August 22, 2019
Totoro Saves the World
- Jim Rougvie (Geology) and Susan Furukawa (Japanese)
Since 2015, after discovering they were both interested in teaching a class about Miyazaki Hayao films, Jim Rougvie and Susan Furukawa have taught several classes together, including “Totoro Saves the World,” a course that explores how the intersections of culture, folklore, and physical landscapes influence concepts of nature and environmental sustainability through the films and writings of Miyazaki. The course is a part of the Luce-funded Landscapes in Transition program, which has provided Beloit students exciting opportunities to do field research in rural China and Japan.