From Fascism to Fukushima: Navigating the Everyday in Modern Japan
CEAS 395
Spring 2019
| Section:
01
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| Certificates: Social, Cultural, and Critical Theory |
What do we mean when we talk about 'the everyday'? Thinkers like Tosaka Jun and Henri Lefebvre teach us that the everyday is above all a realm of practice, a space of conflict within which life itself unfolds and the social is produced. What might be gained, then, by shifting the emphasis in studies of 'Japan' away from static, abstract notions like nation-state or national culture, and toward interrogations of the tactics deployed by social actors to survive the conditions of their own lives? How might we enhance our understandings of phenomena ranging from fascism to Fukushima - and, crucially, responses thereto - by attending to the ways in which these unfold in lived geographic, historical, or economic circumstances?
This course will aim to open up new ways of thinking about modern and contemporary Japan by approaching it in terms of 'the everyday,' and the disparate and ambiguous ways in which social actors may conceive of and critique their own place in the world. By attending to literature, music, film, and scholarly texts, we will consider some of the different ways in which 'Japan' has been understood by different actors in different moments, and think about the ways in which the contingent experience of living the everyday can engender specific - and often ambiguous - political stances upon the world. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA CEAS |
| Course Format: Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (CEAS-MN)(CEAS)(CEAS-Lit&Cult)(CSCT) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: 90% or above |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Gordon, Andrew, "A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present."
Other text(s) to be determined. In addition to the assigned texts, students will be assigned book chapters, literary selections, and other texts, as well as secondary-source readings designed to develop contextual understandings of the questions raised by the course. These will be made available via Moode and/or the Wesleyan course reserve system. Students are responsible for all readings, as well as for any listening and/or viewing tasks that may be assigned. Refer to course syllabus for comprehensive list of materials to be covered.
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Examinations and Assignments:
Reflection/reaction papers, in-class presentation, final research project. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
All textual materials will be provided in English translation. No prior knowledge of Japanese language or Japanese culture is necessary. |
| Instructor(s): Aalgaard,Scott W. Times: ...W... 01:20PM-04:10PM; Location: FISK314; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 15 | | SR major: 5 | JR major: 3 | | |
| Seats Available: 5 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 3 | JR non-major: 2 | SO: 2 | FR: 0 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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