Meeting 14: Breaking Down National Stereotypes Discussion Meeting 2

Here is a summary of what we did for Day 2 of the Breaking Down National Stereotypes Discussion.
1. Ice Breaking: 4 Corners
2. Presentation by Aelita Dongak, Russia
3. Mini Discussions with guests:
A) Follow-up on the guest’s presentation (Each group has 10 minutes to talk to a guest)
B) Until now, you have talked about how people in your country imagine your guest’s country, why don’t you ask your guest what her/his images of Japan were before she/he came to this country. How accurate were the guest’s images?
C) “Discussion on Values” activity
D) Closing words: JH

Meeting 13 "Breaking Down National Stereotypes" Discussion Day 1

Day 1 of the Breaking Down National Stereotypes Discussion went relatively smoothly today. Our schedule of events was:
1) Introduction to MMCE
2) Ice Breaking "Kao janken"
3) Mind Map Viewing
4) Guest Presentations:

1. Ryan Miller, USA
2. Guilbert Benjamin, France
3. 王 岩, 中国
4. Lucila Sotomayor de Gil & Alverado Gil, Mexico
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Next week:
5. Aelita Dongak, Russia

Please write a reflection of your group's guest's presentation as a comment to this post.

Here are some pictures of day 1 below:

Meetings 12, 13, 14: Breaking Down National Stereotypes Discussion

From next week MMCE will hold the Breaking Down National Stereotypes Discussion. The goal of this discussion is to investigate the validity of commonly held stereotypes which we have about different countries. On July 9th and July 16th we will have 5 different guests from the following countires:
1) China
2) France
3) Mexico
4) Russia
5) USA
To prepare for the discussion each of the 5 groups in MMCE conducted a survey in which they asked 30 people to say the first three images they think of when they heard a group's country of concentration. For example, the group studing France asked 30 people to say the first 3 images they thought of when they heard the word "France". The results of each survey are below.
China
France
Mexico
Russia
USA

Today, July 2, each group in MMCE made a mind map based on their country data:



Here is the schedule for July 9 and July 16:

July 9: Day 1
The guests will answer the following questions about their country diagrams and add anything else they want to:
1) Are there any responses that you are proud of?
2) Are there any responses you do no think are true?
3) What else do you think we should know about your country?
The Discussion
10:30 ~ 10:35: Intro by JH
10:35 ~ 10:45 : Ice Breaking
10:45 ~ 10:55: Mind Map Gallery Viewing

10:55 ~ 12:00 Guest Presentations (5 minutes presentation + 5 minutes question and answer)

July 16: Day 2 (Tentative)
The Discussion
We will be working in our CLGs. The plan for July 16 is below.
1. Ice Breaking
2. Mini-discussions:
l Each group will have 10 minutes to talk to a guest. Here is some possible content to discuss.
A) Follow-up on the guest’s presentation
Did you understand all of your guest’s presentation? What parts did you not understand? Are there any words, phrases, or concepts you heard for the first time? Ask your guest questions about his or her speech to clarify what she/he said. You can also confirm your guest’s answers to the below questions.
1) Are there any responses that you are proud of?
2) Are there any responses you do no think are true?
3) What else do you think we should know about your country?
B) Until now, you have talked about how people in your country imagine your guest’s country, why don’t you ask your guest what her/his images of Japan were before she/he came to this country. How accurate were the guest’s images?
C) Talk on Values
If you have the time you might find the “Discussion on Values” activity interesting.

Meetings 10 & 11 Report on Global Issues Mini Conference

On June 18 and June 25 we held our Global Issues mini-conference during MMCE. MMCE groups reported to each other about the following Global Issues:

<<To MMCE Members>> I am late in publishing this post but it is not too late to write your reflections about the Global Issues Mini Conference. Please write your reflections as a comment to this post.

1) Garbage
2) Global warming
3) Treatement of women
4) Treatement of children
5) The gap between the rich and poor




There were a total of 5 groups of 5 members each. Each group focused on a global issue. On the day of the discussion, we mixed the groups so that each member of a new group represented a different global issue. One by one each person presented about their issue and then held a small discussion. You can see the format of the presentations in the previous post.


After the presentations were over, the original groups reconvened and discussed

1) What about their presentations surprised people.
2) What were some suggestions given to solve the problem that they presented about.


Below is each group's record for 1) and 2).
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Meeting 9: Preparation for the Global Issues Mini-Conference

Procedures for Global Issues Mini Conference

Today, June 11, each group will prepare for their mini-presentation.

Next week, June 18, we will make 5 new groups of 5 people. The success of this meeting will depend on EVERY MMCE member attending. One absent member will affect the discussion. Each new group will consist of representatives from the other groups. The representatives will take turns presenting about their global issue. Each representative has 28 minutes to present and the mini conference will last for about 2 weeks. The content of your presentation will be based on the Global Issues in English textbook. An outline of your presentation is written below.

1 Topic Introduction: Briefly introduce your topic (3 minutes)
2 Helpful Words: Quiz people on the new words. (5 minutes)
3. My Global Issue: Read the information about your global issue and then ask 5 – 8 questions about it to the other group members. (10 minutes)
4. Discussion: Discuss the following (5 minutes)
- Do you have any questions about the presentation, please ask!
- Did anything surprise you about the presentation? What? Did this presentation change your thinking in any way, how so?
- Are you affected in any way by this problem? How?
- Are you doing anything (unintentionally) to cause this problem? What?
5. Solution: Let’s brain storm things that we can do to make this problem better. (5 minutes)

At the ending of the second meeting, each base group will gather again and share what was said in 4 and 5.

Meeting 8: National Cultures, Generalizations and Stereotypes

Agenda:
I Write categories for the respondents' answers.
II JH's presentation on national cultures, stereotypes and prejudice
III Watch two movies
Movie 1:


SNL - Chris Farley - Japanese Gameshow
Uploaded by bismarck_sinker

3. How did these videos make you feel?
- scared (both but especially 1)
- bad for children (both)
- a little bit sick (1)
- uncomfortable (1)
- cruel (both)
- a little bit disgusted (both)

Meeting 7: Oh no!

Meeting 7: May 28, 2008

Country Information and National Cultures

MMCE will begin at 10:40 AM Today

I Explain about our first MMCE crisis
II Our Basic Country Information

Pictures of MMCE in action:

III How to do the survey