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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2013/2014 -
- ARCHIVE as at 1 September 2013 for reference only
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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures : Asian Studies

Postgraduate Course: Key Topics in Japanese Society and Culture (ASST11077)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Literatures, Languages and Cultures CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Course typeStandard AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) Credits20
Home subject areaAsian Studies Other subject areaNone
Course website None Taught in Gaelic?No
Course descriptionThis course will familiarise students with key concepts and topics in Japanese society and culture and function as a systematic introduction to the more specialized option courses. These take up one session or part of a session and develop the subject in greater depth.

After a brief introduction into the general subject of the programme that situates the current state of Japanese society, its culture and the study thereof in a global context, the course moves on to key developments that constituted the Japanese nation and the state as a historical background for the study of its society and culture. The second part of the course is devoted to key concepts and issues in Japanese society, whereas the third part introduces key areas or topical highlights of Japanese culture.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Additional Costs None
Course Delivery Information
Delivery period: 2013/14 Semester 1, Not available to visiting students (SS1) Learn enabled:  Yes Quota:  None
Web Timetable Web Timetable
Course Start Date 16/09/2013
Breakdown of Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Please contact the School directly for a breakdown of Learning and Teaching Activities
Additional Notes
Breakdown of Assessment Methods (Further Info) Please contact the School directly for a breakdown of Assessment Methods
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
1. Students who have completed this course successfully will have:
- Acquired an overview of the key areas and concepts of Japanese society and culture;
- Developed an understanding of the historical background of social and cultural phenomena:
- Gained insight into the conditionality and mutual impact of social and cultural phenomena:
- Understood the global context of Japanese social and cultural phenomena and the impact of Japanese culture production globally
2. Students who have completed this course successfully will be able to:
- Discuss key areas and concepts of Japanese society and culture with competence and analytical skill
- Critically assess sources and documents related to Japanese social and cultural phenomena.
- Present detailed, supported arguments both in oral and written form
- Quickly locate, utilise and critique relevant literature
- Use knowledge acquired from the course to appraise news media and popular discourses on Japanese society and culture
Assessment Information
One 4000 word essay (100%)
Special Arrangements
None
Additional Information
Academic description Not entered
Syllabus 1 Introduction: Japanese society and culture in a globalizing world: convergence and resistance (Zachmann)
2 Constituting Japan I: A Chinese model and the Bakufu alternative (Astley)
3 Constituting Japan II: Ancient past, democratic future (Astley)
4 The concept of freedom and individuality in Japanese state and society (Zachmann)
5 Education, subjectivity and resistance in contemporary Japanese society (Perkins)
6 Traditional performing arts, contemporary culture and the international scene (Parker)
7 Revisiting classical Japan through new media (Matsumoto-Sturt)
8 Terror, theatre and setting society to rights: a case study of Iwasaki Masahiro's A Country Far From Here (Parker)
9 Media mix as a convergence of Japanese popular culture (Matsumoto-Sturt)
10 Japan's pop culture and globalisation (Perkins)
Transferable skills Not entered
Reading list Sugimoto, Y., 2010, An introduction to Japanese Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hendry, J., 2003, Understanding Japanese Society. 3rd ed., London: Routledge.
Sugimoto, Y., ed., 2009, The Cambridge Companion to Modern Japanese Culture. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press.
Martinez, D. P., ed., 1998, The Worlds of Japanese Popular Culture: Gender, Shifting Boundaries and Global Cultures. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Totman, C., 2005, A History of Japan. 2nd ed., Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Publ.
Study Abroad Not entered
Study Pattern Not entered
KeywordsKTJSC
Contacts
Course organiserDr Christopher Perkins
Tel: (0131 6)50 4174
Email: Chris.Perkins@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Sarah Harvey
Tel: (0131 6)51 1822
Email: Sarah.Harvey@ed.ac.uk
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