Doshisha University

This course covers Noh, a traditional Japanese performing art. Noh has been performed for nearly 650 years, from the 14th century during the Muromachi period to the present day. Based on literary works from the 10th and 11th centuries, the plays were created in the 14th century, and its language is more difficult than modern Japanese. However, Noh has continued until today because it has always possessed an appeal that captivates people, and its content is not outdated, depicting universal human emotions and beauty. Furthermore, its expressive techniques are highly sophisticated, the result of many years of refinement.

This course examines the history and culture of education in Japan, emphasizing how human relationships and behavioral patterns influence educational practices. Additionally, it addresses contemporary issues facing Japanese education.

This course is tailored to students' Japanese language proficiency levels and is intended for students who have been assessed as being at levels VI or VII in the Japanese Language and Culture Education Center's placement test. It is conducted in a lecture format and is designed for students who wish to work in Japan in the future. 

The course provides an opportunity to learn about and discuss the customs and important aspects of Japanese business communication, including acquiring the Japanese language skills necessary for business settings and job hunting (honorifics, interjections, useful business expressions, etc.), Japanese business etiquette, an understanding of the latest business trends in Japan, and basic professional skills (problem-solving ability, teamwork). 

 Language topics covered will differ between the spring and fall semesters.　

This course is taught by two instructors - one instructor connects Senryu with Japanese culture. Senryu is a short form of poetry based on the same 5-7-5 syllable structure as the haiku, and has been widely enjoyed in Japan since the Edo period. This course introduces Edo-period senryu, explaining its differences from haiku, and then explores modern senryu. Many of the everyday vocabulary, colloquial expressions, slang, and company jargon found in senryu are not found in Japanese textbooks. 

The second instructor clarifies the characteristics of kami worship (so-called Shinto), Buddhism, the Emperor, festivals, and traditional culture (tea ceremony, flower arrangement, etc.) through history. The course can include field trips to temples, shrines, and festivals to allow the class to experience Japanese culture firsthand and further their understanding.　

This course examines the complex relationships between media and multiple varieties of communities, including national, local, ethnic, and subcultural groups. Through readings from multiple academic fields, the course addresses the media’s potential to change one’s understanding of cultures and how one relates to cultures they see as ‘other,’ as well complicating the divisions between the two. 　 
　 
The first half of the course discusses the role of nations and national cultures in the production, transmission, and consumption of media texts. Then, the course examines the complexities of community in the digital age, focusing on the spread of ideas across national and cultural borders through online participation. 

This course provides fundamental knowledge on microeconomics with policy applications and implications considered. Some rudimentary mathematics (basic mathematical graphs/diagrams) are used, and students are required to understand theories by drawing relevant graphs/diagrams.　
　
Course lectures provide essential notions and theories followed by practical sessions follow. The course also includes several topics on behavioral economics. 
 

This course introduces the well-known natural disasters that occur in Japan: earthquakes, hurricanes, thunderstorms, tornadoes, and floods. The course analyzes how they occur and how governments, organizations and individuals are working together to minimize the harmful impacts on society. 　 

The world faces a variety of identity-based politics that are considered a cause of social divisions today. Ongoing globalization—the process of human movements, networking, and intensifying interconnectivity—has facilitated various interactions, often causing disparities, conflicts, and injustices. At globalization hubs, racially and culturally diversifying populations experienced geographically uneven social transformation. Sometimes, people form “identity” to create “others” as an enemy, and other times, they do so to become “we” to achieve a common goal.  

This course pays special attention to women’s experiences in the United States, a nation known for the diversity of its population. Hoisting the banner of freedom, democracy, and capitalism, the United States engaged in settler colonialism and imperialism through the nineteenth century to lead in shaping the world order and globalization process. The course examines major historical events in their respective socio-historical contexts. By taking local, national, and transnational perspectives, the course explores the complex workings of gender, class, race/ethnicity, ideology, sex, age, etc., in women’s collective power-building and analyze how they affected their identities and society. The course discusses similarities and differences among American, Japanese, and/or societies of class interest, pursuing lessons to be learned from American examples and how this knowledge can better communities today. 

Modern Japanese society is said to have emerged during the Edo period, in the 17th to 19th centuries. This course introduces Japanese society in the Edo period, chronologically, categorically (politics, economy, society, culture, etc.), and historically. Finally, the course touches on the transition from the Edo period to modern times in the 19th to 20th centuries.