Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 325-356).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 251-260). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Bonn, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 287-326). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-89).

This dissertation gives an aesthetic analysis on the selected woodblock prints of the Okinawan artist Gima Hiroshi concurrent with an exploration of the identity politics of the Okinawans. Deconstructing the historical circumstances of the archipelago, the contradictions and predicaments that the islanders have been struggling with from the trade era and annexation period, to the wartime, the U.S. occupation and the reversion to the Japanese state are portrayed in the war prints. With the constitution of a multi-vocal identity, a regionalist identity has been articulated. This regionalism is manifested in the artist’s prints about traditions, customs and everyday life in terms of folk dance, drum playing, craftsmanship, festivities, daily activities, agriculture, residential space and the practices related to nature. Following a thorough discussion of the visual texts is the elucidation of essentialism in contemporary Okinawan studies that identity politics is itself delimiting and institutionalizing in representation. Essentialist representations reinforce the dichotomy of the self/other structure that they can be more detrimental than explicit performative discourses. As a concluding argument, this essay finishes with a proposed alternative to essentialist literature – visual representations. The interpretative potentiality and transformative powers of art serve as a stepping stone for the third party to experience the experience of the Other, which challenges the presumptions imposed by the self/other narrative. In this process, the marginalized can be made visible. / published_or_final_version / Literary and Cultural Studies / Master / Master of Arts

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a learner-centred approach “that empowers learners to conduct research, integrate theory and practice, and apply knowledge and skills to develop a viable solution to a defined problem” (Savery, 2006, p. 12). Thus, the PBL classes differ pedagogically from traditional teacher-led classes. This learner-centred pedagogy, which was originally developed in medical education at a Canadian university in the late 1960s, was first incorporated into a tertiary-level curriculum in Japan in 1990. Since its initiation, 75 Japanese medical schools (94%) have adopted the PBL approach in their curriculum. Notwithstanding the great interest in using PBL in Japanese medical education, there is little qualitative research on the cultural dimensions of students’ participation in PBL tutorials. This study explored these issues by providing a close examination of classroom discourse and students’ introspection on their learning in PBL tutorials. In this qualitative case study, nine focal students and 36 of their group members, all of whom were first-year undergraduate students at a Japanese university, were selected as the main research participants. Data were collected over an entire academic year through classroom observations, video-recordings of PBL tutorials and interviews. Analysis of the classroom interactions involved the application of classroom discourse analysis (Eggins & Slade, 1997; Sinclair & Coulthard, 1975; Tsui, 1994). Moreover, interview data were analyzed by following a Grounded Theory approach (Strauss & Corbin, 1998) to provide further insights into their changing thoughts during their ongoing participation. Grounded in the notion of community of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998), this study examined the cultural dimensions of Japanese students’ participation in PBL tutorials. In particular, it focused on gaining a better understanding of what they actually do in the discussions, identifying factors mediating their participation and examining the relationships between their actual engagement and thoughts in the tutorials. In this study, there was considerable variation amongst the Japanese students in the ways they participated in and responded to PBL practices. Furthermore, this study demonstrated that their participation was mediated by their cultural assumptions, recognition of competence, negotiation of power relations and identity formation as a group member in the social context of PBL tutorials. Therefore, Japanese students cannot simply be categorized into quiet, passive and dependent learners. Rather, their ongoing participation in PBL tutorials is situated in the specific cultural context. The findings suggest that exploring the cultural dimensions of students’ participation and negotiation of identities, power relations and competence provides a broad view of their learning, including their ways of knowing, doing and being a member in a context of student-centered classroom. This study concluded that the inquiry into Japanese students’ participation contributed to our understanding of the processes of students’ learning and the social and cultural factors mediating their participation in a new classroom community. In particular, the mere adoption of a certain approach of learning will not bring about positive learning outcomes. It should be noted that students’ participation in a new classroom context involves complex, dynamic, social and cultural processes. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This dissertation examines the determinants of the effect of partisanship on support for a parliamentary government. In doing so, I address a set of related questions, using Japan as an example. I begin with a descriptive question: Is the effect of partisanship on the job approval of the administration changing over time? To answer this question, using 1960-2001 time series data, I demonstrate the changing impact of the job approval rate of the cabinets over this period. Then I turn to explanation for the change and ask: Why does the effect change over time? I hypothesize that supporters of newly established parties in the government are less likely to be influenced by their partisanship when evaluating the cabinet' performance. Partisanship, defined here as a predisposition to support a particular political party, grows with the cumulative effect of political experience and learning. There is, however, less opportunity for newly established and political parties to have such loyal supporters. My second hypothesis holds that supporters of ruling parties to which the prime minister does not belong are less likely to make partisan judgments in appraising the cabinet's performance. Party identification extends to the government in which the party participates, the partisan effect on the appraisal of the government's performance emerges. The party affiliation of the prime minister influences to what extent people associate the government with the party. / text

Not available / text

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

No description available.