New Courses for Spring 2025!
The Japanese Studies program will be offering new courses for the upcoming Spring 2025 semester. These are in addition to the regular offering of language courses (levels one through four of instruction) and classes that have become part of the program's core offerings (such as Japanese Cinema and the senior capstone). You can learn more about these classes at the program Open House event (October 30) or by consulting the descriptions on PATH. Here are some brief descriptions for reference.
JAPN 150: Japan in the 1980s: Memory and Image, Then and Now (MW 3:30-4:50, D. Johnson)
This class will focus on the literature, media, and broader cultural movements of the 1980s in Japan and East Asia. Topics such as the Bubble economy, the end of the Showa Era, and "Japan Bashing" in the United States will discussed alongside a larger emphasis on globalization within East Asia. As a COLL 150 course this class will also emphasize written assignments across a variety of genres and styles. Taught in English.
JAPN 300: Extensive Reading or Tadoku (W 12-12:50, M. Hashiguchi)
This is a new one-credit language course taught by our language fellow, Moeno-san. The focus is on reading Japanese language materials and is available to students of different levels who are looking to develop these skills further. The materials for the class have been chosen by language program staff to suit the needs and abilities of students studying Japanese. Anyone who has completed JAPN 102 (or equivalent) can sign up for this course. This course is taught in Japanese.
JAPN 308: Japanese Sound Media (MW 2-3:20, D. Johnson)
This course will explore the use of sound in different forms of moving image media and audiovisual culture in Japan. In terms of organization the course will be divided into three units: voice, music, and “noise.” These will include subtopics such as voice-acting, dubbing, benshi narration, musical films, and the desynchronization of sound and image. In addition to weekly course screenings we will also read materials from sound theory and media studies, which will help contextualize the examples of screen sound we analyze in relation to issues concerning technology, the human body, and perception. Taught in English.
In addition to these new courses (which are being offered for the first time) the program will also have language courses for the 100, 200, 300, and 400 level, as well Professor Sasaki's course on Japanese Cinema and two courses taught by Professor Cronin, one on Japan's Cultures of Catastrophe and a research class called Imagining Japanese Studies: Issues and Methods. These three courses will be taught in English.
