NCHU Course Outline

Course Name	(中) 流行文化與國際關係(0435)
Course Name	(Eng.) Popular Culture and International Relations
Offering Dept	General Education Center
Course Type	Required	Credits	2	Teacher	Theodorus Arnoldus Maria Richard
Department	General	Language	English	Semester	2025-FALL
Course Description	Core Literacy: Critical & Innovative Thinking, Self-expression, Teamwork, Local Care, Global Perspective Humanities Domain: Arts, Culture This course provides students a flipped classroom - approach of the study of global popular culture with a strong focus on Climate Change and sustainability culture. This course contains three major aspects: (1) exploring global change trends and issues to integrate into learning and future work; develop communication, teamwork, problem solving, and a willingness to continue professional growth through practice and reflection on sustainability; (2) exploring international case studies of the 17 United Nations SDGs; and (3) self-examination and team review of change capabilities and achievements. The class will be discussion oriented on the basis of prior material reading, which the students are expected to complete before class time. Students are asked to take an active initiative to reflect upon and take action for change in the modern global environment. Students will be asked to actively participate in the activities and share their findings in the class. Each group presentation will last around 40 minutes. The presenters will prepare 4 to 5 questions on the material which will be discussed in class. For this purpose, the students will be asked to form groups of 2 to 3 students (depending on the total class number). The subjects and documents, as well as the class schedule, mentioned in the syllabus are only indicative and can be changed pursuant to the teacher’s ideas on the progress of the class. All materials are expected to be read and/or viewed by the students before class. All required home-works are to be submitted on the relevant dates to the teacher, without late acceptance. Submission of papers is on paper, and midterm presentation and classroom summaries are digital. The selection by each group of one case study to present to the class, will be submitted to the teacher together with a reason for the choice, latest 2 days before the second week class date in writing. The teacher will have the free and decisive call on whether the choice will be approved by the teacher. NOTE: the order of presenting will be decided in reverse order of submitting: the group submitting last, will present first, and so forth. The teacher will announce the subject in class, each week for the following class week to confirm whether or not the activity as preliminarily listed in the syllabus will still be on. The content of such activities will be decided by the teacher based on the progress of the class. If there is no specific announcement by the teacher, then the activity shall be as indicated in the syllabus.
Prerequisites				self-directed learning in the course	Y

Relevance of Course Objectives and Core Learning Outcomes(%)

Teaching and Assessment Methods for Course Objectives

Course Objectives

Competency Indicators

Ratio(%)

Teaching Methods

Assessment Methods

1. To introduce students to diverse disciplinary perspectives enabling them to frame their own studies of global popular culture in changing environments, with a strong emphasis on the core issue of Climate Change and sustainability culture.
2. To familiarize students with some key concepts and texts related to global popular culture, global studies, and international sustainability culture.

1.Humanitarian Training

4.Innovation

5.International Perspective

6.Social Care

topic Discussion/Production

Exercises

Discussion

Lecturing

Written Presentation

Attendance

Oral Presentation

Assignment

Course Content and Homework/Schedule/Tests Schedule

Week	Course Content
Week 1	Introduction; General Discussion on the subject, group forming, and consideration of global case studies / countries.
Week 2	General Discussion on the subject, teacher presenting the example of sustainability actions in The Netherlands, followed by discussion. Finalising selection of various countries to be discussed in class by which group.
Week 3	Group Presentations of global case studies and Discussions. Country in focus: Australia.
Week 4	Group Presentations of global case studies and Discussions. Country in focus: Fiji.
Week 5	Group Presentations of global case studies and Discussions. Country in focus: USA.
Week 6	Group Presentations of global case studies and Discussions. Country in focus: France.
Week 7	Group Presentations of global case studies and Discussions. Country in focus: Botswana.
Week 8	Midterm: recorded 5 – 10 minutes talk on what you have learned so far, submitted via I-learning on the Midterm day, latest by that day midnight.
Week 9	Group Presentations of global case studies and Discussions. Country in focus: Denmark.
Week 10	Group Presentations of global case studies and Discussions. Country in focus: Japan.
Week 11	Group Presentations of global case studies and Discussions. Country in focus: Costa Rica.
Week 12	Group Presentations of global case studies and Discussions. Country in focus: Gabon.
Week 13	Group Presentations of global case studies and Discussions. Country in focus: Brasil.
Week 14	Group Presentations of global case studies and Discussions. Country in focus: Canada.
Week 15	Group Presentations of global case studies and Discussions. Country in focus: Taiwan.
Week 16	Endterm: original (not AI) paper on any subject from the class, presenting on how you think the selected presented Climate Change solution could be used in Taiwan (1000 words).
self-directed learning	02.Viewing multimedia materials related to industry and academia. 03.Preparing presentations or reports related to industry and academia. Find at least 5 (five) YouTube presentations of at least 15 - 20 minutes length that are directly relevant to the subject of the class. Provide a 500 word written original and not AI-composed summary of the main message of these films.

Evaluation

Evaluation is based on the teacher’s impression of level of participation and overall performance in the class by the students.
Grades are calculated on the following basis:
40% Class participation through (group) presentations, upload of class summaries, assignments and discussions
30% Midterm: 5 – 10 min. presentation.
30% Endterm: 1000 words original paper.

Textbook & other References

Materials are multi-disciplinary.
Further readings depend on the selection of subjects and will be given by the teacher during the course of the class.

Teaching Aids & Teacher's Website

Office Hours

Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs(Link URL)

04.Quality Education 10.Reduced Inequalities 11.Sustainable Cities and Communities 12.Responsible Consumption 13.Climate Action 16.Peace and Justice

include experience courses：N

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Update Date, year/month/day：2025/08/11 15:31:55	Printed Date, year/month/day：2025 / 8 / 19
The second-hand book website：http://www.myub.com.tw/