Japan

This course focuses on acquiring the ability to speak using grammar and vocabulary at the low- intermediate level. The course instructs on:

• Listening and understanding of a topic and relationship between two speakers;
• Understanding the intention behind indirect language;
• Understanding the difference between how to speak in formal and casual situations;
• Summarizing main points after listening to a long talk; and,
• Researching and conducting a presentation on a topic of interest. 

This course introduces contemporary Sino-Japanese relations, enhancing one's understanding of the dynamics between the two countries over the decades. The course first presents the broad view of bilateral relations and its structure within the historical perspective, and then examines more thoroughly the key issues in China-Japan relations. The course wraps up with a view at China-Japan relations in the regional perspective. 

Classes are organized as interactive lectures. One or two sessions in the course are dedicated to a debate simulation on a territorial dispute between China and Japan.

Through movies and other visual materials, this course examines important issues in modern society from a cross-disciplinary perspective. Each lecture features guest speakers who work in the field of making films, videos, and broadcasting. The course reviews specific production methods and a future vision of movies in class discussions. 

This advanced Japanese course is designed to teach more advanced grammar patterns. A theme concerning Japanese culture and society is chosen for each course and students are split into groups to engage in activities, discussion, and group work concerning the selected topic. The goal of the class is for students to widen their perspectives and deepen their knowledge regarding various issues related to Japan and Japanese society. The program offers various theme courses and students may take multiple sections.

This course examines the approaches and policies adopted by Middle Eastern countries in the pursuit of economic and social development, and the theories developed by scholars to explain the region’s political economies and its problems with development. The course includes details on the historical trajectories of Middle Eastern economies and political systems, from the post-independence state-led period, through the impacts of the 1970s oil boom, attempts at economic liberalization, the impacts of globalization and technological change, and the aftermath of the post-2011 Arab uprisings. Using case studies from the Arab world as well as Israel and Iran, the course introduces key theories of political economy as they have been applied to the Middle East including: modernization theory, dependency theory, rentier state theory, liberalism and neoliberalism, and Islamic economic ideas. Economic development in the region has been tortuous and uneven, hobbled as much by non-economic factors as by economic ones. 

This course provides a detailed examination of the various conflicts that have beset Iraq since 1980, covering the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War; the 1990-91 Gulf War; the 2003 war; the post-2003 civil war, and the conflict with the so-called Islamic State (ISIS). The aim is to examine these conflicts holistically, considering not only their military and political dimensions – absolutely central as these are to an understanding of Iraq's modern history and politics – but also to look at the economic sources and impacts of the conflict, the social and religious dynamics, and the regional setting and implications of them. The course broadly follows a chronological line in looking at these conflicts, since to a large extent these conflicts stem from previous ones, but the discussion and analysis is also interspersed with theoretical discussions about conflict and with the examination of films, documentaries, and other audiovisual narratives about modern Iraq.

This course seeks to understand psychological knowledge and ways of thinking related to educational settings. It instructs on basic theories and phenomena in developmental psychology, learning psychology, cognitive psychology, clinical psychology, etc., in relation to issues facing school education.

This course covers basic abilities in simple conversation and reading/writing needed for everyday life in Japan. 

Eligibility: A1 level in the CEFR/JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education (N5 in the JLPT).  

Learning Objectives: A2.1 level in the CEFR/JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education.

 ・ Talk about familiar topics, express what one wants to express, and interact with others using known expressions.

 ・ Increase the number of expressions one can use by modifying expressions and combinations one already knows.

 ・ Combine simple sentences and phrases to write about familiar topics. 

Since ancient times, people have traveled to sacred places in search of sacred power, listened to the legends of these places and the miraculous experiences of the gods and Buddha. Particularly in the Middle Ages, engi-e, paintings of the origins and history of a temple or shrine, which glorified miraculous experiences and visualized the stories of the gods and Buddha; and pilgrimage mandalas, which skillfully depicted the past and present of sacred places, were actively produced, and were sometimes displayed in front of people. This course discusses religious paintings such as engi-e and pilgrimage mandalas, as well as related stories and legends, to decipher the beliefs in sacred places and the stories that support them. The course aims to acquire the ability to read narrative pictures while exploring the origins of power spots that attract even modern people and the spiritual culture of the Japanese people, and examining methods of picturing sacred places and the specific aspects of faith.

This course covers the field of life science that describes underlying molecular genetic mechanisms by which biological traits are generated in life and are inherited throughout generations. It includes topics such as the genome, genes, control of gene expression and DNA replication that contribute to generation of biological traits in an organism and their inheritance throughout generations. The course also includes how research in recent genetics or molecular biology is performed, introducing recently developed techniques that rapidly advanced our knowledge of this field of study.