Class Schedule Listing - 2018 Summer I (Apr 20, 2024) |
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= This course has restrictions
= There are pre-requisites to take this course
= There are fees to take this course
| Japan Inside/Out - 8692 - ASST 3900 - 811 | ||||||||||||||
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CL: Soc 3930 (811). Notes: An extra media fee of 8,800 yen is required. Non-Honors students may be allowed to take this course with permission of the Honors coordinator. Field trips are mandatory in this class. Repeatable for credit across different topics. (consult with the AAC for details).
Topical Section Description: From its achaic tradition in which it integrated Chinese culture into its language and religion and into the late 19th century when it opened its doors to the West, Japan has long struggled to maintain its traditions and indigenous culture as it has assimilated foreign elements, alternate modes of thought and different forms of organizational structure into its institutions. This dynamic tension between Japan and global influence has challenged Japan’s idealized image of itself, and resulted at times in an insular mind-set among more conservative factions in its government that delivered it to war and rivened conflict with its Asian neighbors, but it has also generated a post-modern culture that defies simple categorization and is compelling in its complexity. With traditional culture standing alongside its vibrant youth and popular culture, “Cool Japan” leads the world in its aesthetic sophistication, technological advancement and consumer culture. These qualities make Japan a fascinating comparative reference point for understanding Western culture, as it challenges fundamental notions of human nature, and shows ways in which seemingly incongruent cultures can come together in novel ways. This allows for reflection on globalization, identity politics, cultural difference and how a historically insular culture can negotiate its international standing when it is often at odds with international norms.
Temple University’s Japan campus provides a unique platform for studying Japan and cultural difference, with students from over 50 countries, set in central Tokyo. This Honors seminar is a limited-enrollment, cross- disciplinary examination of selected topics in contemporary Japanese studies. Conceived as a cross- disclipinary Asian Studies course including sociological and cultural anthropological perspectives, the course combines seminar discussions, lectures from TUJ’s research-active area specialists, guest lecturers from across the world, and guided field trips to key locations in Tokyo and beyond. It builds not only on in-house academic expertise but Tokyo’s premier international English-language public lecture series, the Institute for Contemporary Asian Studies at TUJ. The course is open to Temple’s honors students and other local and international students by application. It is limited to 15 students.
Course topics and readings focus on nationalism, culture, and official identity; race and ethnicity; popular culture and its global dialectic; manga, anime, and gaming; civil society and political dissent; and Japan’s international relations. The course is bookended by methodological and theoretical classes giving students from any academic field a variety of intellectual tools they can use to interpret what they’re seeing and reading during their stay in Japan. These are drawn in particular from sociology, anthropology, political science, cultural and visual studies, and history. Together, the academic and experiential nature of the course embody the Tokyo experience today.
Associated Term: 2018 Summer I Registration Dates: Mar 28, 2018 to Jun 01, 2018 Registration Levels: Graduate, NonDegree Continuing Undergrad, Undergraduate Special Approval: Major Coordinator - JPN ONLY Course Attributes: Honors Japan Campus Base Lecture Schedule Type Classroom In-Person Instructional Method Credit Hours: 3.000 Seats Available: 40
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