Japan

This is a beginning elementary Japanese course. The purpose of this course is to develop basic knowledge of spoken Japanese to effectively communicate in everyday situations. Students acquire essential grammar, basic vocabulary, Hiragana, Katakana, and a total of 55 kanji. Although emphasis is placed on pronunciation, speaking, and listening, attention is also given to reading and writing. In addition, the course introduces general knowledge of the Japanese people and their culture.

Opera is derived from the Latin word 'Opus,' which has been developed in Italy in the past 400 years. This course outlines the history of Opera and traces how it developed; the goal of the course is to differentiate and understand between what is music and what is opera. In addition, students will be introduced to different cultures between western opera based on the Belcanto method and its oriental traditional arts.

Language and our thinking capacity are closely related. This course explores the ways in which language shapes; assists, or hinders our thinking. Mastering one of the main cognitive tools in our possession means mastering our own linguistic minds. 

The purpose of this course is for students to learn about Japanese communication behaviors and culture, using a comparative approach with other cultures. Students are to learn through their own experiences--very interactive and practical.

Students will also learn intercultural communication and get to practice communication cross-culturally.

The course aims to:
1, Provide knowledge about Japanese communication behaviors, and increase students’ appreciation toward Japanese culture. Students will also come to understand how Japanese communication behaviors are greatly influenced by Japanese values.
2, Compare different cultures of the other foreign students through peer discussion.
3, Apply student learning in real life.

This course surveys realism and formalism in cinema by focusing on key realist and formalist texts; leading formalist and realist filmmakers, and major realist film-making movements. The course introduces film theories and the philosophical debate between realism and formalism. The course focuses on theoretical investigation, but examines realist and formalist theories by closely observing films to which such theories are applied. 

Two teachers, Takagishi and Paie, teach this course in an omnibus format.　
　
In Takagishi's classes, "Japanese culture around me," "pop culture," and "language" are the main pillars. "Festivals and events in Kyoto" as "Japanese culture around me", "The founding spirit of Doshisha" while tracing the life of Jo Niijima, the founder of Doshisha, "Japanese kimono culture" to learn about the history and patterns of kimono ” is discussed. "Pop culture" deals with "Japanese manga/anime" that considers Japan's manga and anime culture, and "Japan's popular songs" that traces the history of popular songs from the postwar era to the present. By studying the Kansai dialect and young people's language, which are used in the city and on campus as "languages," students will notice the differences from the standard language; learn about the mechanism of young people's words and the way of thinking of young people in Japan. By learning the various aspects of Japanese culture mentioned above, the course aims to deepen understanding of modern Japanese culture.　
 

In Paie's classes, the class revolves around Shinto and Zen Buddhism, which are the background of the Japanese way of thinking and spirituality and learn them as one of the entrances to those cultures. The course instructs on the Shinto religion – its origin, relationship with Japanese lifestyle, and tradition of festivals as its characteristics. In addition, the course connects Shinto and the martial arts, teaching Sumo and Aikido as Shinto martial arts. Next, the class provides an overview of Japanese Zen Buddhism and its culture: the history and thought of Zen words and Zen paintings. Students will be exposed to a zen experience with a priest from Rinzai, and learn the characteristics of Japanese culture through these experiences.

Target Students: Those who have partially completed elementary level studies.

Course Goals: To master the grammatical expressions learnt at the elementary level, as well as to develop understanding and command of upper elementary and intermediate level grammar and to improve the four skills of reading, listening, speaking and writing. To master the 2,000 basic words and 500 basic Chinese characters.

Contents: Mastering the elementary level grammar and developing understanding and command of grammar using an upper elementary level textbook, followed by introduction of basic sentence patterns of the intermediate level using an intermediate level textbook. Improving the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing through various class activities designed for developing each skill. Mastering the 2,000 basic words and 500 basic Chinese characters.

Thomas Friedman predicted in his famous book “The World is Flat” that the advancement of IT would blur the borders and boundaries on this planet so everyone in the world, wherever they are and whatever they do, would be locked into the global supply chain and therefore the global competition, whether they like it or not.

His prediction seems accurate in that now everyone is a part of a so-called globalized economy. Business processes are being standardized across borders, and people have begun to speak a common language, i.e., English. The world would be a much more homogeneous place if globalization continued at this pace.
 

But are we really living in such a monotonous world? Despite globalization, our life, both professional and private, is full of surprises, discoveries, misunderstandings, and even conflicts, arising from cultural differences worldwide. This is partly because globalization has brought in more participants than ever to the world arena, and each participant behaves upon the values of their own home culture. Indeed, there are a variety of cultures in play in this seemingly globalized world.
 

This course tries to address the issue of globalization in two aspects: 1) English as a Lingua Franca, and 2) cultural diversity. The first half of the course examines how the business world is linked by the global common language, i.e., English, from a standpoint slightly different to the traditional one. In the second half, the course explores the world as a culturally diverse place, that will hardly cease to exist in the coming future.

From the Meiji period onward, literature may be read as double translation of Western modernity and pre-Meiji cultural forms. Literary translation plays a central role in the construction of modern Japanese language and modern national literature. This course considers relations among language, culture, gender, race and ethnicity, power, nation and empire. The class is designed to give a greater understanding of Japanese history, Japanese literature, and postcolonial and gender theory, and to rethink institutions and systems of knowledge created within modernity. 

This course is the first series in intermediate corporate financial management and aims to develop an understanding of the concepts, processes, and tools implemented in a business enterprise for financial management. The course covers: (i) introduction of finance; (ii) financial statement analysis; (iii) time value of money; (iv) portfolio selection: concepts of risks and returns and the capital asset pricing model (CAPM); (v) financing decisions, and (vi) capital budgeting decisions. This course is designed to be paired with “Intermediate Course in Finance” offered in Winter quarter.