2023-2024 Undergraduate Bulletin

Japanese (JAPN)

 

JAPN 1001 Elementary Japanese (4 Credits)

The Elementary Japanese sequence helps students develop communicative competence in basic spoken and written Japanese and explore Japanese cultural practices and perspectives to enrich cultural competence and reflect on their own. First quarter of a three-quarter sequence. Japanese 1001 is designed for students with no prior knowledge of Japanese. Students who have experience with the Japanese language should complete the placement test to determine the appropriate course level for their background.

JAPN 1002 Elementary Japanese (4 Credits)

The Elementary Japanese sequence helps students develop communicative competence in basic spoken and written Japanese and explore Japanese cultural practices and perspectives to enrich cultural competence and reflect on their own. Second quarter of a three-quarter sequence. Prerequisite: JAPN 1001 or equivalent.

JAPN 1003 Elementary Japanese (4 Credits)

The Elementary Japanese sequence helps students develop communicative competence in basic spoken and written Japanese and explore Japanese cultural practices and perspectives to enrich cultural competence and reflect on their own. Third quarter of a three-quarter sequence. Prerequisite: JAPN 1002 or equivalent.

JAPN 1005 Japanese for the Real World (4 Credits)

This fun and challenging intermediate-level, task-based language course develops Japanese language & cultural competency for students preparing to study abroad in Japan or travel to Japan independently. In this course students synthesize and build on their reading, writing, speaking, listening and cultural skills prior to departure in order to maximize their study/travel abroad experience. The task-based curriculum will help students improve their communicative skills in the Japanese language through authentic materials and concrete, task-based language learning. Students also deepen their knowledge about Japanese culture and have online and face-to-face discussions when possible with Japanese native speakers to enhance their cultural competence. Prerequisite: JAPN 1003 or instructor permission.

JAPN 1216 Popular Culture of Japan (4 Credits)

In this course we examine and analyze the emergence of particular forms of mass-produced culture, or culture for mass consumption, in Japan from the early modern period to the present. Using a variety of cultural materials enjoyed from the early modern period (1600-1868,) during which Japanese society underwent extensive urbanization, secularization, and cultural commodification, through to the present, the course focuses on overarching themes: media and information technology (woodblock printing, newspapers, and the internet); entertainment and gender (the all-male kabuki theatre and all-female Takarazuka revue); commodified romance; fiction (illustrated fiction, manga, and novels); anime and television fandom; healer-bots and cyborgs. No knowledge of Japanese required. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.

JAPN 1416 Postwar Japan: Changing Perspectives in Literature and Culture (4 Credits)

This course explores a range of Japanese cultural perspectives from the end of the Second World War to the present. The main focus is on the analysis and interpretation of Japanese literary texts, but during the course students also examine film, visual art, and other cultural products within a historical framework, to lead to a deeper understanding of the influences and events that have shaped both contemporary Japan and the wider world. Prerequisites: JAPN 1001.

JAPN 1616 Samurai and Merchants: Cultures of Tokugawa Japan (4 Credits)

Introduction to the cultures of Tokugawa, Japan, focusing on the tension between the samurai and merchant classes, the images they construct of self and other, and the morals and mores of their respective worlds. As well as examining Tokugawa fiction, drama, and other cultural artifacts, this course also considers later representation of the period and of its people in twenty- and twenty-first-century text, cinema, and television to understand the importance of contemporary influences on historical representation. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.

JAPN 1816 Classical Japanese Literature (4 Credits)

The course covers one thousand years of Japanese writing, including a myth-history detailing the origins of Japan, the development of the rich poetic tradition, female diaries, the classic The Tale of Genji, medieval tales of wars and hermits, the nô drama, and the haiku and travel diaries. It will focus on such key binaries as orality and literacy, poetry and prose, native and foreign, popular and high-brow, and masculine and feminine. The course will also stress principles of literary analysis and interpretation. No knowledge of Japanese required. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.

JAPN 1988 Study Abroad Resident Credit (0-18 Credits)

JAPN 2001 Intermediate Japanese (4 Credits)

Continuing study of complex grammatical structures, vocabulary expansion and reading skills. First quarter of three quarter sequence. Prerequisite: JAPN 1003 or equivalent.

JAPN 2002 Intermediate Japanese (4 Credits)

Continuing study of complex grammatical structures, vocabulary expansion and reading skills. Second quarter of three quarter sequence. Prerequisite: JAPN 2001 or equivalent.

JAPN 2003 Intermediate Japanese (4 Credits)

Continuing study of complex grammatical structures, vocabulary expansion and reading skills. Third quarter of three quarter sequence. Prerequisite: JAPN 2002 or equivalent.

JAPN 2101 Conversation and Composition I (4 Credits)

Intensive practice in oral skills, grammar review, reading and writing. Prerequisite: JAPN 2003 and JAPN 1416.

JAPN 2102 Conversation & Composition II (4 Credits)

Intermediate training in speaking, reading and writing. Prerequisite: JAPN 2101 or equivalent and JAPN 1416.

JAPN 2103 Conversation & Composition III (4 Credits)

Advanced-intermediate training in speaking, reading and writing. Prerequisite: JAPN 2102 or equivalent and JAPN 1416.

JAPN 2988 Study Abroad Resident Credit (0-18 Credits)

JAPN 3701 Topics in Japanese Culture (4 Credits)

Selected topics in Japanese culture. Texts and films in both Japanese and English, with a focus on modern and contemporary Japanese culture. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: JAPN 3100 or equivalent.

JAPN 3988 Study Abroad Resident Credit (0-18 Credits)

JAPN 3991 Independent Study (1-5 Credits)

JAPN 3995 Independent Research (1-10 Credits)

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