KANSAI GAIDAI UNIVERSITY JAPAN

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with diverse and disparate topics. Despite these challenges, the course will present the development to date of the sociological study of education in Asia, and assess the strengths and weakness of current educational policies in order to point out the prospects for the future.Society, Health and Wellbeing in Contemporary JapanThe study of health and illness from a sociological perspective in Japan are discussed in this course, where the outcomes of sickness and disease are analysed in relation to the organisation of society. In the analysis, inequalities of class, gender, and ethnicity are emphasised, as it is understood that disease and inequality are intimately related. Unequal political, economic and social resources are mirrored in the group and individual patterns of health and illness. By highlighting the relationship between social structures and the production and distribution of health and disease in modern Japanese society, the focus of this course is the links between social factors and health and disease.Deaf World Japan: The Struggle of Disability, Iden-tity and LanguageThis course is an ethnographic examination of deaf culture in Japan and Japanese Sign Language. While the focus will be on deaf people and their language, it will be in the broader context of contemporary Japan. Deaf people will be compared/contrasted with other so-called disabled people and other minorities in Japan in terms of discrimination issues and political movements. Cross-cultural comparisons of deaf people in the United States, Bali and other places will also be considered. Documenting Japan: Film and Photography as Cultural DescriptionThe phrases “the camera never lies,” “seeing is believing” and “a picture is worth a thousand words” are often heard. This course provides an introduction to the field of visual anthropology, with a focus on documentary films and photographic projects. Visual anthropology strives to visualize the invisible – knowledge, values, morals, beliefs, perceptions, capabilities and private spaces. Films and photography dealing with Japan will be examined, analyzed and evaluated in terms of providing understanding of Japanese culture. Japan and Globalization: A Cultural Approach In today’s world, it is widely held that global-scale culture supersedes governments and political boundaries; economy is paramount. The new buzz-word to explain this phenomenon is “globalization.” But what does this supposedly new concept really entail? Globalization is about movement and interaction: people, culture, technology, goods and services, money, religion and ideologies are moving through porous borders causing imme-diate and intense contact. This cultural contact affects everyone in the global village albeit in vastly different ways. Where does Japan and Japanese culture fit within globalization? Japanese AestheticsJapanese aesthetics is a seminar that explores pre-modern and modern Japanese concepts of “beauty” through literary, performing, and visual arts. A variety of artistic mediums, literature, music, theatre, tea ceremony and more—will be examined through which students will explore the construction of pre-modern and modern aesthetic concepts: notably okashi, mono no aware, jō-ha-kyū, yūgen, wabi, sabi, realism, and kawaii. Each of these concepts will be placed in their broader respective cultural parameters to illustrate their connection to and deriva-tion from larger ideas such as nature, good and bad, gender, nationalism, and globalism. Japanese MusicBeginning with gagaku, music of the early imperial court, this survey course will cover the major genres of Japanese music and end with students’ presentations exploring any of the musical forms covered in class to J-pop. The primary aim is for the students to develop a familiarity with the various musical genres and the musical instruments and structures of each genre through listening exercises. Other themes to be explored throughout the semester with secondary readings are the relationship of musical genre with social class, the continuing dialectic between high culture and low, and the classification of popular musical genres. Culture, Power and Belonging in Japan: Anthropo-logical Perspectives on the Making of Minorities and Majorities This course focuses on the shifting conditions of cultural minor-ity and marginalized groups in Japan, in particular: the Ainu, Okinawans, those of Buraku outcaste heritage, ethnic Koreans tracing their heritage from the colonial era, Nikkei "return" migrants, and the growing Chinese, South Asian and other “newcomer” foreigner communities. Throughout the semester, students can expect to increase their awareness of the rich, but often hidden diversity of Japanese society while exploring the ways minority groups come into existence, face marginalization, make claims for belonging and negotiate identity and social belonging.Gender and Sexuality in Japan: Norms, Practice and Selves in MotionWith a focus on gender as cultural belief, as a social structuring mechanism and a source of social inequality in Japan, students in this course will investigate the values and behavioral expecta-tions associated with “femininity” and “masculinity,” and how gender interacts with other spheres of life. Topics to be covered include historical changes in gender roles; gender, family and 24