Dr. Naoko Oyabu-Mathis
What type of interesting features do you incorporate into your classes?
I like my courses to be helpful so I can bring in scenarios from real life. Hopefully my students can benefit from these types of situations in their current and future family situations. I want students to understand their social impact on society. In teaching a lot of cross-cultural studies, I hope to explain and show similarities and differences and help to explain them.
In your opinion, how is Mount Union College unique from other small liberal arts colleges?
As a graduate of Mount Union, I am very partial. The education here is very good, that’s why I came back. At Mount Union, students have the availability to gain some close relationships with their faculty. They become nurtured through the interpersonal relationships they participate in with their professors.
How do Mount Union students benefit from attending a small school as opposed to a larger school?
The close interpersonal relationships are a major benefit along with strong support from the faculty and staff.
Have you done any interesting research or developed any interesting courses at Mount Union? If so, explain.
While I was writing my doctoral dissertation I began my study of elder care. It has remained an interest of mine, and a topic of which I have spoke on at several conferences, specifically Japanese and American care for the elders. In my Interpersonal Communication course, I have teamed up with Dr. Coleman from the Department of Communication. With two professors, students benefit by learning interpersonal communication concepts involving sociology, communication and different cultures and sexes. Students enrolled in this course have the option to learn about this topic from many different sides.
What kinds of opportunities do Mount Union students have after graduating from College?
Very frequently I receive comments from graduates saying that they feel very prepared for graduate school and they believe the sociology program at Mount is very strong. They say the courses they are taking in graduate school are similar to their undergraduate classes here, including conducting their own research project such as they might conduct in receiving their masters. Some students who take part in internships go right to working for the employer they interned for. One sociology graduate of Mount Union began working for the secret service immediately after graduation.
In what activities do you participate in your spare time?
Every year I try to have strong relationships with the international students here, because I was once one myself. I also go to Japan twice a year to visit my family and travel to reconnect with former Mount Union students who are from or living in Japan. I enjoy exposing myself to other cultures and travel whenever the opportunity arises. My son, who is now 13, has told me recently how much of an impact Mount Union students have had on him. While he was growing up, I often had students over to my house and that is a memory he has kept from his childhood.