IGWS Newsletter Vol. 26

Report: Lecture Series: “Psychology and Gender”

　We held a lecture on the relationship between psychology and gender. In our first lecture, Mr. Yoshizaki talked about sexual distinction from the Cognitive psychology and Cranial nerve science viewpoint. The difference of cognitive abilities between men and women are that men excel in spatial awareness, and women are particularly skillful in language ability. This can be explained by the “hunting and gathering hypothesis”, and it is possible to say these differences have been affected by social roles. From this, we can imagine that as social roles change with the times, male and female cognitive abilities will also develop and change.

　In the 2nd lecture, Mr. Goshiki talked about gender from the viewpoint of Developmental Psychology. General images that women (who have high linguistic abilities) are good in the liberal arts, and men (with good spatial awareness abilities) are good in the science field have already been suggested. However, when we look at autism cases, we can see that the proportion of autistic boys is 10 times larger than girls. People with autism have better special awareness abilities, but lower social skills and difficulty in understanding others. This means that the spatial awareness abilities and sociality are inversely related, and we can make suppositions about male and female brains. By understanding these brain types, we can evaluate each brain type and perform self-analysis using psychological tests.

　In the 3rd lecture, Mr. Yonekura introduced cases such as social withdrawal, gender identity disorder, eating disorders and subsequent treatments from the clinical psychology viewpoint. Through his practical experiences in hospitals, Junior High schools as a school counselor, and an adviser at universities, Mr. Yonekura described his students’ conflicts: conflicts and development of (sexual) identity. The people of today who suffer from various psychosomatic disorders, by trying to control both mind and body, is surely linked to our contemporary social problems. Research into the search for identity is now perhaps of utmost importance.

Report on the Students’ Activity: The Meeting for a Joint Review on Last Friends

　In June, we had a joint review meeting on Last Friends, a popular TV drama which depicts date DV which often occurs among young couples. The students actively discussed the issues, remembering their own relationships. We found that violence is difficult to recognize in such a close relationship, and date DV is a complicated issue. The students found useful advice for their own relationships through this meeting.

Lecture by Dr. Donald E. Hall

　Dr. Donald E. Hall, the chief professor of the English department at West Virginia University (one of ASU’s language study partners), visited Aichi Shukutoku University and held the lecture “Travel Abroad and Expanded Understanding: James Baldwin’s Loveless American in Paris”. Dr. Hall talked about Giovanni's Room written by the American writer James Baldwin. It addresses the problem of the transcendncy of life through travel: Dr. Hall used Baldwin’s protagonist David, exhibiting unsuccessful transcendency, as an example.

　Dr. Hall said we need to make the ethical choice to accept others by introducing Baldwin and Gadamer’s view: that we can only achieve transcendency through others. It means we shouldn’t obstruct our own literary theoretical value - we should dare to break down the sanctity of our world view, and leave our cozy, familiar world to accept different ones. His lecture made us think about not only actual literary texts, but also our own personal ‘text’: life.

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