TIUA Electives

Summer Course Descriptions

American History I: Early Period

Students analyze major themes and events of American history in one or several selected historical periods, principally through the use of primary source materials. There is a special emphasis on social themes such as the issues of race, ethnicity, and gender. Immigration and its impact on the history of Oregon will be explored in some depth.

Among the goals of the course is to have students come to an understanding of the extent to which the roots of contemporary (present-day) American culture extend into the history of the country. Thus, the course will provide students with a working knowledge of American history as well as an understanding of the "presence of the past."

American Politics

This course is an introductory overview of American politics and government. Included is an overview of the ideas and structure of American political institutions including federalism, the division of powers, Congress, the presidency, the judiciary, political parties, and interest groups. In addition, it explores the connections among these ideas, institutions, and political entities in the context of contemporary political issues and conflicts such as campaign financing, free speech, and the environment. Where possible, issues are addressed in a comparative context, analyzing and discussing similarities and differences in the political landscapes of the United States and Japan.

American Society and Culture Through Music - B

This course will focus on developing an understanding of American culture through applied creative engagement with music, video and image. Students will author digital music and multimedia works in a state of the art music technology lab. Reflective writing and discussion will develop communication skills as each student 1) shares their thinking and creative processes, 2) critiques works, and 3) explores similarities and differences between the United States and Japan.

American Studies

The goal of this course is to study American culture and society through an analysis of traditional and contemporary American values, social institutions, and means of expression.

Business and Management

This course is designed as a introduction to business and management. It focuses on the macro-level aspects of business and management - on the interaction between the organization, its marketplace, and its environment. Its goal is to provide a practical orientation to contemporary business and management concepts, issues, and situations facing both public and private organizations in the USA and in the global environment.

Intercultural Management

What does it mean to be Japanese in an age of growing internationalization? This course challenges students to consider how modernization, globalization, and the impact of the West have affected contemporary Japanese society and its people's cultural identity. Focus is placed on the construction of the modern Japanese family, gender roles, marriage practices, the educational system, adolescent dissent, and patterns of management within a typical Japanese company. This leads into a consideration of the interaction of key features of Japan's system of management with the new global environment. Students will seek to understand how cultural differences influence the way American or Japanese enterprises and joint venture (U.S. - Japan) companies do business in an increasingly intercultural context.

International Political Economy

This course deals with international economic relations and important global issues. Basic theories of international trade and finance are developed and applied to issues such as trade policy and the conflicts over trade policy between Japan and the United States, economic integration in Europe and other areas, economic development and north-south issues, global debt problems, and the effects of foreign aid and investment in advanced and developing nations.

Introduction to Linguistics

Language is central to our identity as social and cultural beings. It is pervasive, complex and creative and at the same time, elusive, effortless and rule-governed. At some level, everyone is fascinated by language and, yet most of its proficient users have little understanding of the intricacies of how it works. The study of language touches a variety of academic disciplines from sociology and anthropology to psychology and neurology, but the one discipline solely devoted to it is the field of linguistics.

This course provides students with a survey of the basic issues in the field of linguistics. Topics studied include the nature and origin of language, phonological systems, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, discourse analysis, language and the brain, first and second language acquisition and the interaction of language and culture. The course will focus primarily on English (and to some extent Japanese) to provide examples of the topics and issues covered and will attempt to draw attention to linguistic comparisons between the two languages.