University of Nevada, Reno Summer 2014

University of Nevada, Reno Summer 2014

JPN221: JAPAN & ITS CULTURE

COURSE SYLLABUS

Instructor / Office address & contacts / Office Hours
Yoshie Kadowaki / EJCH 235 F
Phone: 682-8886
E-mail: via Web Campus
Use ONLY when WebCampus doesn’t work.) / M-F 12:00-1:00pm
By appointment

TIME:9:00AM- 12:00PM MTWRF

LOCATION:EJCH240M

REQUIRED TEXTS

Roger J. Davies The Japanese Mind

Paul VarleyJapanese Culture

Additional readings on UNR library (e-reserve) and on WebCampus including…

- SHINTO – the Kami Way –

- Japanese Buddhism: a cultural History

- Anthology of Japanese Literature

- A Brief History of Japanese Civilization

- Sources of Japanese Tradition

- Shutting out the Sun

- Modern Japanese Culture

COURSE DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVE

In the new Silver Core, this course will satisfy CO11 Global Contexts: Students will apply and evaluate modes of academic inquiry, creative expression, or results of research to problems in historical and contemporary global contexts. Students will articulate connections among local, national, and international contexts and evaluate the ways that historical and contemporary global influences affect their current situations.

How this course will satisfy this core objective:

This course will explore general aspects of Japanese culture from its historical, sociological, psychological, and philosophical point of view through readings and class discussions. Students will critically reflect on their learning and life experiences by developing an understanding of Japanese history, society, culture, and their viewpoints. Through readings, lectures, and class discussions, students will evaluate the ways that historical and contemporary global influences affect current Japan-U.S. situations.

The Student Learning Outcomes are as follows:

Students will be able to:

demonstrate knowledge of the history, customs, values, and other cultural aspects of Japan and Japanese people, and analyze how they compare to the U.S.

describeand analyze the perceptions, viewpoints, and life experiences of people in Japan.

compare and contrast cultural aspects (including morals, biases, social norms, and world views) of Japan with those of the United States

contextualize current events and experiences in relation to historical and current context between Japan and the U.S.

demonstrate how local and global contexts of ideas or events result in nuanced or conflicting understandings of contemporary and/or historical ideas, events, or experiences

How student learning outcomes related to this core objective will be assessed:

Students will write discussion paper on the readings to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the course materials. Students will also be assessed on their in-class discussion as a discussion leader, and also on quizzes and tests. Students will also produce detailed analysis and reflection on the historical and contemporary life experiences in global context on their final test. In addition, students will perform an oral presentation to demonstrate their knowledge and interpretation on Japanese history, culture, society, etc. Grading rubrics will be provided to ensure the measurability of the assessments, and the instructor will record the result.

ATTENDANCE/PARTICIPATION 10 pts x 15 days = 150pts

Attendance is mandatory, and punctuality is important. Information given at the lectures will not necessarily be found in the materials assigned for reading. If a student misses a class for any reason it is her/his responsibility to get notes for that day from another student in class. Students are expected to finish the reading assignment(s) and be ready for the class discussion before attending each class. Students will be evaluated on a daily basis whether s/he comes to class on time, is prepared, and fully participates in discussion with a positive attitude. If you come to class late, sleep in class, do not participate in discussion, and do not work with others in productive/positive manner, etc, your Attendance/participation points will be lower.

Daily participation grading criteria

Comes to class on time; excellent preparation and participation in group/class discussion by making references to the reading, raising interesting questions and sharing opinions; pays full attention and keeps positive attitude during lectures anddiscussion / 10
Less than 10min late to class; seems well prepared but not as active in discussion; pays full attention and keeps positive attitude in class / 8
More than 10min but less than 20 min late to class, somewhat participates in discussion, but does not display excellent preparedness; pays full attention in class most of the time but not all the time; spends a lot of time chatting about non-related subjects during discussion / 6
More than 20min late but less than an hour late; apparently did not do assigned readings; poor participation in discussion; does not pay attention in class, shows negative attitude in class (i.e. disruptive; disrespectful) / 4
Absent; more than an hour late to class; sleeping in class; did not do assigned readings and does not participate in discussion at all; study other class materials during lecture/discussion; engages in non-class related activities such as using cell phone, texting, playing games, listening to music, and surfing online, etc. / 0

DISCUSSION LEADER 100pts x 2 = 200pts

In order to demonstrate your knowledge of the history and variety of cultural aspects from the reading, you will lead small-group discussions as a discussion leader twice this. You will also submita 1½ page (single-spaced) discussion paper on 3 concepts/figures/events that you found important/interestingfrom the assigned reading. The paper is due by the day you are assigned to be the discussion leader and it needs to be submitted via WebCampus Assignment. Please organize your paper in the following format:

1. “Title/name of the second concept”

A)Short (2-3 sentences) summary of the concept

B)Reason(s) why you find it interesting, how it compares to the U.S., how it confirmed/changed your prior knowledge

C)1-2 question(s) to raise to your group to discuss

1. “Title/name of the second concept”

A)Short (2-3 sentences) summary of the concept

B)Reason(s) why you find it interesting, how it compares to the U.S., how it confirmed/changed your prior knowledge

C)1-2 question(s) to raise to your group to discuss

1. “Title/name of the second concept”

A)Short (2-3 sentences) summary of the concept

B)Reason(s) why you find it interesting, how it compares to the U.S., how it confirmed/changed your prior knowledge

C)1-2 question(s) to raise to your group to discuss

Each section (1~3) should be total of ½ page in length (single-spaced).

My discussion leader days are....

1. Date: ______Assigned readings/video:______

2. Date: ______Assigned readings/video:______

In class, you will first share your thoughts about the reading, including the 3 concepts/figures/events that you thought were important and why you chose them. For each concept, you will raise the questions that you prepared and lead the discussion in your group. You should come up with thought-provoking questions rather than questions to simply test your group’s knowledge from the reading. Also ask other students’ opinion on other concepts in the reading that they found interesting/important. Each discussion leader will be responsible for sharing what your group discussed to the whole class. See WebCampus for the grading rubric.

DAILY WEBCAMPUS QUIZZES 5 pts x 23 = 115pts

There will be daily quizzes on WebCampusto evaluate your knowledge of the assigned reading. Each quiz will expire an hour before the class that the readings are assigned.

TEST 150pts x 2 = 300pts

There will be one mid-term test that you will take on WebCampus, and one take-home essay/test at the end of the term to evaluate your knowledge and analysis of the information you learned in this class. Students must submit their essay via Assignment on WebCampus. No late submission will be accepted.

PAPER (100pts) PRESENTATION (50pts) 100pts + 50pts = 150pts

Each student is going to choose a topic from the list below. Each topic should have 2-3 students to form a group. You will choose a subtopic within your group topic, and you will be responsible to research on the subtopic of your choice.

Each of you will...

1) write a 3 page research paper (double-spaced) on the assigned subtopic. Submit your paper and PPT slides (or alternative) via WebCampus Assignment by June 6th before class.

2) create a PPT presentation to put all of your information together and submit it to the instructor via WebCampus Assignment.

As a group, you will...

3) combine all of your PPT presentations and create one presentation. You will do an in-class presentation as a group on June 6th (Friday), but you will be mostly graded individually based on the quality of your part of the presentation (5-6 min each = 15 min~20 min/group).

Possible students’ Paper/Presentation topics

- Movie History in Japan

- History of Animation

- History of Japanese Music

- Traditional Music Instruments (shamisen, shakuhachi, koto, taiko)

- Technology (originated in Japan, used uniquely in Japan, etc)

- Discrimination in Japan (Buraku, Ainu, Okinawan, Chinese/Korean communities)

- Women in Japan

- Sports (baseball, marathon, kakutoogi)

- Do- Sports (Kendo, Judo, Aikido, Kyudo, Iaido, Karate)

- Political system

- Japanese folk tales & ghost stories

- Crimes in Japan

- Architecture

- Arts in Japan

EXTRA BOOK REVIEW 20pts MOVIE REVIEW 15pts

Choose one Japanese literature and write one-page (font 12, single-spaced). You must submit the title of the book by the end of the first week, and get an approval. Write one-page (font 12, single-spaced).

Your review(s) should include:

1. Overall evaluation of the book (rate 1 not good – 5 very good) – this should be the first thing you write on your review.

2. Summary of the story, which describes main characters, setting, and a brief plotline

3. discussion on things you found interesting in the book, examples from the book that reflect Japanese cultural aspects/values that we discussed in class, and your opinion whether or not you recommend the book you reviewed and clear reasons why. Keep in mind your audience here are students who wish to learn about Japan and Japanese culture and you are supposed to evaluate the book/movie based on that viewpoint instead of how entertaining they are. DUE: 5/30 (F)

GRADE

Final grades will be assigned as follows:

100-93 / 92-90% / 89-86% / 85-83% / 82-80% / 79-76% / 75-73% / 72-70% / 69-66% / 65-63% / 62-60% / <59%
A(4.0) / A-(3.7) / B+(3.3) / B(3) / B-(2.7) / C+(2.3) / C(2) / C-(1.7) / D+(1.3) / D(1) / D-(0.7) / F (0)

Attendance/Participation150 pts

Discussion Leader200 pts

Daily Online Quiz (23)115 pts

Test (2)300 pts

Paper100 pts

Presentation 50 pts

Total915 pts

Extra credit BOOK REVIEW 20pts

MOVIE REVIEW15pts

FOOD DAY 10pts

REMINDERS

1. Although Japanese language is not required for this course, students may expect to encounter Japanese words or phrases (written in romanization). They will be explained in class when necessary. Students are also expected to recognize them when they appear in the quiz/test.
2. “Incomplete” will be given only for legitimate non-academic reasons (as required by the university policy). Make sure you know the last day to: drop mini-term classes; change from credit to audit; withdraw from the course without a grade being recorded.

Disability Services: Any student with a disability needing academic adjustments or accommodations is requested to speak with me or the Disability Resource Center (Thompson Building Suite 100) as soon as possible to arrange for appropriate accommodations.

Academic Dishonesty: Any form of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated in this class. The minimum penalty for academic dishonesty is an F in the course. See Student Handbook and UNR Catalog for rules about and sanctions for academic dishonesty.

Audio and Video Recording: Surreptitious or covert video-taping of class or unauthorized audio recording of class is prohibited by law and by Board of Regents policy. This class may be videotaped or audio recorded only with the written permission of the instructor. In order to accommodate students with disabilities, some students may have been given permission to record class lectures and discussions. Therefore, students should understand that their comments during class may be recorded.

Tentative Schedule

Day 1 / 5/19 (M) / Syllabus/ Introduction
Introduction (up to Nara Period)
Day 2 / 5/20 (T) / Japanese Mind: Amae, Aimai, Chinmoku
Quiz 1 due before class
Buddhism/Shintoism
Quiz 2 due before class
Day 3 / 5/21 (W) / Heian Period
Quiz 3 due before class
Heian Culture
Quiz 4 due before class
Day 4 / 5/22 (Th) / Kamakura/Muromachi period
Quiz 5 due before class
Surviving Traditional Arts, Literature
Quiz 6 due before class
Day 5 / 5/23 (F) / Gift-giving
Quiz 7 due before class
Azuchi-Momoyama period
Quiz 8 due before class
Presentation/ Paper topic & outline Due
Last day to sign-up for book/ movie review
Day 6 / 5/26 (M) / Memorial Day (No Class)
Day 7 / 5/27 (T) / Edo period
Quiz 9 due before class
Game Day (Traditional games and games in the modern days, Calligraphy, Origami)
Quiz 10 due before class
Day 8 / 5/28 (W) / Edo Culture/ Japanese Traditional Arts
Quiz 11 due before class
Meiji Period
Quiz 12 due before class
Day 9 / 5/29 (Th) / Taisho, Showa period (During war)
Quiz 13 due before class
Japanese Family
Quiz 14 due before class
Day 10 / 5/30 (F) / Showa period (Post-war)
Quiz 15 due before class
Current Social Issues in Japan 1
Quiz 16 due before class
Book review & Movie review Due
Midterm (WebCampus, opens 5/31 12:00 and closes 6/3 8:00am)
Day 11 / 6/2 (M) / Food, Etiquette, gestures
Quiz 17 due before class
Education system in Japan
Quiz 18 due before class
Day 12 / 6/3 (T) / Sports in Japan
Quiz 19 due before class
Japanese Language
Quiz 20 due before class
Day 13 / 6/4 (W) / Current Social Issues in Japan 2
Quiz 21 due before class
Ceremony: Funeral, Wedding
Quiz 22 due before class
Day 14 / 6/5 (Th) / Pop-culture (pop-music, manga, anime, game)
Quiz 23 due before class
Japanese Entertainment
Quiz 24 due before class
Day 15 / 6/6 (F) / Presentation + Japanese Food Day
Presentation Paper & Powerpoint slide due before class
Final Exam Due by 5:00 pm