American Culture

Presentation/ Reading

American Culture

Keywords:
Culture, Discussion, Intensive Reading, Presentation, Research, Speaking, Vocabulary, Web Activities, Writing

The Fall 2020 semester is fully online.

授業の実施形態/Delivery
完全オンライン/Fully Online

Entertaining and informative, the third edition of All About the USA 3 features thirty units about American people, places, and events. Readers expand their knowledge of the USA as they explore fascinating topics ranging from Henry Ford and the White House to baseball and body language. [From the back cover of the book]

This course will focus on various elements (food, music, holidays, famous artists and inventors, etc.) of American culture. We will use All About the USA 3: A Cultural Reader (2008) by Milada Broukal and Peter Murphy as a springboard into deeper discussions about the US lifestyle and how it compares to life in Japan. Students should be the driving force of these discussions. Enthusiastic class participation is expected. There will be weekly homework based on the textbook material, a midterm presentation, and a final presentation. Students will choose an aspect of American culture (not mentioned in the textbook) to introduce to the class in each presentation.

Students must buy the book (available at Keio Co-op Fujisawa store) for this course.

Students will

1. deepen their understanding of US culture,

2. improve reading comprehension,

3. gain confidence in using English to express their opinions,

4. research highly specific topics that interest them,

5. learn to give impactful presentations.

Participation/Attendance: 30%
Homework: 30%
Presentations: 40%

1	Introduction, discuss syllabus
2	George Washington, The Hot Dog, Thanksgiving
3	Blue Jeans, Alexander Graham Bell, Body Language
4	Mia Hamm, The American Cowboy, Coca-Cola
5	The Statue of Liberty, The Bald Eagle, Baseball
6	John F. Kennedy, The Gold Rush, The Hamburger
7	Toni Morrison, Las Vegas, The Oscars Midterm presentations wk. 1
8	Tornadoes, Lewis and Clark, Jazz Midterm presentations wk. 2
9	Florida Oranges, Mount Rushmore, Bill Gates
10	Henry Ford, The Cranberry, The White House
11	Uncle Sam, Homesteaders, Kellogg's Corn Flakes Final Presentations wk. 1
12	Final presentations wk. 2
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As an American, it gives me great pleasure to share my culture with my students. Our conversations will not only be limited to the topics mentioned above. Through class participation, students will have the opportunity to steer the discussion towards the elements of American culture that most interest them.