- HOME
- Activities
- Forum List
- Forum Details
2015.1.22 KIP Forum "Understanding America: Culture, Democracy and Policy."
Dr. Nancy Snow Global Educator/ an Abe Fellow with the Social Science Research Council
Dr. Nancy Snow put emphasis on how it is important to learn the dominant values when you want to understand a country. She mainly talked about the prevailing notions about how a person should be in the U.S. The U.S. is highly religious even though it does not have a national religion. The way people think is strongly connected to Christianity.
Since the country was founded by men who came from Europe with hope to start new lives on their own, it values acts of risk-taking and innovation. These chances for people to challenge themselves are equal, which leads to individualism and equality.
In addition, Dr. Snow talked about why there is so many immigrants entering the U.S., in other words, what attracts people to immigrate. She claimed that the biggest cause is the prevailing notion of the "American Dream". Because of this, people are optimistic for change.
By understanding the values people hold predominantly in the U.S., we were able to compare them to those of Japan and gain a better understanding of ourselves as well. We also gained insights on immigration that will be an essential issue in Japan. (Yuko Yokoi)