Spring 2006

ANS 302J • Introduction to Japan

Course Description

This course is aimed at exploring culture and behavior of Japanese, with the goal of showing the heterogeneity of Japanese society. We will try to develop an understanding of the complexities of the Japanese experience by looking at concepts, values, social organization, behavior, and sterotypes. Topics such as kinship and family, aging, gender and sex, death, and religion will be our focus, and we will explore these by looking, through ethnographic writing and novels, at daily life in Japan. Film will play an important role in the class. We will combine readings, lectures, films, and novels with critical discussion to think about both ways in which Japanese inhabit and contest cultural frames.

Grading Policy

Two mid-term exams 33.3% ea. Final 33.3%

Texts

Bestor, Theodore, 1989. Neighborhood Tokyo Yoshimoto Banana, 1994. Kitchen (Megan Backus trans.) Osuma, Dazai, 1968. The Setting Sun Hendry, Joy, 1986. Understanding Japanese Society

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