Japan

This course provides the opportunity for students to listen and speak elementary level Japanese (A2 level in JF Standard or CEFR), while practicing conversation and presentation. The course covers topics such as family, seasons, weather, town, outings, foreign countries, health, etc., with the purpose of comprehending sentences and commonly used expressions relevant to immediate needs and engage in basic and routine communication tasks.
 

For efficient improvement of Japanese ability, it is recommended to enroll in "Japanese 1 (Grammar II)-51" simultaneously.
 

This course covers the first half of the A2 level; the latter half of the A2 level is covered in the next semester. 

Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering II refers to any technological applications of chemical and biological systems, such as biomolecules and environmental materials to make or modify products or green processes for specific purposes. This class focuses on biomaterials, biomedical engineering, membrane transport, protein engineering, environmentally benign materials and reactions, biomass conversion, fluid dynamics, green process and industrial processes. Basic aspects of engineering for biotechnology, biological and environmental materials will be discussed.

Knowledge of organic chemistry and biochemistry is required for this course.

This course is designed for students who are planning to take the Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level N2. Students enhance their understanding of grammar and sentence patterns and improve their reading and listening skills necessary to pass the N2 test. Mock exams are held at the beginning of the semester and immediately before the exam date so that students can grasp their own Japanese language ability and become familiar with the format of the test. In addition, mock exercises are held in each area: "characters and vocabulary," "grammar," "reading comprehension," and "listening comprehension."

The course provides a strong foundation in Japanese not only to pass the proficiency test but also to develop well-balanced listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. 

Note: Intermediate Japanese language levels at the host university are comparable to UC upper-division language courses.

This class provides students with the necessary kanji and vocabulary to read books and newspaper articles as well as read and write reports and academic papers. The course aims to increase their comprehensive vocabulary and reading skills by converting this vocabulary into spoken language. 

Eligibility: B1 level in the CEFR/JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education (N2 in the JLPT). 

Learning Objectives:

• Acquire a wide vocabulary and read texts containing frequently used common expressions.
• Convert between spoken and written language, and use each as appropriate to the situation.
• Recognize kanji and vocabulary when spoken during lectures and classes.

This course is designed to understand the rationale and the most important rules in patent law, trademark law and copyright law, mostly focusing on US and EU law. It focuses on understanding how to identify and analyze statutory law and most relevant case law pertaining to most pressing issues in patent, trademark and copyright law.

This advanced Japanese course is designed to improve writing skills, particularly writing a life story based on interviews.  The course also provides opportunities for writing, reading and speaking, thus facilitating the process of reflection towards the past and future in writing one's own life story. 

This course provides a broad overview of the many topics in psychology: evolutionary, developmental, personality, cognitive, and social psychology. By the end of this course, students are expected to: (1) Understand psychological concepts, theories, and research methods and (2) Understand the relationship between psychological findings and everyday life.

This course discusses the oldest work in Western Literature, the Iliad, focusing on its historical and cultural background. It then examines the themes and the poetic techniques of early Greek heroic epics. 

This course explores Japanese culture by introducing the origins of modern Japanese society and enhancing students' understanding of the mentality of the Japanese people. This course operates under the assumption that understanding local culture is an important first step in becoming a global citizen, and thus focuses on the traditional culture of Miyagi prefecture. The course discovers and discusses several concepts related to Japanese culture and then analyzes Suzume Odori (Sparrow Dance). Students will also learn how to dance the Suzume Odori through classes and videos.

By the end of the course, students are expected to:
1) Describe what occurs in the Suzume Odori and the Sendai Aoba Festival.
2) Discuss modern Japanese society through Japanese cultural concepts.
3) Analyze the Suzume Odori using these concepts.

This class discusses the international environmental regimes (international regimes: sets of implicit or explicit principles, norms, rules, and decision-making procedures around which actors’ expectations converge in a given area of international relations (Krasner, 1983)) and related challenges, including policy-making procedures, the role of actors (international organizations, governments, the scientific community, industry, and non-governmental organizations) which influenced that policy-making, by explaining various international environmental conventions and frameworks under the United Nations.

This course explains governance issues such as the international environmental regimes and the interactions among related international conventions and institutions; multi-level governance (international, national, and local, etc.), and the fragmentation and cohesion of governance. In addition, this course explains theories and analytical frameworks, including transnational governance, which focuses on non-state actors (e.g., cities, non-governmental organizations, and companies); transition management focused on societal systems transformations, and governance related to equity between developed and developing countries.