Japan

The course aims to find solutions to problems using computer languages. Students learn how to solve a problem, and how to design and implement programming, including the implementation. The lectures use the 'C' language. 

'C++', 'Java', 'Python' and 'JavaScript' are introduced in the course. 

This course covers basic grammar and vocabulary needed for everyday life and attending university classes in Japan, learning reading and writing skills.

Eligibility: A2.1 level in the CEFR/JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education (N4 in the JLPT). 

Learning Objectives: A2.2 level in the CEFR/JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education Review. The expressions/sentence structures learned at the basic level (A1-A2.1); learn new expressions/sentence structures, and when, where, and how to use them, to achieve the below goals:  

・ Comprehend texts on every day, specific, familiar topics (reading). 

・ Writing concise texts about events, past activities, and personal experiences using simple conjunctions to connect ideas (soshite, shikashi, nazenara, etc.) (writing). 

Through collaborative learning between Japanese and foreign students, this course provides unique aspects of Japanese language and culture from contrastive views. By actively participating in discussions with students from diverse cultural backgrounds, one will deepen their understanding of Japanese language and culture, developing an appreciation of other cultures. In this class, students  will plan and carry out student-led seminars on the theme of how Japanese culture is reflected in the language.

Eligibility A2.2 level in the CEFR/JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education (N3 in the JLPT) 

Learning Objectives 

1. Through collaborative learning between foreign exchange students and Japanese students, enhance one's cross-cultural communication skills, explanatory skills and team building skills.  

2. By discussing some unusual aspects of Japanese language and culture from a contrastive point of view, deepen one's understanding of how Japan’s culture is reflected in its language and develop an appreciation of cultural diversity. 

3. By planning and actively participating in student-led seminars, gain collaborative skills through peer learning. 

Through this physical activity course, students learn about Aikido from the martial arts perspective. The course instructs on mastering basic Aikido techniques while providing insight into Japanese traditional culture and way of thinking. 

This course focuses on the rise of the earth and life sciences as independent, professional disciplines during the modern period, along with ways in which these sciences were developed in industry to produce new technologies. During this period, practitioners in these fields managed to establish their sciences as indispensable to the industrialized nation state, invested with both economic and social capital and productive of significant results, both theoretical and practical. The course traces the development of the earth and life sciences from the Enlightenment period to the development of genetic biotechnologies.

This is a companion course to History of Modern Physical Sciences.

This course approaches media and popular culture as a dynamic field of production, consumption, and contestation. After an initial phase of understanding forms of popular culture, the focus is put primarily on case studies from Japan, along with some comparative examples. This coures examines historical and contemporary meaning-making processes in context, introducing academic vocabulary and approaches while providing tools to examine popular culture and media.  There will also be in-class screenings. By the end of the term, students should be able to think cross-culturally, critically, and collaboratively about not only media and popular culture but also everyday life and the world in which we live.

Students will learn kanji and vocabulary necessary to read and write texts such as reports and academic articles by doing practical exercises. 

Eligibility: A2.2 level in the CEFR/JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education (N3 in the JLPT). 

Learning Objectives: 

・ Acquire a wide vocabulary and read texts containing frequently used common expressions.

・ Read specialized articles outside of one's own field using a dictionary.

・ Write messages explaining questions or problems.

・ Use appropriate kanji in e-mail, reports, and presentations.

This course discusses politics, society, and culture through the history of the United States, focusing on the socially vulnerable in US. history. The course aims to see the United States from a broader perspective as well as multiple angles.

This is an introductory course to security studies. The first three weeks of the course provides an overview of the core theoretical models and research questions in security studies, and core actors in this field, such as state intelligence services, alliances, and regional organizations. The course then analyzes some of the most critical security challenges the world has faced in 2024:  cybersecurity, environmental change, global migration, energy security, and global health and epidemics such as COVID-19 or SARS. 

This course will be offered as a companion course to JAPANESE BUDDHISM AND SOCIAL SUFFERING by the same instructor in the second half of the semester. You do not have to take both courses, but it is recommended to do so for a fuller understanding. Buddhism is the largest indigenous religion of Asia and has ancient roots in every country in the region, including majority Muslim ones like Bangladesh and Indonesia. However, in the contemporary age, it is in crisis, principally from the way economic and scientific modernity challenges its worldview and values. Buddhist institutions throughout the region have been responding to this crisis in variety of ways from nationalistic chauvinism, to market and technologically savvy new Buddhist organizations, and also progressive social action movements known as Socially Engaged Buddhism. This course will look at these different responses and attempts by Buddhism to remain relevant in the dynamic social landscape of contemporary Asia, while offering numerous case studies familiar to the instructor’s 25 years of experience throughout the region.