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Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University
Spring 2014
Instructor: Dr Ching-Chang Chen <[email protected]>
Teaching Assistant: Ms. Nina C. Krickel <[email protected]>
International Peace Studies EA
Reaction Paper Assignment
(1) Please choose either I Would Like to Be Able to Speak Uchinaguchi When I Grow Up!
(Satako Taira”s interview script) or an excerpt from Immanuel Kant”s Perpetual Peace as
your reaction paper topic. Write down your thoughts after reading the article; your analysis
should seek to address the questions listed below, although you are at liberty to expand the
scope of your discussion when deemed appropriate.

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(2) Format: this short essay should be written in English, typed, and kept within three pages
(excluding references). The essay should be your own independent work.
(3) Plagiarism is a serious academic offense and will not be tolerated in this course. A student
of mine got caught three years ago for committing plagiarism and was not able to graduate.
Ensure that you do not use another person”s thoughts, writings or words as your own without
proper attribution. This course accepts two referencing systems: the in-text (Harvard) system
and the footnote/endnote system. Choose either of them for your work and follow it
consistently. Contact your instructor if you are unsure what constitutes plagiarism and/or how
to reference an essay.
(4) This assignment must include your name, student ID, and email address. It should be
submitted to TA as an email attachment no later than July 15, 2014, 23:59. Late submission
will be penalized or even rejected.
Purpose of the Assignment
This assignment seeks to develop your critical thinking ability, an important element for those
who want to proceed to the postgraduate level or to become decision makers in their future
career. The immediate benefit is that you can practice how to engage in point-to-point
discussions and defend your arguments, which will better equip you to deal with essay
questions in the exams.
Grading
This assignment will constitute 20% of your grade for the course.
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Question
Satako Taira, I Would Like to Be Able to Speak Uchinaguchi When I Grow Up! in Jennifer
Chan, Another Japan Is Possible (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2008)
You are invited to apply Johan Galtung”s concept of structural violence as well as
structural theory of imperialism to consider the Okinawa issue. From this interview,
what kinds of structural violence Okinawans have been subjected to? Can you
illustrate the various manifestations of the Center-Periphery relationship in the case of
Okinawa? What are the strategies local people may employ to resist the
aforementioned violence (and what are the obstacles)?
OR
Immanuel Kant, Perpetual Peace, in David Barash, Approaches to Peace (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2010)
Use your own words to summarize what you consider three of the most important
points in Kant”s proposal for world government. In your view, is there any weakness
in his argument? Can you demonstrate how the flaw/mistake has occurred by
subjecting his text to logical and/or empirical scrutiny? (You may get some
inspiration from Hidemi Suganami”s The Domestic Analogy and World Order
Proposals, which is also available in Japanese). Which essence in Kant”s work
remains relevant for making today”s world a more peaceful place?

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