LSA+ Program, Tokyo, Japan
The Language Study Abroad (LSA+) Program in Japan is an integral part of the Japanese language program as well as both the major and minor in Japanese at Dartmouth. Students generally complete the second year of Japanese language study through this program, usually participating during the summer following their freshman or sophomore years. Enrollment in the program fulfills Dartmouth's mandatory summer term.
Prerequisites for the program are: completion of Japanese 3 (or the equivalent) and Japanese 10 (Introduction to Japanese Culture).
Courses
During the course of the summer, students complete three courses in the Japanese language: Japanese 22, Japanese 23, and Japanese 29. Japanese 22-3 are courses designed to take full advantage of the environment in improving the student's verbal skills in Japanese. Projects include a series of interviews with various local people as well as oral presentations. Japanese 29 introduces the student to a variety of written texts, including poetry, essays, newspaper editorials, and short stories. The readings are meant to contextualize the cultural activities and excursions which are part of the program.
Activities and Excursions
- tea ceremony
- calligraphy lesson
- introduction to the kimono
- Japanese drumming (wadaiko)
- discussion with the KUIS manga (comic) and animation club
- Japanese archery(kyudo) lesson
- visit to a Japanese junior high and senior high school
- flower arranging session
- BBQ with the Dartmouth Club of Japan
- visit to the National Museum of Japanese History
- Obon (Festival of the Dead) dancing at Tsukudajima
- visit to the Yasukuni Shrine and museum (WWII artefacts)
Trips, Long and Short
The summer program includes three trips out of the Tokyo area. One is a weekend trip to an area of historical interests. In the past, groups have visited the city of Nikko, home of the grandiose shrine and mausoleum for Tokugawa Ieyasu, the man who unified the country in the early 17th century and whose family reigned as shoguns for over 250 years. A second weekend trip is to the city of Nihonmatsu, Hanover's sister city. Nihonmatsu was the birth place of Asakawa Kan'ichi, a prominent historian and pacifist, and also the first Japanese to graduate from Dartmouth College (1899). In addition to various activities sponsored by City Hall, the students spend two nights in the home of a local family. The third trip is a week-long excursion to the Kansai area (Kyoto, Nara, Osaka) as well as Himeji and Hiroshima.