Online Teaching in Asian Humanities - Opportunities and Challenges

Session Submission Type: Organized Panel

Abstract

This panel will explore recent innovative instructional and technological approaches to teaching online courses in Asian Humanities. Each paper showcases the increased efficiency, accessibility and efficacy of online teaching in a diversity of contexts including but not limited to Asian Humanities, Korean Studies, Japanese Studies and study-abroad programs. First presenter Adam Lloyd will introduce three versions of the course "Introduction to the Humanities of Asia" with online, hybrid and face-to-face formats that maximize enrollment. Using examples from her “Modern Korean Art & Culture” course, Maya Stiller will offer practical advice for creating a community of learners in an online class via live web conferences and student blogs. Meredith Collier will discuss an efficient combination of online and onsite modules to broaden the diversity of students in the study-abroad program "Terps to Tohoku," in which participants study disaster recovery in Northeastern Japan. Jascha Smilack will demonstrate the challenging collaborative efforts of contributors from Harvard, MIT, Duke University and several Japanese institutions for the successful creation of the open access course “Visualizing Japan (1850s-1930s): Westernization, Protest, Modernity.” Presenters will conclude that, although it requires considerable time and effort to prepare an online course, instructors and students greatly benefit from online teaching, as it effectively complements and even enhances traditional teaching methods, conveying creative global perspectives in post-secondary education.

Area of Study

• Interarea-Border Crossing

Session Organizer

• Maya Stiller, University of Kansas

Chair

• Diane E. Riggs, Western Michigan University

Individual Presentations

• Crossing the Online Border: Designing an Asian Humanities Course for Different Learning Modalities - Adam C. Lloyd, Brigham Young University

• Creating a Community of Learners: Interactive Teaching in an Online Class - Maya Stiller, University of Kansas

• “Terps to Tohoku": A Hybrid Study-Abroad Program - Meredith Collier-Murayama, University of Maryland

• “Visualizing Japan”: A Model for Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) Collaboration - Jascha Smilack, Harvard University

Discussant

• Andrew Gordon, Harvard University