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Dr. Steen (second from left) with Brittany
Bennett, Jessie Pond and Johannah Garon.
This past summer Robert Steen, Associate Professor of
Japanese, had the opportunity to take three students on a
three-week trip to Hokkaido in northern Japan to research the
culture of the Ainu people. Brittany Bennett ’06 looked at how
cultural traditions help shape the Ainu identity. Jessie Pond
’07 researched the lack of Ainu culture and history throughout
Japan, a society infused with culture and history. Johannah
Garon ’08 studied the preservation of Ainu rights while
maintaining Japanese unity.
“While each student pursued a different project, the common
thread was seeing the Ainu revival as a struggle to build a
counter-narrative to the discourse of monoracialism,” said
Steen, noting that the focus stems from Oglethorpe’s Core
Curriculum. “All of us were struck with the importance of
storytelling, or narratives of the self, in the formation of
contemporary Ainu identity.”
Aside from bringing the Core to life, the trip enhanced
classroom learning for the students involved.
“While classroom research and instruction can seem tedious,
it serves a purpose in preparing students to take on the
challenges of actual research,” said Garon. “Experiences such as
this lead us to reconsider what we already know so we may build
upon our knowledge rather than reinforce what we take for
granted.”
Bennett, who is going into library and information science,
changed her perspective of research methods because of the trip.
“My Japan expedition reminded me that the research process
should not be viewed as lifeless, a sentiment which also speaks
to the ever-changing nature of libraries as institutions.” she said. “I frequently feel the
need to assert that the library is a dynamic body of people and
technology, not a collection of antiquated books. On this trip,
we were not simply dealing with worn-out books and old
periodicals; instead, we were at the source of our studies –
living, breathing people and vibrant places, all of which aids
in truly capturing an idea and communicating it to others.” |
