Spring 2007

ANS 383 • Core Readings in Japanese Studies

Course Description

This seminar is intended to provide a broad examination of major works in Japanese Studies over the past 50 years. The goal of the seminar is to help students in developing a comprehensive and critical understanding of major works that have shaped scholarly perspectives on Japan and have contributed to the development of Japanese Studies within area studies more generally. The course is cross-disciplinary, hence we will read and discuss an extensive list of works in fields such as anthropology, history, political science, and literature. This seminar is required of all students focusing on Japan at the graduate level in the Department of Asian Studies.

Grading Policy

Weekly response papers: 30% Final examination: 70%

Texts

Readings vary, but typically include works such as Chie Nakane's Japanese Society, Takeo Doi's The Anatomy of Self, Theodore Bestors Neighborhood Tokyo, Ronald Dore's Shinohata, Robert Bellah's Tokugawa Religions, Chalmers Johnson's MITI and the Japanese Miracle, TC Smith's The Agrarian Origins of Japan, John Dower's Embracing Defeat, William LaFleur's The Karma of Words, Carol Gluck's Japan's Modern Myths, and Gerald Curtis' The Logic of Japanese Politics.

back