JAPN305: Introduction to japanese culture and civilization
Course Description: "This course introduces various aspects of Japanese culture, including history, geography, religion, government, politics, customs and traditions. After a broad historical overview beginning in prehistory, this course focuses on the Tokugawa period as the bedrock for understanding modern Japanese society as a mass society."
MLOs addressed in this course:
- MLO 2: Japanese Culture
In JAPN305, we covered a broad amount of topics that ranged from the early periods of Japan to modern day work culture. This course helped me to expand on the knowledge that I gained during my early 200 level courses. For example, one of the topics that we covered extensively was Japan's geographical layout, and we used that as a reference point for our Journey through Japan's history. We later took what we learned about each area and had to make a presentations based around area(s) of our choosing that we believed had the most cultural significance in Japan. We also had to write a final paper that incorporated different aspects of Japanese culture. For my paper, I chose to focus on washoku (Japanese cuisine) and chado (Japanese tea ceremonies), because I believe that they are extremely important in defining Japan's cultural image. We also did presentations that outlined what was in our paper before we actually turned it in.
This course covered a broad range of topics that I was interested in about Japanese culture, however, I would love to take classes in the future that focus solely on one central aspect of Japanese culture instead of so many at a time. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the traveling presentation because it allowed me to learn more about a subject that I've always had a passion for. This class also helped me prepare for my year abroad, because it offered a great wealth of information that not only pertained to Japan's history but today's issues as well.
JAPN305 - Travel Presentation (Google Slides) | (PDF)
JAPN305 - Final Paper Presentation (Google Slides) | (PDF)
JAPN305 - Final Paper (Word Document)
MLOs addressed in this course:
- MLO 2: Japanese Culture
In JAPN305, we covered a broad amount of topics that ranged from the early periods of Japan to modern day work culture. This course helped me to expand on the knowledge that I gained during my early 200 level courses. For example, one of the topics that we covered extensively was Japan's geographical layout, and we used that as a reference point for our Journey through Japan's history. We later took what we learned about each area and had to make a presentations based around area(s) of our choosing that we believed had the most cultural significance in Japan. We also had to write a final paper that incorporated different aspects of Japanese culture. For my paper, I chose to focus on washoku (Japanese cuisine) and chado (Japanese tea ceremonies), because I believe that they are extremely important in defining Japan's cultural image. We also did presentations that outlined what was in our paper before we actually turned it in.
This course covered a broad range of topics that I was interested in about Japanese culture, however, I would love to take classes in the future that focus solely on one central aspect of Japanese culture instead of so many at a time. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the traveling presentation because it allowed me to learn more about a subject that I've always had a passion for. This class also helped me prepare for my year abroad, because it offered a great wealth of information that not only pertained to Japan's history but today's issues as well.
JAPN305 - Travel Presentation (Google Slides) | (PDF)
JAPN305 - Final Paper Presentation (Google Slides) | (PDF)
JAPN305 - Final Paper (Word Document)