Keio University

Although Australia is one of Japan's most important partners in the current international arena, the real picture of Australian society remains unfamiliar to Japanese people. After fighting each other in WWII, Australia and Japan have built a firm relationship through human exchange and trade. In recent years, they are strengthening their ties in the field of security, resulting in a “special strategic partnership.” This course is expected to deepen one's knowledge about Australia - Japan's Asia Pacific neighbor. 

This course studies practical issues of international tax law through case studies to develop a general understanding for business, tax strategy and controversy. The course also discusses indirect tax matters such as customs duty and VATs given the recent high profile of such taxes. Lectures focus on learning how tax laws affect the daily operations of multinational companies and how such companies overcome the handling of complex tax laws around the world.

The 'Gothic novel', which originated in mid-18th-century England, took the world by storm as a form of weird and terrifying fiction reflecting the medieval taste of the time. There were many variations, and the most common in the early years were bizarre adventure stories, such as the tale of a maiden locked in an old castle and the young man who rescues her. Other typical variations include tales of a wise man who sells his soul to the devil and falls into hell; tales of an artificial man such as Frankenstein; tales of a man who transforms into a monster such as Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde; vampire tales such as Dracula, and many other types. Furthermore, up to the present day, the Gothic tale continues to be reproduced and re-created in a variety of media, not limited to the novel, while further diversifying. The mystery novel, a significant genre, is one of the tributaries that branched off from the Gothic novel.

English Literature 7 and 8 traces the Gothic novel's development over a year. This course is the first half, which will begin with the beginnings of the Gothic novel in the 18th century, the medieval taste that formed its background, and the establishment of a new tourism culture. Then it moves on to the new developments of the Gothic novel in the 19th century and its relationship to psychic studies of the same period.

In the Heian period, stories such as "The Tale of Genji" are often set in the harem, deep within the Heian-kyo Imperial Palace, and often feature the empresses and the crown prince who lived there. Knowing the life of the women who lived in the harem is very useful for interpreting Heian period stories. 

This course aims to deepen one's understanding of works depicting the harem of the Heian period, such as "The Tale of Utsubo" and "The Tale of Genji," after learning basic knowledge about the harem of the Heian period. This course focuses the life of the princess after entering the palace and compares historical examples found in "The Tale of Eiga" and "Okagami" as well as descriptions of stories mainly in "The Tale of Genji."  Furthermore, the course focuses not only on the women but also on the parental affections and political intentions of the aristocratic male fathers who acted as their guardians.

This course focuses on disaster risk as the key element of international environmental studies and elaborates with case studies on disaster risk reduction frameworks, climate change adaptation and sustainable development. Examples from developing countries in Asia are presented. 

This course is taught in an omnibus format. Lectures and practical training will be provided on anime and video games. 
 

This course features host directors and producers who work on the front lines of animation production as guest speakers. Video materials are utilized to learn the origins of Japan's unique animation. 

Video games are now a major pillar of Japanese subculture. Thirty years have passed since the first video game, PONG, which started in the United States, achieved commercial success.  This course discusses the history of how American-born video games developed in Japan. 
Next, it looks at the current scale and trends of Japan's game industry, including some of its challenge, as well as how games are made; what kind of tasks are involved; the development process, and different jobs in game development. 

This course is a ASEAN fieldwork course jointly organized by ASEAN partner universities and Keio University. Students who participate in the fieldwork in Japan and aim to obtain an "EBA Perspectives" certificate will take this course in the semester following their participation in the fieldwork. SFC offers four fieldwork courses, two in ASEAN and two in Japan, so that up to four fieldwork courses in total can be included as credit-bearing courses.

Vietnam Fieldwork is a Field-based Project. The primary purpose of the project is to investigate how families live with their disabled children against the backdrop of poverty and limited medical infrastructure. Note that the fieldwork is conducted in Phu Cat District, Binh Dinh Province in central Vietnam, where the US heavily sprayed the toxic defoliant known as Agent Orange during the Vietnam War (1963-1971). That background explains the high number of disabled people in this District alone, 4298 (as of 2018), accounting for 2% of the District population (not including mild cases of disabilities). 

The issue that the fieldwork aims to address lies in a complex context of risk and risk management: Environmental risk, Public Health risk, and risks that these two have generated. An equally important concern of our examination includes the basic infrastructure and policies designed to cope with these risks. 

For that purpose, our examinations incorporate the Vietnam War, Vietnam’s recent Socioeconomic Development, and Vietnam’s welfare policies (public health policies and safety net, among others). 

Participants are asked to explore the following questions: 1) How do these families (primarily farmers) perceive the environmental problem (as signified by the disabled child), the source of the problem, and the risks? 2) How do they live with the problem in the absence/presence of external support, such as health clinics and other facilities? Moreover, 3) how their narratives reveal a larger picture of which their living is part. The students are asked to call attention to people’s narratives through intimate interaction while observing their facial expressions, bodily expressions, and languages. 

The fieldwork also takes us to the “weekend class” for the disabled children, their families, the volunteer teachers of the class, and the local residents. The classes are valuable sites for us to observe how the disabled children, their families, and the teachers interact with each other openly. Over the past 10 years, we have established four such classes, which they call “Dream Class.”

This course will be offered as a companion course to JAPANESE BUDDHISM AND SOCIAL SUFFERING by the same instructor in the second half of the semester. You do not have to take both courses, but it is recommended to do so for a fuller understanding. Buddhism is the largest indigenous religion of Asia and has ancient roots in every country in the region, including majority Muslim ones like Bangladesh and Indonesia. However, in the contemporary age, it is in crisis, principally from the way economic and scientific modernity challenges its worldview and values. Buddhist institutions throughout the region have been responding to this crisis in variety of ways from nationalistic chauvinism, to market and technologically savvy new Buddhist organizations, and also progressive social action movements known as Socially Engaged Buddhism. This course will look at these different responses and attempts by Buddhism to remain relevant in the dynamic social landscape of contemporary Asia, while offering numerous case studies familiar to the instructor’s 25 years of experience throughout the region. 

This course will be offered as a companion course to JAPANESE BUDDHISM AND SOCIAL SUFFERING by the same instructor in the second half of the semester. You do not have to take both courses, but it is recommended to do so for a fuller understanding. Buddhism is the largest indigenous religion of Asia and has ancient roots in every country in the region, including majority Muslim ones like Bangladesh and Indonesia. However, in the contemporary age, it is in crisis, principally from the way economic and scientific modernity challenges its worldview and values. Buddhist institutions throughout the region have been responding to this crisis in variety of ways from nationalistic chauvinism, to market and technologically savvy new Buddhist organizations, and also progressive social action movements known as Socially Engaged Buddhism. This course will look at these different responses and attempts by Buddhism to remain relevant in the dynamic social landscape of contemporary Asia, while offering numerous case studies familiar to the instructor’s 25 years of experience throughout the region. 

Literary analyses and attempts for various interpretations of English literary works undoubtedly enrich students' general skills in English; their insight into texts, and understanding of some important cultural topics that well reflect the characteristics of human societies. This course aims to foster students' abilities of these through close reading of English literary works of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This session focuses on Emily Bronte's masterpiece, "Wuthering Heights", and examines the narrative, style, and author's messages from many points of view.