MLO 4: Secondary Cultural Knowledge
In addition to the Spanish language and Hispanic cultures, the student demonstrates a general knowledge of a socio-cultural group other than a Hispanic one or mainstream American culture. The student develops a basic understanding of the ways of thinking (ideas, beliefs, attitudes, values, philosophies), the behavioral practices (patterns of social interactions) and the cultural products – both tangible and intangible (for example, art, history, literature, music) – of the second culture.
There are two pathways by which this outcome can be fulfilled:
There are two pathways by which this outcome can be fulfilled:
- Pathway 1: The student completes at least one upper division course whose focus is a socio-cultural group not reflected by a Hispanic culture. General areas to choose from are: literature, the social sciences (anthropology, geography, history, political systems), art history, music history and/or the second cultural group.
- Pathway 2: The student may opt for a more individual pathway, choosing to independently study, research and analyze the working components of the second culture.
MLO Narrative
In the Spanish major at CSU Monterey Bay other than taking Spanish language and culture courses to satisfy our major and major requirements, we are required to take a secondary cultural course. According to the major learning requirement (MLO) 4 we are required to demonstrate a general knowledge of a socio-cultural group other than a Hispanic one or mainstream American culture. We are expected to develop a basic understanding on the ideas, beliefs, attitudes, values, history, culture, etc. of a different other than the Hispanic culture. In order to satisfy this MLO I chose Pathway 1 and I took the course JAPN 310 on Japanese Cinema. This Japanese course is an introductory course of major Japanese directors and genres. We focused on film composition, choices of subject and character, ideas of the cinematic, and the relationship of cinema to Japanese culture and society. During the term of this course we saw a variety of Japanese films that ranged from black and white samurai movies to anime movies in color. This course required us to analyze and critique the films through a weekly film report and a weekly group discussion. This Japanese course met the MLO requirements for the reason that I took a class that focused on a different culture than the Hispanic culture and I got to learn more about the Japanese culture, history and heritage through the various films that we saw in class. After taking this course I would like to learn more about other cultures, customs and traditions through their films because I think that is a very unique way to learn about a country’s history and culture. This course made me more aware of Japan’s unique culture and heritage. All in all, this class (JAPN 310) helped me learn about another country’s culture and it also helped me satisfy MLO 4.
Please click on the link below to learn more about the course(s) and assignments that met the requirement (MLO)