Winter term blows in!

It's the start of a new term of classes here at ICU. Actually, classes began last Wednesday, but I have yet to have a chance to attend all of my new classes; I had a class today, Monday, for the first time and yet another tomorrow that I will go to for the first time.

This term offered a much wider selection of courses, so I have decided to take more classes than I did last term. I also have the opportunity to take Japanese language for non-credit, which means I can still learn Japanese but will not meet everyday and will not be graded in that course. It should give me more time for my graduate courses, which I will probably need!

Below are my new courses and a brief description of them:

Human Rights - This course focuses on the relationship between cosmopolitanism and human rights, or how cosmopolitanism imagines a global order in which the idea of human rights is a basic principle of justice and mechanisms of global governance are established specifically for their protection. The course will look at some of the major debates among those who try to understand human rights conceptually and those who struggle for their realization, bridging the theoretical and practical.
Anthropology of Violence - This course’s purpose is to examine some of the ways in which the discipline of anthropology can enhance our understanding of the origins and consequences of human violence.
Peace Studies - This course focuses on the concepts of peace, war, security, conflict resolution, non-violence, peace movements, and other peace practices. It also explores some major problems that threaten peaceful and just relations between nations, groups and individuals.
Globalization and Migration - This course will examine the social change brought about by globalization, particularly the impact of global migration. How have states, societies and families changed due to the growing mobility of people? By reviewing literature primarily in sociology of migration, it will analyze various policy challenges concerning migration and integration.
International Politics - This course is intended to deepen the understanding of the various problems, background and trends surrounding nuclear non-proliferation so that Japan will be able to contribute to the strengthening of global non-proliferation.
Japanese language - A continuation of my language course from last term.

As you can see, I shall be quite busy this term with class readings, presentations and final papers. Fortunately, all of the classes hold some particular interest to me and my thesis research topic on Japan. Just like in the fall term, I hope to use my final papers as preliminary research for my thesis topic, taking advantage of each course's professor and his or her specialty in a particular area to gain even more insight.

This term the professors appear to have even more practical experience than my professor's from last term. Their real-world experience should add yet another dimension to gaining knowledge about the different forms peace studies often take. From work in the Japanese foreign service to serving as a work-group member and consultant at the UN, each of them comes with a perspective that shows how peace work comes at various levels and at all sides.

JRG

PS - I have included some new pictures below. These are pictures of the Japanese countryside from the shinkansen bullet-train. I was returning home to Tokyo from visiting friends in Osaka at the end of fall break. Of course, a lot of the pictures are blurry, not from my inability to hold a camera steady, but from moving at over 200 mph!