Japanese

This is an omnibus-style course on Japanese culture, featuring lectures and demonstrations on tea ceremony and traditional Japanese musical instruments (Heike biwa, shamisen, sokyoku/Ikuta school).

The tea ceremony is a comprehensive art form in Japan. This course seeks to understand the Japanese spirit behind the tea ceremony, for practice in everyday life.

This course also provides the opportunity for students to experience the charm of Japanese musical instruments and to compose a waka poem.

Is Classical Literature foolish?

Not at all. Love for others is the same today as it was in the past, in the East and in the West. The feeling of cherishing one’s family and friends is the same as the feeling of being moved by the beauty of nature in all four seasons. This course introduces the joys, sorrows, and impressions of the people of the past, while imagining the minds of the ancients, and incorporating classic literary works such as waka poems, stories, and essays. This course also confirms that that spirit has not changed, by introducing appropriate contemporary songs.　

<Level V>
Target Students: Those who have partially completed intermediate level studies.
Course Goals: To develop understanding and command of the 200 important intermediate sentence patterns for further improvement of the four skills of reading, listening, speaking, and writing. To master the 6,000 basic words and 1,000 to 1,200 basic Chinese characters.

<Reading Comprehension A>
Goal: To understand slightly complex passages and sentence structures.
Contents: Reading of upper intermediate level passages on current topics, such as newspaper articles.

This course is intended for students who wish to participate in short- or long-term study abroad. The course addresses how students can actively think about their own goals for study abroad and how to prepare for their experience, by examining trends from a micro- and macro-perspective as well as providing examples of international experiences. In addition, through participatory learning, students will deepen their own thoughts about life and cross-cultural adaptation associated with living, whether studying or working, in a foreign country. By the end of the course, students will consider their study abroad experience as part of their career development. The course features experts in overseas study and training as guests speakers. 

This course considers and seeks to understand contemporary Japanese media culture and urban culture mainly from the perspective of sociology and media theory. Specifically, it examines various cultural texts and phenomena along the themes of "time," "space," and "media." The course aims to enable students to develop the basic ability to examine modern culture.

<Level VII>
Target Students: Those who have completed and mastered intermediate level studies.
Course Goals: To master the 200 important intermediate sentence patterns and develop understanding and command of the 100 important advanced sentence patterns for further improvement of the four skills of reading, listening, speaking, and writing. To master the 10,000 basic words and 2,000 basic Chinese characters.

<Oral Expression B>
Goal: To develop oral expression skills for dialogues such as discussion or debates.
Contents: Conducting discussions and debates on various themes.

This course teaches basketball as a team sport, providing an overview of the communication skills, teamwork, leadership, followership, self-understanding, understanding others, and awareness of one's own body and its movements to play a successful game. Furthermore, this course aims at learning the enjoyment of the sports culture of basketball itself.

This course examines "Eugenics," using the Holocaust under the Nazi regime as a reference. The course traces the history of the end of the 19th century in England, when eugenics was born as an academic discipline, and then examines the history and development of the eugenics movement in the United States. In addition, the course also covers unique eugenics philosophy in Japan and current problems in reproductive medicine.

This Japanese language course is designed for students who have completed Japanese III at ICU and have mastered basic skills. It is comparable to third and beginning fourth year at UC. The course continues the development of skills in listening, reading, and writing. By the end of the course, students should be able to communicate in intermediate Japanese incorporating fundamental knowledge of Japanese culture.

Japanese art has not been cultivated purely within the country of Japan. As a member of the East Asian cultural sphere, Japan has nurtured art through rich exchanges with China and South Korea from ancient times and the Middle Ages to the early modern period. In modern times, we cannot help but think about the influence of Europe and the United States. What art has Japan selected from the foreign cultures of China, South Korea, and the West, and how has Japan accepted these and transformed them to create its own art? The goal is to understand this while looking at the slides of paintings and designs. Each week the class will write impressions (interpretation, description, evaluation) after viewing artwork.