JAPAN4540

This course will expose students to a wide variety of late-20th century and 21st century Japanese popular culture materials and will engage with various written and visual texts in a critical way. We will interrogate the definition of the popular culture and of what falls under the category of Japanese culture. Students will use a number of approaches to examine a wide variety of genres including contemporary fiction, manga, anime, film, television, and fine art as a way to exercise their critical thinking skills. The course aims to expand students' understanding of contemporary Japanese history, in addition to Japanese culture and society. This course is taught in English.