Keio University

The objective of this course is to understand how the roots of Otaku cultural activities in Japan have expanded internationally as one of Simulacra with creators and activists of the fields.  This course shares the history of “Otaku Culture” and its technology in Japan from three perspectives: 1) Potential of expression; 2) Application of digital content technologies, and 3) Breakthrough of “Otaku Culture” influenced by Trans-nationalization and Internationalization.  The course instructs on the creation process of media contents, games, and expressions for the next generation, especially learning and understanding technologies and methods on becoming “Otaku Culture creator and producers.”

This course deals with masterpieces of Japanese visual art from ancient times to the contemporary period. It aims to explain their meaning, expression, material, and technique, guiding students to obtain basic knowledge and skill to appreciate and understand essential works of Japanese art.

This course introduces students to the fundamental theory and practice of the social, political, legal, and ethical implications of computer technologies in Japan and abroad. Through in-class activities, group assignments, and reflection work, students will gain a basic understanding of essential concepts, modern and historical cases, and guidelines for best practice. Key concepts include AI bias; privacy in the social media era; personal data and digital behavior tracking; vectors of misinformation; stereotypes in design, digital inclusion, and more. The main objective is to inform and encourage critical thinking in students who will be playing key roles in deciding, creating, marketing, governing, and disseminating computer technologies in Japan.

Typically, the first class each week will introduce a new topic, with interactive activities (e.g., hands-on demos, brainstorming, quick activities), individual reflection, and group discussion. Students will be given a homework assignment to be completed before the second class that week. That second class will start with a discussion of the homework and introduce the next topic for that week. Students will be expected to complete readings from the text and/or other sources before the next week of classes. Attendance is taken randomly in every class.

The aim of the course is to learn and discuss 1) Basic concepts of communication/intercultural communication, and 2) Basic/universal emotions and different emotions between cultures. More specifically, the course examines (a) how openly certain emotions tend to be expressed; (b) how often certain emotions tend to be controlled, and (c) how differently certain emotions tend to be perceived in particular cultures. The course also addresses how different emotions between cultures could be related to different perceptions of “self” and cognitive styles such as thought patterns.

The purpose of this course is to provide adequate perspectives and concepts for the exploration of the dynamic implications of the interactions between the economy and the environment. The aim is to enable students to understand clearly how the many actions and forces embedded in the economy-environment system interact with each other to give rise to actual and potential conflicts between economic growth and environmental sustainability, the resulting environmental external costs arising from environment-economy interactions, and their implications for planning and administering a delicate balancing act between economic and environmental sustainability. The course also seeks to enhance students’ mastery of coordinate and practical knowledge of sustainability management by tying learning and knowledge from different domains to environmental economic issues in real-life situations. This is intended to develop students’ critical thinking and cross-disciplinary analytical skills in problem-solving which is key to academic and career advancement.
 

The course then discusses the structure of environmental value; the relationship between value orientation or value-belief norm theory in environmental choices and economic preferences; the economic and environmental assumptions governing the costs and benefits of growth and environmental sustainability; the properties of natural capital, and their implications for environmental and resource conservation, among other subjects of interest.

This course introduces and explores gender and sexuality studies, mainly from a sociological perspective, by examining various issues in recent Japanese society.

In Japan today, we frequently hear terms such as the “gender gap” and “LGBTQ”, some of which may be regarded as “current must-know terms” for university examinations or employment examinations. However, not many people recognize that gender is essentially a matter of power-knowledge. Gender, as power-knowledge, acts as a structural background that goes beyond the good or bad intentions of individuals. This course aims to examine how gender as power-knowledge makes various things unremarkable and socially “natural” (e.g., stay-at-home moms, heterosexual couples) but other things more distinctive (e.g., stay-at-home dads, gay couples).

Based on traditional discussions of power relations between men and women, this course outlines recent discussions focusing on complex relations among women and among men that do not always fit into the monolithic scheme of “male domination of women.” During the first half of the semester (lectures 1–6), the course covers basic ideas and concepts in gender and sexuality studies; in the second half (lectures 7–14), the course examines social issues, mainly in recent Japanese society.

*Topics regarding violence (including rape and hate crimes) will be discussed in multiple sessions of this course. Carefully consider your enrollment in this course if these topics make you uncomfortable; alternative assignments can be provided for these sessions.

This is a survey course introducing students to the field of pragmatics. There are no prerequisites except for curiosity about how we communicate using words. Pragmatics is the study of how we use language to make and interpret meaning beyond the literal meaning inherent to the words we use. For instance, “You can swim” can mean that “you’re allowed to swim,” that “you have the ability to swim” or that “swimming is one way for you to get to some destination.” For any given utterance of this, we infer the intended meaning based on the meaning of the words, our common world knowledge, the context, and speaker and hearer intentions. An aim of pragmatics is to give an explicit, systemic account of this process.
 

The first 10 class meetings will introduce 9 representative areas of inquiry in pragmatics research. Students will gain an understanding of fundamental linguistics terminology and acquire the skills to make explicit analyses of language in use. Although the examples discussed in the textbook are mostly from English, students will be encouraged to apply the concepts to their native language during class discussions. The 11th class meeting will review a real research paper in pragmatics chosen based on the class members' interests.

Additionally, students will be required to write a paper about a pragmatics theme of their choice, using data from Japanese or some other language, of between 1000-2000 words. In the last 3 classes, students will present an outline of the research themes they have chosen to write about in their term papers.

This course is designed for students who have had some experience learning Japanese. It focuses on the acquisition of grammar and sentence patterns based on the textbook, Elementary Japanese for Academic Purposes, Tomodachi Vol.1 (Lesson 7 to 12), and provides comprehensive practice in the four skills. 

The goal of this workshop is to give students a firm grounding in cultural, social, historical, and practical aspects of art in contemporary Japan through diverse activities including workshops, field trips and research.

We have various images of how the ideal human being should live. This course seeks to answer this question from a philosophical point of view through various philosophical methods.
 

There are two notable features in this course. First, the course attempts to use the images of ideal human beings taken both from western culture and Japanese culture, highlighting similarities and differences that transcend the difference of cultural background. In doing so, the course engages participants to seek what their ideal human being looks like.

Second, the course will utilize classical philosophy texts such as Descartes’s and Kant’s philosophy texts, but also Muneyoshi Yanagi’s writings on the works of Japanese folk art (Mingei) and Kenji Miyazawa’s poem.

This course addresses the following topics:

1. Rationality and intellect as an ideal capacity for human beings
2. Anti-intellectualism and its problems
3. Beauty and the image of ideal human beings