JAPN 215: Cool Japan Today
Course Description:
This course examines contemporary media culture and products as a conceptual lens to focus on Japanese pop culture and soft power in the 21st Century. Manga, Anime, Cinema, literature, performance art, music, and fine arts will all be surveyed with an eye to understanding what exactly is cool and different about Japanese creative work and whether these kinds of cultural exports could become the foundation of a new post-industrial Japanese economy. Taught in English.
Course Narrative:
We learned about many topics within this course ranging from Japanese Geiko and Maiko, Ukiyoe, some history - to more modern topics such as anime/manga, and "kawaii" culture. Each of these topics were viewed through a more artistic lens. Despite this course being an English taught class, the professor kept within authenticty my keeping terms in Japanese when necessary. This course fulfills MLO 2: Culture through examining historic and contemporary traditions, art, and other subcultures. We also went through this course by completing presentations, reflections, and essays while adventuring through the various topics.
This course examines contemporary media culture and products as a conceptual lens to focus on Japanese pop culture and soft power in the 21st Century. Manga, Anime, Cinema, literature, performance art, music, and fine arts will all be surveyed with an eye to understanding what exactly is cool and different about Japanese creative work and whether these kinds of cultural exports could become the foundation of a new post-industrial Japanese economy. Taught in English.
Course Narrative:
We learned about many topics within this course ranging from Japanese Geiko and Maiko, Ukiyoe, some history - to more modern topics such as anime/manga, and "kawaii" culture. Each of these topics were viewed through a more artistic lens. Despite this course being an English taught class, the professor kept within authenticty my keeping terms in Japanese when necessary. This course fulfills MLO 2: Culture through examining historic and contemporary traditions, art, and other subcultures. We also went through this course by completing presentations, reflections, and essays while adventuring through the various topics.