Keio University

The course encompasses a wide range of topics and is inherently interdisciplinary. Fostering a participatory learning process, the course includes lectures with real-time examples of energy issues at the local, national, and global levels while focusing on the policy aspects of energy and their associated environmental impacts. The course acquaints students with various subjects, including energy economics, energy policy, and energy finance. Additionally, it familiarizes students with topics such as renewable energy, sustainable development, and green finance.

Class format: Online (mainly real-time format)

By focusing on the “economy and business” and “music and advertisement” of Post World War II United States, this course contextualizes the characters and strengths of American capitalist development. Two consecutive sessions on each of the two topics alternate throughout the semester. 
 

The section on “Economy and Business” will explore how the American economy expanded and its businesses succeeded in the post-WWII period despite facing serious setbacks and crises. The course discusses major political and social developments chronologically and the economic impact it had both on the domestic front and abroad. The goal is for the students to foster a long-term perspective on American economic development and how it has shaped and continue to affect current affairs. 

The aim of the "Music and Advertising" section is to understand how the advertising industry had utilized music to sell goods between 1950 and 1990. Music has always played an important role in advertising, which has been undoubtedly an essential element of capitalism. The class focuses on the question of how commercials have been fashioned not only to sell goods and services, but also to inculcate listeners and viewers into their roles as consumers.

This course is designed for students at the advanced level. Based on reading assignments related to Japanese society and culture, students learn various ways to discuss and present their opinions. The course is offered in Spring and Fall semesters with different course content. 

This course develops one's understandig of economic phenomena through analyzing evolutions of Japanese economy over the past decades and their interactions with economic policies, including monetary, fiscal, financial regulation policies, trade and industrial policy. The discussion encompasses the high-speed growth period of the '60s; the hyper-inflation age of the '70s; the financial bubble of the '80s; the financial crises of the '90s and 2000s, as well as the successive deflationary decades extended through the launch of the new policies - Abenomics and beyond. 
 

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.