Intimacy and the senses in contemporary Japanese culture

Admission requirements

This course is only accessible for BA Japanstudies students. Students must have successfully completed all courses from BA1 (propedeuse), 10 EC in BA2 seminars and the course Texts IIb.

Admission to a cluster seminar happens only through application via the head of the programme board or coordinator of studies.

Description

This course is a survey of ethnographic and anthropological approaches to Japanese contemporary culture. The focus is placed on common embodied experiences, such as getting a tattoo, going to the local bath house, drinking tea and coffee, or going to the gym. Emphasizing the perspectives of those directly involved, we will use these case studies to introduce classic themes in cultural anthropology, including kinship and social relations, worldviews and religious practices, artistic expression and play. We will also explore the critical role of sensory perception in contemporary social interactions, reading recent research on intimacy, masculinity, healing, and relations with animals and other nonhuman entities.

Course objectives

When you finish this course, you will be able to:

• Identify the main themes and trends in the anthropology of contemporary Japan;

• Situate aspects of Japanese culture within the appropriate anthropological debate;

• Describe the most important features of ethnography as a methodology;

• Learn to select topics and methods suitable for an undergraduate thesis;

• Choose, analyze, summarize, and reflect upon academic sources in English and Japanese;

• Report on original research into a topic related to this seminar in verbal and written form.

Timetable

The timetables are available through My Timetable.

Mode of instruction

Seminar

Assessment method

Assessment

• Participation (attendance of minimally 70%; essays; participation in discussing the texts in class, research paper presentation): 50%

• Research paper (3,000 words): 50% - the research paper must use minimally five sources and include one Japanese academic article that is minimally 12 pages long (or equivalent in another medium).

Weighing

The final mark for the course is established by (i) determination of the weighted average combined with (ii) additional requirements: to receive a passing grade, you have to obtain a passing grade for the Final Paper.

Resit

There is no resit for the participation element: if you miss more than 30% of sessions, you cannot successfully finish this seminar; if you miss or fail two or more web postings, we will provide a substitute assignment. Everyone will receive feedback on their presentation, but you do not have an opportunity to redo the presentation. Instead, you are expected to use this feedback to improve your research and incorporate it into your final paper.
There is a two-deadline policy for the final paper; for those who miss this deadline, this means they have failed on the first attempt. Those who fail on the first attempt—whether by not submitting a paper by the first deadline, or by submitting an inadequate paper—will have one more (second and last) chance to submit their paper by the second deadline. As for all assessments, rules for legitimate extenuating circumstances apply.

Inspection and feedback

How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.

Reading list

Information about the readings will be made available through Brightspace at the beginning of the course.

Registration

Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website

Contact

• For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.

• For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: [Vrieshof] ( https://www.organisatiegids.universiteitleiden.nl/faculteiten-en-instituten/geesteswetenschappen/faculteitsbureau/onderwijs--en-studentzaken/onderwijsadministraties/onderwijsadministratie-de-vrieshof )

Remarks

Not applicable