JS1101E: Introduction to Japanese Studies
This module briefly introduces students to the historical beginnings of Japan in the Jomon Culture, through the Heian era, the warring states, Tokugawa, Meiji and World War Two. Beyond merely history, it also explores the cultural and philosophical aspects of Japan. For example, the idea of Japanese-ness in the discussion of cultural identity, and the role of excluded ‘foreigners’ within such a self-proclaimed homogenous society. It also briefly touches on the changing gender roles within the Japanese culture. This includes not just within the society as a whole, but also between social classes. In general, I found the syllabus of the module to be quite broad and eye opening. However, it would have benefited with a little more depth in exploring the issues discussed.
Content aside, the lecturer Dr. Scot Hislop was entertaining in his delivery of lectures. Unfortunately, this positive aspect was overshadowed by several negative factors.
First, the lecture slides are not released before the lecture. Second, there is very minimal information on the slides itself. Imagine one sentence on one slide and you would not be far off. Third, lectures are not webcast so you have to studiously take notes during lectures. These three points may be off-putting but not too much of a hassle for a diligent student if not for the unfortunate circumstance, in which you cannot trust anything Dr. Hislop says in lecture as factually accurate. Dr. Hislop himself will tell you that he delivers off the cuff, and believe me, this is no lie. At this point, you may be considering the intelligent strategy of skipping lecture altogether. However, allow me to point out how highly risky that would be, since Dr. Hislop does actually design questions on the final exams based on what he talks about during lecture.
Assessment:
Module assessment consists of tutorial participation – 10%
IVLE forum participation – 10%
Project (outline + final report) – 30%
Final MCQ Exam – 50%
Tutorial participation in this module simply required general discussions on ideas mentioned in lecture. Class participation was not particularly competitive in nature.
As for the forum posts, any and all topics were welcome as long as it was related to Japan. The key element of doing well for this was merely doing sufficient research to back up whatever arguments or opinions you had on the subject. 1 or 2 academic sources per post is good enough. Also, although Dr. Hislop claimed that it is quality not quantity that counts in the forum, it is advisable to write at least 2 posts in the semester – one to begin a discussion thread, and one in reply to an existing discussion.
With regards to the project work, try to start early. However, do not be overly concerned with it, since it will ultimately boil down to your tutor’s preference on the topic being discussed and his evaluation of your group’s performance. This is especially since each group is presumably doing different topics of their choice, so there will be less to no direct comparison between different group reports.
Lastly, for the Final exam, you should know your acts and the big ideas. Most importantly, read the questions carefully.
Workload:
2 lecture hours per week. 1 tutorial hours per week. 0 lab hours per week. 3 hours for projects, assignments, fieldwork etc per week. 4 hours for preparatory work by a student per week.
The bulk of the workload is mainly the weekly readings (maximum 3 articles) and the time needed for the group report. I have found that little preparation is actually needed for tutorials as long as you have been following the readings and lectures through the semester.
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