Joint Seminar Syllabus

Syllabus

Course DescriptionMaterial culture is comprised of the man-made objects and architecture that surround us in everyday life, and which thereby strongly affect our perceptions of the world(s) we inhabit. In this course, we'll explore Japanese material culture from the perspective of seeking insight into this country's variant of earth-friendly living. In doing so, we’ll touch upon a wide variety of topics including traditional Japanese crafts, food cultivation, home design, and the urban-rural divide. We’ll start in the Edo era when Japan, mostly closed off from the rest of the world, achieved remarkable self-sufficiency while supporting a relatively large population on limited resources. We’ll also consider modern equivalents of Edo innovation and discuss prospects for the wider applicability of sustainable living as practiced in Japan. As a Joint Seminar, this course benefits from having international students and Konan students in class together, and each group's contributions enrich it. It's likely that the Japanese students in this course will not have had many previous opportunities to consider their own history and everyday objects from this perspective. So this course aims to help them to see aspects of their own culture and identity with fresh eyes.

ObjectivesAfter taking this course, students will have an enriched view of Japanese material culture. They will be able to view history as something much more meaningful than just the names and dates of famous people and events. Instead, they will see how the past connects to the present by providing much of the essence of the objects and ideas that everyday culture currently envelops us in. Also, students will have an expanded view of options available to them which can help support more sustainable and self-sufficient lifestyles.

MaterialsTextbook -- Brown, A. (2012.) Just Enough: Lessons in Living Green from Traditional Japan (Tuttle)
Students may use either the print or e-book version of the textbook.

All other readings and materials for the course will be provided by the instructor.

Free Internet AppsZoom, Flipgrid, and Edmodo will all be used in this course.

Classes that involve international students participating remotely will be conducted on Zoom, so all students must have a device (PC, tablet, or phone) with which they can access the Zoom app during those class times.

Flipgrid is a simple educational app for recording and sharing videos. Students will use Flipgrid to prepare Discussion Starter Videos based on our reading material, as well as to share other recorded opinions about class topics.

Edmodo is a class management app that we can use for messaging and group chats. We will post our Reading Reactions here. The instructor will also use it as needed to keep students updated about assignments and so on. (Edmodo is similar to MyKONAN, but its interface is more like a typical SNS and international students will also find it easy to use because it has an English version.)
Grades ＊Discussion starter videos 30%
＊Reading reactions 30%
＊Team presentation 20%
＊Attendance and participation 20%

International Student ParticipationInternational students who participate in this course are doing so voluntarily and not for credit. They are invited to all of the classes that are marked “Open Discussion” (see the Calendar). For these Open Discussion classes, international students are not required to do the course reading. International students are encouraged to attend as many of the Open Discussion classes that they can, and to contribute their opinions via Flipgrid for the Open Discussion classes that they are unable to attend.
Any international students who would like to participate in the whole course (not just the Open Discussion classes) are welcome to do so as long as they purchase the textbook and prepare for classes by reading the course materials just as the Konan students do.