Mar 28, 2024  
College Catalog 2021-2022 
    
College Catalog 2021-2022 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Add to Favorites (opens a new window)

INTL 2300 - Introduction to Japan

Credit Hours: 4.00


Prerequisites: None

(formerly INTL 2911)

(Humanities credit) This course draws on the arts, humanities, social science, history, and geography of Japan. This course discusses the encounter of cultures, centrality of family, veneration of nature, synthesis of foreign ideas, and Japan’s role in the global community.

Billable Contact Hours: 4

Search for Sections
OUTCOMES AND OBJECTIVES
Outcome 1: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to describe major characteristics of Japan - the country, the people, and the culture.

Objectives:

  1. Identify and discuss significant topics of Japanese geography, history, and economics, including how they relate to other areas of the world.
  2. Identify and discuss significant topics of Japanese art, history, religion, and society.
  3. Describe and discuss aspects of Japanese popular and traditional culture, including the significance of change in a traditional society.
  4. Discuss the development of Japanese political phenomena.
  5. Discuss customs and habits (both cultural and linguistic) and explain how they reflect Japanese values.

Outcome 2: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to compare and contrast Japanese approaches to economics, education, warfare, and individual and group responsibilities with those of the United States.

Objectives:

  1. Identify fundamental social differences between Japanese and American culture.
  2. Describe how Japanese culture assimilated and modified various concepts and practices from other cultures.
  3. Identify and discuss different artistic expressions in Japan and what is uniquely non-Western about them.
  4. Discuss the impact Western society has had on traditional Japanese concepts and contemporary Japanese society.

Outcome 3: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to demonstrate competency in writing related to Japan.

Objectives:

  1. Research topics related to Japan.
  2. Compose a paper that evaluates Japanese concepts (social, religious, artistic) in light of a global community.

COMMON DEGREE OUTCOMES (CDO)
• Communication: The graduate can communicate effectively for the intended purpose and audience.
• Critical Thinking: The graduate can make informed decisions after analyzing information or evidence related to the issue.
• Global Literacy: The graduate can analyze human behavior or experiences through cultural, social, political, or economic perspectives.
• Information Literacy: The graduate can responsibly use information gathered from a variety of formats in order to complete a task.
• Quantitative Reasoning: The graduate can apply quantitative methods or evidence to solve problems or make judgments.
• Scientific Literacy: The graduate can produce or interpret scientific information presented in a variety of formats.

CDO marked YES apply to this course:
Communication: YES
Critical Thinking: YES
Global Literacy: YES
COURSE CONTENT OUTLINE

  1. Orientation: Syllabus and course overview
    Thumbnail Sketch of Japan: education, religion, economy, government, industry, etc.
  2. Geography of the Land: Japan and the Pacific Rim, how Japan’s geography influenced various cultural expressions
  3. Arrival of ethnic groups on the Japanese Islands: Ainu, Japanese
    The early history of Japan: Jomon, Yayoi, Kofun periods
  4. Political and Economic beginnings: The Yamato ascendancy and the establishment of the Imperial House
    Rice agriculture and family identity
  5. Religion in Japan: Shinto and Buddhism from the Asuka to the Heian periods

Test 1

  1. Art and literature from classical to modern Japan: Genji and Heike, Hokusai and Mishima
  2. Philosophy and Theology: ‘awe in the face of nature’
  3. Feudalism: The rise of the Shogunate and the Warring States period
  4. From Isolation to Modernity: The Tokugawa Period
  5. Isolation during Tokugawa Japan: Flowering of Japanese culture and the Samurai ideal
  6. The Black Ships: Fall of the Tokugawa and forced interaction with the West

Test 2

  1. Modernity and Militarization: The Pacific War
  2. Reconstruction: Politics and the economics of a modern global Japan
  3. Godzilla and the homeless Samurai: Japan’s economic prosperity and the burst of the bubble economy
  4. Anime and Zen: :Japan’s popular culture and its impact on the West
  5. Review
    Final Exam

Primary Faculty
Messana, Jason
Secondary Faculty

Associate Dean
Ternullo, Annette
Dean
Pritchett, Marie



Official Course Syllabus - Macomb Community College, 14500 E 12 Mile Road, Warren, MI 48088



Add to Favorites (opens a new window)