From Global War to Global Classroom

( Pearl Harbor Attack on December 7, 1941)

(The American President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was giving a speech to the nation about Japanese attach on Pearl Harbor and American’s entering into the World War II.)

“I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7th, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese empire.”

The above paragraph is an excerpt from the speech of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States. He gave this speech on December 8th, 1941, one day after Japan’s attack over Pearl Harbor. With this speech, the United States of America entered into the World War II.

Four years later, after the United States entered into the war, Americans bombed at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, large cities of Japan on August 6, 1945. In September 1945, Japanese legally surrendered. With that surrender, the World War II was officially ended.

(After Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed in August 1945 and Japanese surrendered in September 1945.)

Sixty Three years later, after the end of World War II, in the fall semester of 2008, there is a global classroom, which is one of educational joint programs between the college of DuPage, Illinois, the United States and Hiroshima Jogakuin University of Japan as a sign of higher and closer bilateral relationships between the two countries.

(The Global Classroom at the College of DuPage – USA)

(Global Classroom at Hiroshima Jogakuin University – Japan)

How an amazing program it is! How are we (students) lucky to be part of this global classroom! Our instructors are Dean R. Peterson and Shingo Satsutani.
The process is - combination of two subjects, which are ‘Marriages and Family’ and ‘Civilization and Culture of Japan.’ In the global classroom, students from both sides are divided into five groups. Then, we write one paper per each group of both sides on the following categories:
(1) Changing Family
(2) Love, Sex, Mate Selection
(3) Power and Violence
(4) Work and Family
(5) Divorce, Marriage Dissolution, Growing Older.
I am in the group one, and our group at College of DuPage writes a paper about changing family patterns in the United States, and group one of Hiroshima Jogakuin University writes about changing family patterns in Japan.

After that, we exchange the papers each other between Japanese students and American students. The global classroom for our college is situated at the Open Campus Center (OCC) building in west campus of the college. The room number is OCC 106 and it is a studio classroom with the cameras, spotlights, microphones, Television screens, etc.

We, the American students and Japanese students together see, talk, read, discuss, ask, answer, agree, disagree, smile and laugh at each other. In this point, you may have a question about the language problem because American students write papers and speak in English and Japanese students write papers and speak in Japanese. Our instructor, Shingo solves that problem. He is a key interpreter and translator of all discussions and papers of both sides through out the global classroom period.

(Instructor Shingo Satsutani is interpreting in the Global Classroom)

It is amazing progress of modern technology and the way of great usage by humans, which is in the field of education and bilateral relationship between two countries. It is one of the greatest class experiences in my college life as well. It is also great sign of today’s close relationship between the two big foes in some sixty years ago. That is the way how the nations of the world should be; go by our own different ways and cooperate in our common goals and march forward together, friendly, peacefully and helpfully.

(Joint Flags of Japan and the United States)

Briefly, the amazing innovations of modern technology, excellent progress of bilateral relationship of – foes to friends, changing revenge generation to friendship generation, the fantastic combination between east and west, the informative exchange between Japanese students and American students, are all dramatically, remarkably and unforgettably included in our global classroom.

Special thanks to everybody!
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