JAPAN: ITS CULTURE AND HERITAGE

AEAJ 170 Class No. 8485

Spring 2007

Class Time and Location: MW 2:45 – 4:05 in ED120

Instructor: Mark Blum

Office: HU 254E

Office Hours: Monday & Wednesday 1:00–2:00, and by appointment

Phone: 442-4183

e-mail: mblum@albany.edu

Textbooks:

(V) Japanese Culture by Paul Varley (4th ed., Univ. of Hawaii, 2000)

ISBN: 0824821521

(T) In Praise of Shadows by Junichiro Tanizaki (Leete’s Island Books, 1980)

ISBN: 0918172020

Course Description:

This course is designed to introduce the major themes of what we regard today as Japanese culture. We will progress chronologically from the ancient past to the present, looking at Japan in a variety of ways: historically, anthropologically, religiously, philosophically, artistically, musically, politically, etc. In the process the student will have the opportunity to sample well-known works of literature that represent all these aspects of Japan. Because of the broad nature of the topic, the core curriculum will be defined by the lectures themselves, with the readings providing supplemental information. Hence attendance is mandatory and will be taken daily to ensure all classes are attended. There will only be two homework assignments, but because a paper 1500 words in length based on Japanese themes is required, good students will want to begin thinking about their topic and start their research early in the semester.

General Education Information:

This course fulfills the General Education Categories of Humanities and Regions Beyond Europe.

Characteristics of all General Education Courses

1 General Education courses offer introductions to the central topics of disciplines and interdisciplinary fields.

2 General Education courses offer explicit rather than tacit understandings of the procedures, practices, methodology and fundamental assumptions of disciplines and interdisciplinary fields.

3 General Education courses recognize multiple perspectives on the subject matter.

4 General Education courses emphasize active learning in an engaged environment that enables students to be producers as well as consumers of knowledge.

5 General Education courses promote critical inquiry into the assumptions, goals, and methods of various fields of academic study; they aim to develop the interpretive, analytic, and evaluative competencies characteristic of critical thinking.

Learning Objectives for General Education Humanities Courses

Humanities courses teach students to analyze and interpret texts, ideas, artifacts, and discourse systems, and the human values, traditions, and beliefs that they reflect. 

Humanities courses enable students to demonstrate knowledge of the assumptions, methods of study, and theories of at least one of the disciplines within the humanities. 

Depending on the discipline, humanities courses will enable students to demonstrate some or all of the following:

1 an understanding of the objects of study as expressions of the cultural contexts of the people who created them

2 an understanding of the continuing relevance of the objects of study to the present and to the world outside the university

3 an ability to employ the terms and understand the conventions particular to the discipline

4 an ability to analyze and assess the strengths and weaknesses of ideas and positions along with the reasons or arguments that can be given for and against them

5 an understanding of the nature of the texts, artifacts, ideas, or discourse of the discipline and of the assumptions that underlie this understanding, including those relating to issues of tradition and canon

Objectives for General Education Regions Beyond Europe Courses

Approved courses engage students in considerations of the "local" as opposed to the "global." Courses focus on specific cultures (other than those of the United States) or the world's regions. Courses emphasize the features and processes whereby cultures and regions gain their specific identity, offering an explicitly historical organization (i.e., one that emphasizes the narratives whereby any given region or culture has come to gain its specific identity), and balancing topical focus and chronological breadth (i.e., considering a topic of sufficient specificity for the course to be coherent, but over a period of time long enough to ensure that the relevant historical dynamic is clearly visible).

Grading:

There will be both mid-term and final exams that will require short answers and/or brief essays. A 1500-word paper (5 to 6 pages) is also required.

Map Assignment 5%

Research Paper 30%

Mid-term Exam 25%

Final Exam 25%

Attendance 15%

Grading is not on a curve, and no extra credit will be assigned or accepted. Grades will follow a strict percentage scale: 93-100 = A, 90-92 = A-; 87-89 = B+; 83-86 = B; 80-82 = B-; 77-79 = C+; 73-76 = C; 70-72 = C-; 67-69 = D+; 63-66 = D; 60-62 = D-; 0-59 = E. A grade of “Incomplete” will not be considered except in cases of extreme emergencies (death in the family, extreme illness) and will require some sort of documentation. Merely not completing one’s work is not grounds for receiving an Incomplete grade. Please do not hesitate to come see me about any problems concerning the lectures, readings, grades, attendance, or your ability to complete the required work. If you anticipate a potential problem, you must come see me in advance.

Class Schedule

Schedule		Topic	Reading
January	22	Course Overview; Place, Language, History
	24	Film: Shinto: nature, gods and man in Japan	none
	29	Pre-history to Earliest Records	V: 1-18 (ch. 1)
	31	Buddhist Thought & Culture I Map Assignment Due (transmission, Korea, Shōtoku)	V: 19-26
February	5	Buddhism Thought & Culture II (art)	V: 27-42
	7	Confucianism & Taoism	ERes #1
	12	Asuka & Nara Periods	V: 27-47
	14	Heian Period Culture	V: 48-76 (ch. 3)
	19	Winter Break
	21	Winter Break
	26	Transition to Kamakura Period Culture	V: 79-89 (ch. 4)
	28	Medieval Warrior Culture	V: 91-112
March	5	Medieval Drama	V: 113-139
	7	Review Session	ERes #2
	12	Midterm Exam
	14	Paper Information Session	none
	19	Nature-based Culture: tea, painting, gardens	V: 124-139
	26	The Christian Century	V: 140-163 (ch. 6)
	28	Tokugawa Culture I: Genroku period art	V: 164-204 (ch. 7)
April	2	Spring Break
	4	Spring Break
	9	Spring Break
	11	Tokugawa Culture II: Philosophical developments (Neo-Confucianism, Kokugaku, late-Edo hanga)	V: 205-234 (ch. 8)
	16	Meiji Restoration; Meiji & Taisho period culture	V: 235-270 (ch. 9), 271-292
	18	Militarism/Fascism, WWII, the Bomb	V: 295-303
	23	The Occupation & American Influence, Modern Literature I (Kawabata, Mishima). Research Paper Outline Due	V: 304-307; ERes #3
	25	Modern Literature II: Tanizaki, Oe	T: All; V: 307-317, 337-342
	30	Social Change & New Religions	V: 335-337; ERes #4
May	2	Mass Culture (film, manga, anime) Research Papers Due	V: 346-349
	7	Review Session	ERes #5
	16	8:00AM–10:00AM Final Exam