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What you can learn in this department?


Looking for Various Lifestyles and Cultures

Amish Quilt: How much is this masterpiece worth?
If you do fieldwork in the American Midwest, you will come across the Amish people. They live a traditional life on their farms, using no cars or electricity. However, recently they have started to put their self-made quilts and furniture up for auction to increase their cash revenue.

[ Example of Subject ]
Cultural Anthropology of Everyday Life (Toshiyuki Sano)

Human body and Human illness also have their own history

«The Coming and Going of Worldy Women»
How did people in the Edo period deal with infection?
In the Edo Period shampooing took place once a monthB"Cleanliness" differs between regions and times.
Is painting one's teeth black beautifulHBodily beauty also differs with the times.

[ Example of Subject ]
History of medicine, Society and Culture (Noriko Suzuki)

Studying the structures of society concerned with making our lives safer

Efforts to check local disaster vulnerability
Various things threaten the safety of our daily lives. These include: violence, crime, medication related health problems, environmental pollution, traffic accidents, corporate deception, natural disasters and depression.
However we don’t live our lives feeling threatened by all of the above, instead we feel particularly threatened by some and almost no threat from others.
We can say that culture is responsible for the way we feel bias in our attitudes to risks and danger and we investigate how the structure of society generates this.

[ Example of Subject ]
Social Systems (Takashi Noda)

Considering gender and cultural diversity through the human ability to reproduce (reproduction)

Childbirth is a community affair (In an Indonesian village)
Childbirth not only produced children, but produces a society.
How does raising children vary from culture to culture?
Women’s power to give birth has been controlled both in the present and in the past. In class you will be made aware of the powers of politics, culture and gender that manifest themselves with regards to reproduction.

[ Example of Subject ]
Cultural Study of Gender(Etsuko Matsuoka)

Considering the current state and history of women’s rights from gender perspective

Thirty-nine women were elected for the first time to the House of Representatives in the first post-war general election.(1946)
Discussion about domestic violence , sexual harassment, child abuse and so on?practice and theory of gender law.
Gender bias in modern legal system—“La Declaration des Droits de l’Homme et du Citoyen” was only for men.
Family law in Japan and Europa—historical and comparative consideration.

[ Example of Subject ]
Legal History of Gender (Miho Mitsunari)

Taking a multi-disciplinary approach to discussing the present state of social welfare in Japan

Volunteers distributing cooked rice
How can we describe the present state of social well-being in Japan?
What must we do to improve the present state of social welfare in Japan?

[ Example of Subject ]
Life and Welfare (Atsushi Abe)

Human relationships are bound by communication of the heart

Studying human relationships through games
What emotions do you experience when you travel to a place with a different culture? You will study communication in other cultures thorough games.
How does prejudice towards foreigners or other groups as well of the love of belonging to a specific group occur?
“Group mentality” can occur automatically in anyone. We shall explain this mechanism from a socio-psychological perspective.

[ Example of Subject ]
Cultural Study of Human Relationships (Kaori Ando)
Considering the relationship between family and society through studying social support and care

A portrait of the first patient diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease
How can we reconsider family relation in which we live, through analyzing caring relationship.
How does social support affect family as private sector? What kind of social support should create?

[ Example of Subject ]
Sociology of Family and Caring (Takashi Iguchi)

Studying how Lifestyle and Law are connected

Tour Inspection of a court.
Mock trials of envisaged cases where consumers face damages also take place in class.
You will "discover" how the law is closely connected with various aspects of our everyday life such as consumption, family and work.
You will get to know how the law actually works in prisons, at courts and consumer affairs centers.
You will be asked to consider how we can use the law to lead our society in a better direction.

[ Example of Subject ]
Lifestyle and Law (Hiroshi Otsuka)

Considering the Production and Acceptance of Visual Culture

Creation of Community in Local Society
Our daily life is constructed of many visual symbols. You will study how to confront these visual symbols.
What is the purpose of the many images in our daily life and for whom are they created?
Is it good for us to understand how modern images are proactively accepted?

[ Example of Subject ]
Introduction to Culture and Humanities (Akiko Yamasaki)

Considering Food and Agriculture from Various Points of View

People are negotiating prices in a local market (in Nepal).
We cannot lead a life without eating. You will study how agricultural crops are produced and how such crops reach consumers though food supply chain.
You will learn and think about food and agriculture in Japan and Asian countries from various points of view such as history, culture and institution. Considering "eating" in this way will broaden your horizons.

[ Example of Subject ]
Introduction to Culture and Humanities (Misa Aoki)

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Faculty of Human Life and EnvironmentGraduate programs Nara Women's University