University Bulletin (2021-2022)

Hisae Fujiwara, Director and Undergraduate Advising Head for the Japanese Language Program
(German, Russian, and Asian Languages and Literature)

Matthew Fraleigh, Chair of the Comparative Literature and Culture Program and Director of Graduate Studies for the Master of Arts Program in Comparative Humanities
(German, Russian, and Asian Languages and Literature)

Yukimi Nakano
(German, Russian, and Asian Languages and Literature)

JAPN 10a Beginning Japanese
Meets four days per week for a total of four class hours per week and one half-hour tutoring session per week.
Intended for students with little or no previous knowledge of Japanese. This course offers intensive training in the basics of Japanese grammar, listening comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing. Students acquire Japanese language proficiency through various interactive classroom activities, workbook, audio, video, and computer-assisted exercises. Usually offered every fall.
Hisae Fujiwara

JAPN 20b Continuing Japanese
Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in JAPN 10a or the equivalent. Meets four days per week for a total of four class hours per week and one half-hour tutoring session per week.
Continuation of JAPN 10a. Further development of the basics of Japanese grammar, listening comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing. Students acquire Japanese language proficiency through various interactive classroom activities, workbook, audio, video, writing essays, and computer-assisted exercises. Usually offered every spring.
Hisae Fujiwara

JAPN 30a Intermediate Japanese
[ fl ]
Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in JAPN 20b or the equivalent. Meets four days per week for a total of four class hours per week and one half-hour tutoring session per week.
Continuation of JAPN 20b. This course aims to further develop a student's four language skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing Japanese through various classroom activities, workbook, audio, video, and writing essays. Usually offered every fall.
Yukimi Nakano

JAPN 40b Advanced Intermediate Japanese
[ fl hum oc ]
Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in JAPN 30a or the equivalent. Meets four days per week for a total of four class hours per week and one half-hour tutoring session per week.
Continuation of JAPN 30a. Further refining of a student's four language skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing Japanese through various classroom activities, workbook, audio, video, and writing essays. Usually offered every spring.
Yukimi Nakano

JAPN 98a Readings in Japanese
May be taken only with the permission of the Chair or the Undergraduate Advising Head.
Readings and reports under faculty supervision. Usually offered every year.
Staff

JAPN 98b Readings in Japanese
May be taken only with the permission of the Chair or the Undergraduate Advising Head.
Readings and reports under faculty supervision. Usually offered every year.
Staff

JAPN 105a Advanced Conversation and Composition I
[ fl hum oc wi ]
Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in JAPN 40b or the equivalent. Four class hours per week.
Continuation of JAPN 40b. For advanced students of Japanese who wish to enhance and improve their speaking proficiency as well as reading and writing skills. Students will develop their proficiency in reading and speaking through texts, films, videos and discussions on current issues on Japanese society. Various forms of writing will be assigned to improve students' writing skills. Usually offered every year.
Yukimi Nakano

JAPN 105b Advanced Conversation and Composition II
[ fl hum oc wi ]
Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in JAPN 105a or the equivalent. Four class hours per week.
Continuation of JAPN 105a. For advanced students of Japanese who wish to enhance and improve their speaking proficiency as well as reading and writing skills. Students will develop their proficiency in reading and speaking through texts, films, videos and discussions on current issues on Japanese society. Various forms of writing will be assigned to improve students' writing skills. Usually offered every year.
Yukimi Nakano

JAPN 120a Topics in Contemporary Japanese Culture and Society
[ fl hum nw oc wi ]
Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in JAPN 105b or the equivalent.
Provides advanced students of Japanese an opportunity to develop reading and writing skills through class discussion, presentation, group work and writing in different genres as a preparation for further advanced studies in Japanese. Familiarizes students with different facets of contemporary Japanese culture and society. Readings are supplemented by films and related visual materials. Usually offered every fall.
Hisae Fujiwara

JAPN 120b Readings in Modern Japanese Literature
[ fl hum nw oc wi ]
Prerequisite: JAPN 120a or the equivalent.
Students read, analyze, discuss, and write about Japanese short fiction by a wide range of modern and contemporary authors. Screening of film adaptations and television programs complement class discussion, which is conducted in Japanese. Usually offered every year.
Matthew Fraleigh

JAPN 125b Putting Away Childish Things: Coming of Age in Modern Japanese Literature and Film
[ hum nw ]
Explores the ways in which modern Japanese writers and filmmakers have represented childhood, youth, and coming of age. A variety of short stories, novels, and memoirs from the 1890s to the present day are read, and several recent films are also screened. Usually offered every third year.
Matthew Fraleigh

JAPN 130a The Literature of Multicultural Japan
[ djw hum nw ]
"Multicultural" may not be an adjective that many associate with Japan, but as we will find in this class, Japan's modern literary and cinematic tradition is rich with works by and about resident Koreans, Ainu, Okinawans, outcasts, and sexual and other marginalized minorities. Why then does the image of a monocultural Japan remain so resilient? Usually offered every third year.
Matthew Fraleigh

JAPN 135a Screening National Images: Japanese Film and Anime in Global Context
[ hum nw ]
All films and readings are in English.
An introduction to some major directors and works of postwar Japanese film and anime with special attention to such issues as genre, medium, adaptation, narrative, and the circulation of national images in the global setting. Usually offered every third year.
Matthew Fraleigh

JAPN 140a The World of Early Modern Japanese Literature
[ hum nw ]
A survey of the most celebrated works of literature from Japan's early modern period (1600-1868). Explores a wide range of genres, including fiction, travelogues, memoirs, dramatic forms such as the puppet theater and kabuki, as well as poetry in Japanese and Chinese. All readings are available in English translation; Japanese knowledge is not required. Usually offered every third year.
Matthew Fraleigh

JAPN 145a The World of Classical Japanese Literature
[ djw hum nw ]
A survey of some of the most important works of Japanese literature from its origins to the late sixteenth century, including a wide range of genres: fiction, essays, travelogues, poetry, and drama. All readings are in English. Usually offered every third year.
Matthew Fraleigh

JAPN 150a Desire and Morality in Early Modern Japanese Novels
[ hum nw ]
Examines the diverse short fiction of Ihara Saikaku, a seventeenth-century merchant writer from Osaka. Saikaku's novels and short stories insightfully and vividly explore such themes as homosexuality, vengeance, filial piety, jurisprudence, and the nouveau riche. All readings in English. Special one-time offering, spring 2020.
Motoi Katsumata

JAPN 160a Borders and Boundaries in Manga
[ hum nw ]
Manga has grown to be a form of visual narrative that is known around
the world. However, manga were not necessarily written taking readers
worldwide into consideration. Rather, the story and characters were
created within the borders and boundaries of Japanese culture and
society. In this class we will read manga taking a hint from the idea
of “Borders and Boundaries”. Selections have been chosen to include
themes such as the representation of historical subjects, traditional
culture, daily life, women and gender, BL and sexuality, other worlds,
as well as classroom dynamics, club activity, and college life. Special one-time offering, spring 2020.
Motoi Katsumata

JAPN 165a The Tale of Genji
[ hum nw oc ]
Often called "the world's first novel," The Tale of Genji has captivated readers with its narrative of love, rivalry, friendship, and loss for centuries. This class explores what has given the text its prominent place in Japanese and world literature. Usually offered every third year.
Matthew Fraleigh