36 courses with the subject JAPA, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
JAPA 101First Year Japanese I4
Introduction to Japanese language and culture. Practice in basic sentence patterns and conversational expressions to enable students to speak and write Japanese. Fall semester.
Cross-Listed as CHIN 125 This translation-focused course allows students direct access to classical Chinese texts in several genres of poetry and prose. The readings differ every time the courses is offered, so it may be taken up to four times for credit.
Third Year Chinese or above, or Fourth Year Japanese or above. (1 Credits)
JAPA 150Language and Gender in Japanese Society4
Cross-Listed as ASIA 150 , LING 150 and WGSS 150 Japanese is considered to be a gendered language in the sense that women and men speak differently from each other. Male characters in Japanese animation often use “boku” or “ore” to refer to themselves, while female characters often use “watashi” or “atashi.” When translated into Japanese, Hermione Granger (a female character in the Harry Potter series) ends sentences with soft-sounding forms, while Harry Potter and his best friend Ron use more assertive forms. Do these fictional representations reflect reality? How are certain forms associated with femininity or masculinity? Do speakers of Japanese conform to the norm or rebel against it? These are some of the questions discussed in this course. Students will have opportunities to learn about the history of gendered language, discover different methodologies in data collections, and find out about current discourse on language and gender. Offered alternate years.
JAPA 203 or its equivalent. Spring semester. (4 Credits)
JAPA 254Japanese Film and Animation: From the Salaryman to the Shojo4
Cross-Listed as ASIA 254 This course surveys the history of Japanese film from the “golden age” of Japanese cinema to the contemporary transnational genre of anime. While introducing methodologies of film analysis and interpretation, it develops knowledge of how major works of Japanese film and animation have expressed and critiqued issues of modern Japanese society. In doing this, we trace the development of two related archetypes: the middle-class salaryman and the adolescent girl (shojo). These figures - as well as their incarnations as cyberpunks and mecha-warriors, sex workers and teen rebels - help us explore Japanese film’s engagement with the strictures of middle-class society, the constrained status of women, fantasy and escapism, sexuality and desire. Weekly screenings and discussion will be supplemented by readings in film theory and cultural criticism. Directors include Ozu Yasujiro, Akira Kurosawa, Oshima Nagisa, Miyazaki Hayao, Anno Hideaki, and Hosoda Mamoru. No prior knowledge of Japanese required. Alternate years.
JAPA 260Narratives of Alienation: 20th Century Japanese Fiction and Film4
Cross-Listed as ASIA 260 The sense of being out of place in one’s society or one’s nation, estranged from one’s self or the world - this is the feeling that has motivated many of the narratives of modern Japanese fiction. Through stories of precocious adolescents, outcast minorities, vagabond women, disillusioned soldiers, and rebellious youth, this course examines the social implications of narrative fiction (including film, anime, and manga) within the context of modern Japanese history. While introducing methods of literary analysis and developing a familiarity with major works of Japanese fiction, the course aims to cultivate an understanding of how stories can be used to engage and think about the quandaries of modern society. We will explore the way these narratives express marginal experiences, rethink the foundations of human and societal bonds, and articulate new ways of being in the world. Works covered include stories by Tanizaki Jun’ichiro, Kawabata Yasunari, Oe Kenzaburo, Mishima Yukio, and Murakami Haruki, as well as films by Akira Kurosawa, Koreeda Hirokazu, and Otomo Katsuhiro. No knowledge of Japanese required. Alternate years.
JAPA 282Language and Identity in Japanese, Asian-American, and Other Communities4
Cross-Listed as ASIA 282 and LING 282 This course aims to investigate the complex relationship between language and identity in Japanese, Asian American, and other diasporic communities. Language plays a significant role in conveying one’s identity, as do other semiotic means such as clothing. By exploring scholarship that considers language as it relates to identity, students will discover how speakers/writers use their agency in expressing their identity and how identity emerges as a social and cultural phenomenon. They will learn about multiple interrelated factors that affect how speakers/writers view and use language such as race, ethnicity, nationality, and multilingualism. No knowledge of Asian languages is required. Alternate years.
Cross-Listed as AMST 288 and INTL 288 From notions of the “pure self” to teenage ganguro (“face-blackening”), Japanese culture is rife with instances of ideology and performance that reflect a deep complexity in its engagement with issues of identity and foreignness. This course traces the roots of this complexity back to Japan’s beginnings as a modern nation and examines its cultural development into the present day. Works of fiction will be paired with readings in history and criticism to explore the meanings of identity, race, and ethnicity as they are expressed and contested in Japanese culture. The course will cover the literature of Korea and Taiwan, the experience of domestic minorities, and the contemporary cultures of cos-play (“costume-play”) and hip-hop. No prior knowledge of Japanese required. Alternate years.
JAPA 305 or permission of instructor. Spring semester. (4 Credits)
JAPA 336Japanese Sociocultural Linguistics4
Cross-Listed as ASIA 336 , LING 336 This course aims to give students the opportunity to find the joy of analyzing Japanese language by enhancing their understanding of its complex and rich sociocultural meanings. In Japanese language courses, students learn the norms (i.e., what is considered to be correct and proper) regarding honorifics, speech levels, orthography, the so-called gendered language, and other linguistic forms. In this linguistics course, they will find out how actual speakers/writers observe or deviate from the norms to create sociocultural meanings and how the adherence to or subversion of the norm often reflects language ideologies. In the process they will reflect on their own as well as others’ speech and writing, and learn how to critically evaluate and analyze language in the media. In addition to reading and discussing academic articles in English, students will collect and analyze authentic Japanese data such as anime, TV drama, films, manga, novels, and blogs. Japanese Language and Culture majors who are juniors and seniors may count this course as their capstone experience. The course also fulfills the Asian Studies, Japanese, and Linguistics major and minor requirements.
JAPA 306 . ( JAPA 407 and JAPA 408 are not sequenced courses. Therefore, students may choose to enroll in JAPA 408 without having been enrolled in JAPA 407 .) Spring semester. (4 Credits)
Three college-level courses related to Japan. Permission of instructor and department chair must be obtained prior to the start of the semester. Every semester. (1 Credits)
JAPA 612Independent Project2
Sophomores and above may pursue an independent research project under the supervision of a Japanese Language and Culture faculty member.
Three college-level courses related to Japan. Permission of instructor and department chair must be obtained prior to the start of the semester. Every semester. (2 Credits)
JAPA 613Independent Project3
Sophomores and above may pursue an independent research project under the supervision of a Japanese Language and Culture faculty member.
Three college-level courses related to Japan. Permission of instructor and department chair must be obtained prior to the start of the semester. Every semester. (3 Credits)
JAPA 614Independent Project4
Sophomores and above may pursue an independent research project under the supervision of a Japanese Language and Culture faculty member.
Three college-level courses related to Japan. Permission of instructor and department chair must be obtained prior to the start of the semester. Every semester. (4 Credits)
JAPA 631Preceptorship1
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs. Every semester.
