Japn 302: History of Japan
Course Description
This course further develops advanced Japanese proficiency through an understanding of Japanese history as a dynamic, interrelated system and employs a variety of processes to identify, analyze and evaluate cultural themes, values and ideas. Students will demonstrate ability to accurately comprehend ideas across a range of historical content. Taught in Japanese.
Units: 4
This course further develops advanced Japanese proficiency through an understanding of Japanese history as a dynamic, interrelated system and employs a variety of processes to identify, analyze and evaluate cultural themes, values and ideas. Students will demonstrate ability to accurately comprehend ideas across a range of historical content. Taught in Japanese.
Units: 4
REFLECTIVE NARRATIVE
This course contributed to the fulfillment of MLO 1 (Language & Communication) and MLO 2 (Culture), as we learned about Japanese History, from 6th century CE to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics from a textbook written in Japanese. Each week was a new chapter and a defining moment or person in Japanese history, from the ancient poems of Manyoshu to the masterful writers of the Heian Era - Murasaki Shikibu and Sei Shonagon, the Warring States, the Fall of the Bakufu, and After-War Japan. Each chapter was full of new vocabulary and kanji essential to understanding the chapter’s content. In addition to questions based on the content, we had a chance to express our opinions on the chapter with short answer Questions. At the end of the semester, I created a presentation in Japanese investigating the Overseas Influences on Japan before the end of the Heian Era. That, I think, best illustrates how I came to realize that despite Japan’s seeming uniqueness and ancient traditions, the main theme throughout their history was one of acquisition and adaptation of outside things and ideas into something that can be called “Japanese.” This class was a broad overview of Japanese history; therefore there is still a lot to learn from such a long-lived nation.
Work Samples
302_litz_overseas.pdf | |
File Size: | 452 kb |
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