This course examines the major aesthetic, social, and political elements which have shaped modern Japanese culture and society. There are readings on contemporary Japan and historical evolution of the culture are coordinated with study of literary texts, film, and art, along with an analysis of everyday life and leisure activities.

This course examines Israeli identity using a broad array of materials, including popular music, film, documentaries, and art, in addition to academic historical writings. Topics include Israel's political system and society, ethnic relations, settlement projects, and the Arab minorities in the Jewish state. Students also discuss whether there is a unique Israeli culture and the struggle for Israel's identity.

Exploration of contemporary politics in the Middle East, examining the salient geographical, historical, and religious features of the area. Analyzes the role of political elites, the Arab-Israeli conflict, gender politics, and factors that have inhibited the growth of democracy.

This course addresses the place of contemporary queer identities in French discourse and discusses the new generation of queer authors and their principal concerns. Class discussions and readings will introduce students to the main classical references of queer subcultures, from Proust and Vivien to Hocquenghem and Wittig. Throughout the course, students will examines current debates on post-colonial and globalized queer identities through essays, songs, movies, and novels. Authors covered include Didier Eribon, Anne GarrŽta, Abdellah Ta•a, Anne Scott, and Nina Bouraoui. This class is taught in French.

Selection of aural Italian grammar lessons (podcasts). Grammar examples and dialogs are built upon the escapades of Arlecchino, Pulcinella, and other masks of the Italian Commedia dell'arte. Lessons feature topical grammar discussions, dramatic readings, pdf grammar notes ... and general audio zaniness.

Rockin Russian is designed to give students exposure to the Russian language and culture through the medium of Russian music videos. Students are able to perfect their grammar while rocking out to music videos from Russia's pop stars. Based on Russian music videos from MTV Russia, Rockin' Russian is supplemented with exercise materials focusing on pronunciation, vocabulary development, grammar and cultural features. Parts of the videos are embedded into exercises in each category that students can revisit, strengthening their language skills.

A compilation of brief video clips in which native speakers of Spanish from various locations throughout Latin America and Spain demonstrate various language tasks.

The purpose of these materials is to help future public school teachers of Spanish in their assessment of learners' levels of proficiency. These materials not only present videos of learners interacting with an interlocutor, but also direct the viewer to notice features about the learners' language and proficiency levels. The website also presents information on proficiency levels to help the viewer develop a greater awareness of differences in learner language.

Tá Falado includes 46 podcast lessons on the pronunciation and grammar of Portuguese, specifically designed to help those who already speak Spanish. The lessons are built around Portuguese dialogs that are repeated in Spanish, providing a direct comparison of the two languages. All lessons include downloadable PDF files with the transcripts and notes, mp3 audio files, and blog discussions. Additionally all of the dialogs present cultural scenarios that illustrate differences between North American and Brazilian culture.

A look at the physical and human characteristics that make the regions of our world distinctive, placing particular emphasis on cultural and societal structures.

Yoruba‡ YŽ Mi is an interactive, communicative, introductory, multimedia program intended to provide college/university students with basic listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills of language learning in Yoruba‡. It exposes the learner not only to Yoruba‡ language in meaningful situations but also to the culture of the Yorb‡-speaking people of South-western Nigeria. It contains effective techniques for teaching and learning Yorb‡ including tones, and is user-friendly in its approach.

The Yorùbá Yé Mi textbook, combined with an open access, multi-media website at http://www.coerll.utexas.edu/yemi, is an interactive, communicative, introductory Yorùbá program. It provides college/university students with basic listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills of language learning in Yorùbá. It exposes the learner not only to Yorùbá language in meaningful situations but also to the culture of the Yorùbá-speaking people of South-western Nigeria. It contains effective techniques for teaching and learning Yorùbá including tones, and is user friendly in its approach.

Chapter 1 - Orí Kìíní | Greetings
Chapter 2 - Orí Kejì | My Classroom
Chapter 3 - Orí Kẹta | Mark The Date
Chapter 4 - Orí Kẹrin | What Time Do We Meet?
Chapter 5 - Orí Karùnún | My Family Tree
Chapter 6 - Orí Kẹfà | Shop With
Chapter 7 - Orí Keje | Let's Find Something To Eat!
Chapter 8 - Orí Kẹjọ | Are You Feeling Good Today
Chapter 9 - Orí Kẹsànán | My Work Place
Chapter 10 - Orí Kẹwàá | Home Sweet Home!
Chapter 11 - Orí Kọkànlá | Nice Style!
Chapter 12 - Orí Kejìlá | Campus Life

Reviews available here: https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/yorubaye-mi