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Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies

 
Venue: 
Room 8/9, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
Event date: 
Monday, 4 November, 2024 - 17:00

The Assassin's Creed Shadows Controversy: When Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) Goes Wrong

Ever since the preview of Assassin's Creed Shadows, set in the Sengoku period in Japan, was released in May 2024, there has been growing discontent among Japanese gamers and internet users. The controversy has also been featured in major newspapers such as the Sankei Shimbun and the New York Times. The main issues include cultural appropriation, historical fabrication, copyright infringement, and racism. This discussion will explore the controversy from the perspectives of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and examine how this unlikely combination created such contention online.


Satona Suzuki is a senior lecturer in Japanese and Modern Japanese History at SOAS University of London.

Trained as a historian at the Department of History at SOAS, her main interests are the rise of modern Japan with an emphasis on imperialism, militarism, ideology and the relationship between politics and religion (Buddhism).

Dr Suzuki also teaches Advanced Japanese using current issues in Japan, including constitutional revision, security and gender. As these issues often closely relate to Japan's imperial legacy and the postcolonial impasses between Japan and its neighbouring countries, she is keen to connect' then' and' now' in the global context