Chapter 11: Blackness, Japan, and English as a Medium of Instruction: Teaching “Afro-Japanese Encounters” in the University by Warren A. Stanislaus
Abstract
A recent rise in mixed Black-Japanese celebrities representing Japan on the global stage, alongside numerous high-profile incidents of blackface, media (mis)representation and domestic online racist abuse, has drawn attention to how blackness is perceived in Japan. Paired with the explicit and implicit aims of English as a medium of instruction (EMI) higher education initiatives to develop students’ intercultural competence, discussions of race and multiculturalism are increasingly making their way into Japanese university classrooms. Drawing on narrative inquiry as a methodological tool, the author discusses a course he designed at a private university dedicated to exploring transnational connectivity between the Japanese and people of African descent entitled “Afro-Japanese Encounters”. He contributes to our understanding of critical language pedagogy by employing pedagogical approaches that incorporate language and content-based approaches, digital humanities projects, and public-facing engagement to go beyond essentialisms and constructions of otherness.
About the Contributor
Warren A. Stanislaus is a PhD Candidate in modern Japanese history at the University of Oxford’s Faculty of History. Originally from South East London, he has spent 12+ years in Tokyo, speaks fluent Japanese and advanced Mandarin Chinese. Previously, he worked as a foreign policy researcher at Asia Pacific Initiative, a Tokyo-based think tank. He teaches transnational intellectual and cultural history as an Associate Lecturer at Rikkyo University, Japan.
Citation
Stanislaus, W.A. (2023). Blackness, Japan, and English as a medium of instruction: Teaching “Afro-Japanese Encounters” in the university. In G. P. Glasgow (Ed.), Multiculturalism, language, and race in English education in Japan: Agency, pedagogy, and reckoning (pp. 276–296). Candlin & Mynard ePublishing. https://doi.org/10.47908/26/11
A recent rise in mixed Black-Japanese celebrities representing Japan on the global stage, alongside numerous high-profile incidents of blackface, media (mis)representation and domestic online racist abuse, has drawn attention to how blackness is perceived in Japan. Paired with the explicit and implicit aims of English as a medium of instruction (EMI) higher education initiatives to develop students’ intercultural competence, discussions of race and multiculturalism are increasingly making their way into Japanese university classrooms. Drawing on narrative inquiry as a methodological tool, the author discusses a course he designed at a private university dedicated to exploring transnational connectivity between the Japanese and people of African descent entitled “Afro-Japanese Encounters”. He contributes to our understanding of critical language pedagogy by employing pedagogical approaches that incorporate language and content-based approaches, digital humanities projects, and public-facing engagement to go beyond essentialisms and constructions of otherness.
About the Contributor
Warren A. Stanislaus is a PhD Candidate in modern Japanese history at the University of Oxford’s Faculty of History. Originally from South East London, he has spent 12+ years in Tokyo, speaks fluent Japanese and advanced Mandarin Chinese. Previously, he worked as a foreign policy researcher at Asia Pacific Initiative, a Tokyo-based think tank. He teaches transnational intellectual and cultural history as an Associate Lecturer at Rikkyo University, Japan.
Citation
Stanislaus, W.A. (2023). Blackness, Japan, and English as a medium of instruction: Teaching “Afro-Japanese Encounters” in the university. In G. P. Glasgow (Ed.), Multiculturalism, language, and race in English education in Japan: Agency, pedagogy, and reckoning (pp. 276–296). Candlin & Mynard ePublishing. https://doi.org/10.47908/26/11
Information About the Book
Title: Multiculturalism, Language, and Race in English Education in Japan: Agency, Pedagogy, and Reckoning
Editor: Gregory Paul Glasgow
Publication date: March 2023
Read more...
Title: Multiculturalism, Language, and Race in English Education in Japan: Agency, Pedagogy, and Reckoning
Editor: Gregory Paul Glasgow
Publication date: March 2023
Read more...