Japan

This advanced level course instructs logical dialogue and conversation about abstract topics through reading, listening, writing, and viewing materials that deal with social themes. The course aims to improve Japanese expression, information analysis, and logical thinking skills through presentations, discussions, and writing. 

Students will learn to read, write and type 160 basic kanji characters. They will become familiar with the basic methods of kanji learning and expand their vocabulary of words that contain kanji.
Eligibility: Those who are learning kanji for the first time and are currently taking a C1 class or have Japanese proficiency of C1 class or above.
Learning Objectives
・Learn the meanings and readings of 160 kanji and words using those kanji.
・Be able to write the 160 kanji vocabulary words with the help of example models.
・Be able to type short sentences containing the 160 kanji on a smartphone or PC.

An exploratory culture course for foreign students, Japanese Culture A offers insights into various aspects of the living culture of Japan. The course comprises of three basic approaches: Discussing certain cultural characteristics of the nation; reading some representative literature and conducting fieldwork at venues of cultural significance. This course examines the interconnection between the history and culture of the Tohoku Region, encompassing the rebuilding efforts from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami to outreach to the rest of the world. 

Students can also enroll in Japanese Culture C; the course contents of both classes alternate between fall and spring semesters. Fall-only students can enroll in one class but may join fieldwork activities of the other class if there are openings available. 

Although the content of this course may be labeled as "modern" art theory, it mainly deals with the first half of the 20th century.  This course examines how art has come to be established in modern times, in relation to the broader cultural and ideological context. The goal of the course is for participants to be able to view not only so-called works of art, but also objects that participants engage with that is inseparable from art. 

This course and its sequel, Econometrics 2, introduce modern econometric techniques. This course mainly focuses on classical regression analysis while Econometrics 2 discusses statistical causal inference. The statistical software R will be used occasionally in the course.  

Students who successfully complete the course will learn (i) the principles of regression analysis and (ii) how to implement regression analysis with R. 

This course teaches theory and policies related to international transactions of goods and services. Lectures will be given on both the positive theory of the international division of labor that analyzes the pattern of international trade and the normative theory of trade-related policies that examines economic effects and welfare implication of government policies.

This course is designed to introduce students to classical and new topics in international trade from theoretical and empirical perspectives. It covers standard and academic materials commonly studied by economists in academia as well as international organizations such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank. After successfully completing this course, students will be able to demonstrate their knowledge of academic studies on international trade.

The persistence and exacerbation of social and economic inequality in the so-called post-colonial, globalized, or post-racial era has renewed scholarly and popular interest in the relationship between racism and capitalism. This course will examine key works of history, criticism, literature, and pop culture to understand this historical and structural relationship in the context of the United States. 
 
Because this is a graduate course, students enrolled in this course should be prepared to spend several hours outside class time each week reading and watching the course material -- on average per week, 50-75 pages of historical/critical work + 150 pages of fiction. 
 

This course introduces students to consumer psychology, an area of psychology that examines how our thoughts, beliefs, feelings, and perceptions affect how and what we purchase. Why do consumers select certain products over others? What makes one partake in impulsive purchasing? Is there any cultural difference in consumer behavior? 

As society becomes global, marketers need to consider global as well as glocal (globally local) strategies. To succeed in globalizing markets, how consumers perceive standardized or customized products and services must be studied. In this course, students are expected to learn about consumers' needs and/or motivations as well as effective approaches to cater to these needs/motivations. 

Two group presentations will be required in this course. 

Note: The courses provided in Spring and Fall are identical and hence students are allowed to register only for the Spring or Fall course, not both. 

Sumi-e is the Japanese traditional art of ink painting.  The art of Sumi-e captures the essence of the subject and expresses emotions on a sheet of paper. Although the subject is the same, emotions are not; thus, everyone can paint the same subject but none of the paintings would look the same.  Students are expected to paint subjects according to a theme given in each class. As a final project, students will choose their subject and showcase their art in a weeklong class exhibition at the end of the semester. The course aims to instruct various ways of expressing different points of view through Sumi-e. 

This course must be taken together with Environmental Economics B. 

Environmental economics is a branch of modern economics that studies economic behaviors of agents that have environmental consequences and thus attempts to help guide future environmental and resource policies. This course is designed to acquaint students with an intermediate level knowledge of the field. 

The course aims to:

1. Establish an understanding of economic principles that guide us in the study of environmental and resource problems --- i.e., Why do environmental and resource issues occur? Do economic incentives matter?
2. Discuss how different policy instruments, such as emissions taxes, green subsidies, and cap-and-trade programs, work differently under different situations.
3. Provide key topics, tools, and models of interest to environmental practitioners.