JPNS 1012 - Introduction to Japanese Civilization
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2025
An interdisciplinary introduction to the cultural history of peoples of the Japanese archipelago from prehistory to the present through the exploration of literature, material life, art forms, politics, religious practices, and intellectual currents. Taught in English; no prior knowledge of Japanese language, culture, or history is necessary or expected.
JPNS 1051 - Portals to Japanese Literature
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2025
Surveys Japanese thought and culture through careful reading and discussion of selected significant works of Japanese literature in translation. Texts may include works of poetry, fiction, drama, diaries, and essays, from ancient times to the present. Taught in English.
JPNS 2441 - Japanese Culture through Film and Anime
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2024 / Fall 2025
Examines 20th century Japanese culture through cinematic and animated films. Studies films by Ozu, Kurosawa, Mizoguchi, and contemporary animators Tezuka, Miyazaki, and Kon Satoshi. Considers cultural issues raised in film and anime in light of modern Japanese history and literature. Requires no knowledge of Japanese. Taught in English.
JPNS 3321 - Japanese Sci-Fi and Speculative Fiction
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2026
Examines the genres of fantasy and sci-fi across Japanese media, including literature, film, anime, and manga. We will consider what the Japanese speculative imagination about different worlds can teach us, and consider subgenres of cyberpunk, space opera, mythological fantasy, cli-fi, and feminist speculation. Taught in English.
JPNS 3851 - Japanese Popular Culture
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2024
Introduces aspects of Japanese popular culture from the early 1990s economic collapse until the present through a variety of artistic mediums including manga, anime, literature, live-action cinema, video gaming, music, and the visual arts. Taught in English.
JPNS 5810 - Modern Japanese Literature
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2026
Studies selected texts in Japanese literature from the Meiji Restoration (1868) to the end of the Pacific War. Surveys various literary genres, emphasizing the development of the modern novel as an aspect of Japan's response to Western cultural forms. The unique cultural politics of each of the periods (Meiji,Taisho, and Showa) are illuminated through the filter of both canonical and more marginalized texts. Specific selections vary from year to year. May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours.
JPNS 5820 - Contemporary Japanese Literature
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2025
Covers developments in Japanese prose fiction and/or other literary genres from the end of the Pacific War in 1945 to the present. May be repeated up to 6 total credit hours.
