Fall Semester, 2002

Course Title: AKP-Doshisha Joint Seminar

Susan Pavloska, Doshisha University
Nobuo Ogawa, AKP Resident Director

The Joint Seminar represents a unique opportunity to explore issues in comparative culture in a class that is comprised of both AKP students and regular Doshisha students. The focus of the Seminar in the fall of 2002 will be to compare and contrast Japanese and American culture and society. Students will be asked to formulate and test conceptual models of both societies through the use of interdisciplinary materials drawn from the fields of sociology, anthropology, history, and political science. The class format will include lectures by the instructors, film, discussion groups, joint projects, and a series of guest lectures by Japanese and foreign experts from the Kyoto environs who will address various aspects of American and Japanese culture from a multi-disciplinary perspective.

Culture and Cognition: A Psychological Exploration of Mind and Culture

Barbara K. Hofer, Assistant Professor, Psychology Department, Middlebury College

The values and commitments of our cultural environment can shapes ways of knowing, habits of thought, sense of self, and other psychological processes. Through readings, class discussion, films, experiential activities, and guest speakers from the Kansai area, we will explore how culture and cognition are mutually constituted. We will focus on examples of high contrast, particularly "western" and "eastern" perspectives, and especially those that compare Japanese and U.S. psychological perspectives. The goal of this course is to develop a broader understanding of multiples ways of viewing human reasoning, sense of self, and the social interactions that result. Although the primary reading material will be from psychology, the course will also draw on material from anthropology and sociology. Students will also be exposed to both quantitative and qualitative research in social sciences and will learn to read and critique empirical research.

Issues in Japanese Religion

T. James Kodera, Professor of Religion, Wellesley College, The Bardwell Smith Visiting Faculty Fellow

This course examines critically some of the pivotal issues in the history of Japanese religion. Examples are drawn from Shinto, Buddhism, Confucianism and Christianity, and from the earliest to the latest period in Japanese history. The course consists of readings, lectures/discussions, and site visitations.

Course Title: Kyoto: Urban History, Architecture, and Living Culture

Bettina Langner-Teramoto, Kyoto Women's University

Beginning with a historical overview of the development of Kyoto and the resulting city plans, which are based on geomancy, we will learn to recognize the past in the current grid-shaped city structure, and to understand the logic behind the location of major historical sites such as the Imperial Palace and Nijo Castle. The course will be a combination of field trips to prominent buildings in Kyoto and lectures on the historical, cultural and religious background of these buildings, using drawings and English text materials. The course will also focus on certain aspects of Japanese culture and how they influenced specific historical building types. We will also see how these cultural aspects are reflected in the vernacular architecture of homes today. Understanding the historical changes in Japanese architectural culture will help us develop a basis for a comparison with and discussions about the life-styles and cultures of our own native countries.

Spring Semester, 2003

The Literature of Space and Place in The Tale of Genji

Thomas Rohlich, Professor of Japanese, Smith College, The Robert Wood Memorial Visiting Faculty Fellow

The course will study the literature of place and space as depicted in The Tale of Genji, recognized by most as the greatest single work of Japanese literature. The principal text for the course will be Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji, which we will read in its entirety in English translation. While we will discuss both extrinsic and intrinsic elements of the novel, such as historical and social setting, religion, music and related arts, plot, characterization, style, imagery, and such, the main focus of the course will be on the role of place and space in The Tale of Genji.

Since this is a literature class, we will focus primarily on the literary text, but we will take advantage of the unique location to read the geographical text of Kyoto. In a sense the class will have two texts, the written text and the geographical text of Kyoto. the Kyoto of today is a palimpsest with a thousand years of writing covering Murasaki Shikibu's Heiankyo. It will be our challenge, and goal, to scrape through the many layers to see if we can make out traces of her original setting.

The Japanese Language

Nobuo Ogawa, Middlebury College and AKP Resident Director

This course will examine the Japanese language in the following areas: (1) Historical and Geographical Setting, (2) Genetic Relationship, (3) Writing Systems, (4) Dialects, (5) Phonology, (6) Loanwords, (7) Grammar and Syntax. Throughout the duration of the course, we will attempt to analyze the Kyoto dialect from the point of view of phonology, lexicon, grammar and syntax.

Japan and the Environment: Interactions Between Nature and Culture

Aaron Isgar, Kyoto University

What is nature? What is culture? If they are different at all, where do the two meet or overlap? Are the concepts of nature and culture universally consistent or are they dependent on variables of history and location? How do nature and culture affect each other? Recognizing the diversity of individual views, what are some Japanese perspectives on these questions and how have they been shaped? How does this differ from our own perspectives and views common in our own cultures? How do Japanese perspectives influence both the domestic and global environments? This course will seek to explore these questions in order to develop greater understanding of the interactions between nature and culture in both Japan and our home countries.

Postwar Japanese Economy

Yumiko Yamamoto, University of Utah

Japan achieved rapid economic growth after WWII and became the world's second largest economy. Japan, once a predominantly agricultural economy, is a leading exporter of manufacturing goods now. Japan's successful economic development in the post-WWII period was often described as Japan's economic miracle based on factors such as rapid industrialization, low unemployment, and a low inflation rate. What led to Japan's economic miracle? What social and labor structures have helped Japan to achieve such a miracle economically? What is the impact of globalization on management and labor structure in Japan? What are the consequences of the recent economic recession? In this class we will examine the post war Japanese economy from an institutional perspective and by introducing the concepts of class, gender and ethnicity. No prior economics background is necessary.