Japanese Pop-Culture
Course Description:
This course explores post WWII Japanese music, literature, artistic media, and hi-tech products. Investigates social themes ranging from post-holocaust Japanese hedonism to childhood fantasies by looking at Manga comic books, Anime animated movies, and popular music from Enka to J-Pop to Karaoke, as well as fashion and style, popular technology, consumerism, and environmental issues. Explores the evolution of pop culture and its impact on society. Taught in English. This course fulfils GE Area C2 (Humanities). It also counts toward fulfilling MLO2 (culture) for major of Japanese Language and Culture (JLC), and implements Research and Technology (MLO4) which has been infused throughout the JLC Curriculum. This course also counts toward fulfilling the Minor in Japanese Language and Culture or Minor in Japanese Language. The outcome details for GE C2, MLO2, and MLO4 are described in the outcomes section of this syllabus.
Course Reflection:
When I began this course, my familiarity of the Japanese culture was very minimal. The only knowledge that I had pertaining to Japanese pop-culture consisted only of a couple anime shows. However, this course not only introduced me to more pop-culture elements, but it also helped me analize the themes that were incorporated within these elements. For example, in class we discussed themes such as religion, gender roles, and the role that politics plays in pop-culture. One of the apects that interested me the most was the comparison that was made between more modern contemporary culture and the traditional culture. As a result, this course helped me gain a lot of knowledge about a topic that will certainly help me understand the different cultures around me.