposed Japanese Conversation Table up and running as well. I'll be posting more details about that before the weekend is done, and holding an initial meeting to gauge interest sometime next week. I'll also be trying to see how many students might be interested in a trip to Chicago in December for the annual Japanese Language Proficiency Test. For now, though, enjoy the long Labor Day weekend and I'll see you next week.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
JAFAX 15
It's been a while since my last post, and I have a lot to talk about in the wake of my trip to Japan and future plans for the department. But for now, I'll simply use this to remind everyone about the fifteenth annual JAFAX convention this coming weekend on the Allendale campus. For those of you who don't know, JAFAX is an anime convention. In fact, I believe it is the largest free anime convention in the US. This weekend thousands of anime fans will descend on the Grand Valley campus to cosplay, buy anime stuff, sell art and homemade anime stuff, and watch anime and other Japanese entertainment in one of the numerous screening rooms. There are also talks being given on voice acting, creating comics, art, etc. by a wide range of guests... of which I am one. I'll be giving a talk on otaku (the same talk I gave at Otaku no Anime last semester) on Saturday and one on cyborgs on Sunday. And no, I will not be cosplaying. Nice try. For more info, check out http://www.jafax.org
Friday, April 16, 2010
The Japanese Conversation Table lives again!
... I hope.
I have decided (just a "tad" late in the semester) to try once again to revive the old Japanese Conversation Table. So who's going to care about speaking Japanese when there aren't any Japanese classes to take? Well, I'm hoping that anyone who's in the area and wants to keep practicing their Japanese over the summer will join in. And for anyone who's not in the area, I'm hoping that they will participate online in the Japanese discussion groups. I'd like to make the new (improved?) JCT as much an online forum as a face-to-face one. At any rate, I've had Morgan make me an admin of the old Facebook group, reworked the "statement of purpose" to reflect the new reality, and started a couple of discussion threads in the hopes of getting something started. We'll see how it goes. Check it out (and join the group) at the GVSU JCT Facebook site.
I have decided (just a "tad" late in the semester) to try once again to revive the old Japanese Conversation Table. So who's going to care about speaking Japanese when there aren't any Japanese classes to take? Well, I'm hoping that anyone who's in the area and wants to keep practicing their Japanese over the summer will join in. And for anyone who's not in the area, I'm hoping that they will participate online in the Japanese discussion groups. I'd like to make the new (improved?) JCT as much an online forum as a face-to-face one. At any rate, I've had Morgan make me an admin of the old Facebook group, reworked the "statement of purpose" to reflect the new reality, and started a couple of discussion threads in the hopes of getting something started. We'll see how it goes. Check it out (and join the group) at the GVSU JCT Facebook site.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
JCA Genki na Hanami!
In Japan, spring is the season for hanami (花見), or cherry blossom viewing. Groups of friends, coworkers and families lay out tarps on the ground and sit there all day long admiring the blossoms, eating, singing, and usually drinking large quantities of sake. Now the JCA will be honoring this tradition with their very own hanami (minus the sake, I think). This coming Monday, April 12th, from 6-8pm, they will gather in Kirkhof room 1142 to celebrate spring and Japanese culture. There will be examples of origami, calligraphy, and other aspects of Japanese culture and, of course, it wouldn't be a hanami without food. There will be loads of free food there catered by XO Asian Cuisine. Bring your friends!
Arts and Culture of Japan in Saugatuck
The Saugatuck Center for the Arts hosts an annual Global Cultural Festival in which they highlight the arts and culture of a specific region, and this year the topic is Japan. Throughout April they have free lectures on Japanese film, poetry, kimono, etc., performances of of Japanese drumming and kamishibai storytelling and workshops on tea ceremony, kimono, sake tasting, and a variety of topics for kids including origami, calligraphy and fan painting. You can take a look at the full schedule here.
I will be participating in the festivities as well, with a lecture on Japanese poetry on the evening of April 12th and a workshop on composing Japanese poetry on April 17th. I feel like I'm pretty well prepared for the lecture, especially since a lot of it is coming from recent lectures in my premodern Japanese culture and civilization course, but I have to admit I'm a bit nervous about the workshop. I've had my students do exercises in poetry composition before, but I have a lot more experience talking about Japanese poetry than I do teaching how to write English versions of Japanese forms. At any rate, if you can get down to Saugatuck for at least some of the events, I'm sure it will be memorable.
I will be participating in the festivities as well, with a lecture on Japanese poetry on the evening of April 12th and a workshop on composing Japanese poetry on April 17th. I feel like I'm pretty well prepared for the lecture, especially since a lot of it is coming from recent lectures in my premodern Japanese culture and civilization course, but I have to admit I'm a bit nervous about the workshop. I've had my students do exercises in poetry composition before, but I have a lot more experience talking about Japanese poetry than I do teaching how to write English versions of Japanese forms. At any rate, if you can get down to Saugatuck for at least some of the events, I'm sure it will be memorable.
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