Last update: January 19, 2021

ARTH 2096 (811) Eurasia: Connecting European and Asian Art and Culture

Even though we are living in a globalizing world, our common knowledge of cultures other than our own is limited. Since every culture has its own uniqueness, it can often cause misunderstandings during interpretation. Located on the eastern side of Eurasia, Japan can be seen as a reflection of Europe itself in many ways. By comparing the cultures and historical incidents of these parts of Eurasia, they echo resounding similarities. This class connects European and Asian cultures into the singular continental culture of Eurasia - through cross cultural comparisons of significant moments in history and places of significance. Upon completion of this course, you will be able to compare the social and historical contexts of Europe and Japan, while being able to create your own critical analysis’s on this area of study. Although, not required, it is recommended to take “Japanese Culture” course before taking this course.

ARTH 2660 (811) The Family in Japanese Film from Melodrama to Anime

This course considers the history of postwar Japanese cinema through its representations of the family. One of the major recurring subjects of Japanese film history, the family will be examined through critical texts addressing changing attitudes and sociopolitical contexts regarding such issues as modernization, nostalgia, postmodernism, gender, and sexuality. The course will consider films of various genres including classic melodrama, new wave, experimental narrative, documentary, and anime produced by a range of directors including Yasujiro Ozu, Nagisa Oshima, Toshio Matsumoto, Juzo Itami, Yoshimitsu Morita, and Hayao Miyazaki.

ARTH 2680 (811) Global Renaissance

Our image of the Renaissance is deeply connected to Italy. But the early modern era is one of growing global connectedness, and thus opens up the idea of a Global Renaissance(s). This course will examine the artistic world of the Renaissance (14th-16th century) in relation to its global interconnectedness. Mixing ideas from art history, post-colonial studies and the evolving world of global studies, this class examines the role of cross-cultural exchange, travel, trade, diplomacy, conquest and patronage in shaping artistic production and reception of artworks in Italy and beyond. We will consider artworks from various perspectives, including geographic/cultural (e.g., Europe, Asia, the Islamic World, etc.) and individual (e.g., gender, ethnicity, sexuality, etc.). Topics include itinerant artists from Madrid to Constantinople to Nagasaki; depicting foreignness in Renaissance art; women artists; sexuality in art; global trade in art; the Americas in Renaissance art.

ARTH 2800 (811) Japanese Graphic Design History

Japanese Graphic Design History explores the rise and development of commercial art and advertising art into graphic design in the Japanese context from the Meiji Restoration to the contemporary moment. This course examines the aesthetic, market-based and sociopolitical milestones that have influenced design while simultaneously exploring the pantheon of both renowned and underexplored Japanese graphic designers. Students will read relevant slices of design theory—the history, criticism and literature—from Asia, Europe and the Americas in order to contextualize Japanese Graphic Design History and the localized developments of Modernism, Postmodernism and the current Neoliberal Era. This course approaches the analysis of graphic design from an all-encompassing perspective, examining the design of everyday commercially designed objects such as matchbooks to posters for cinema and theater to the design of Japanese typefaces to the design of corporate identities. Students will gain a nuanced understanding of why and how our designed world looks the way it does through history-rich talks, graphic design studio visits with famous graphic designers, and trips to graphic design exhibitions. This class is the lone course offered globally that explores the robust history of Japanese Graphic Design in total.

ARTH 2800 (812) Japanese Art Before and After WWII: National Identities in Modernization

This course introduces Japanese art from the early 20th century to present day, focusing on traditional aspects of Japanese cultures. Through this course you will study Japan’s relationship with modernization and its influence on arts and cultures such as; painting, sculpture, manga, movie, animation, performance art, and more. The artists who will be discussed in these courses will be; Hayao Miyazaki, Osamu Tezuka, Leonard Tsuguharu Fujita, Yasujiro Ozu, Yoko Ono, Yukio Mishima, and Yasumasa Morimura. Special attention will be paid to the historical context of Japan’s modernization, World War II, and their influences on Japanese contemporary art. The aim of this course is to help you develop literacy on Japanese modern/contemporary art and culture. Upon completion of this course, you will be able to understand the social and historical context of Japanese art and culture. Enabling you to create your own critical analysis’s on this particular field of study. Previous knowledge of Japan’s history or art is not required for this course.

ARTU 2400 (811) Picture Books

Throughout the semester, you will learn about picture book structure and how to compose a picture book. You will create a hand-bound picture book of your own illustrations or other art, with or without words. You will learn how to lay out the artworks on book pages. The medium is up to you (e.g. watercolor, acrylic, pastels, pen, woodblock print) and so is the type of book (e.g. children’s book, poetry, journal). Under the instructor’s supervision you will make mock-ups and explore the best binding method for the book. The history of book publishing in Japan and around the world will be covered in class.

ASST 4096 (811) Environmental History of Modern East Asia

In this writing intensive course, we will explore the changing relationships between human beings and “nature” in East Asia from the late-sixteenth century to the present day. Even for students with a strong background in early modern and modern East Asian history will find that the historical terrain we will look at will appear different. This is because the methods we are going to use in this course are different that what are used in a typical history course. Using many different disciplinary perspectives, this class will take a look at the historical interactions between the human world (culture) and the nonhuman world (nature). You will find that distinguishing between where culture begins and where nature ends can be quite difficult. Some of the questions that we will be thinking about as we move along are: How has the land and ocean limited or enabled human settlement and development of Japan, China, and Korea? How have human relationships with terrestrial and maritime worlds changed over time? How do the relationships differ from place-to-place? Who – or what – has flourished or suffered as human beings have altered the world around them? How have valuations of “nature” changed over time?

CLA 2020 (811) International Career Strategies

The aim of this course is to help students develop a professional mindset. It is designed to explore the career competencies and strategies that are necessary to confidently and successfully transition from college life to the workplace or graduate school. Emphasis is placed on developing the skills necessary in an international career. Participants will use these skills throughout their working life as professionals, managers, executives, or entrepreneurs. This is not a lecture course. It is an interactive workshop giving business majors, in particular, a chance to develop and realize their career potential through exploring career options, preparing a strategy to launch a fulfilling career and improving written and oral presentation skills. The course should increase the student’s ability to: Present professionally (in writing and in person), realistically assess talent and job potential, think critically and creatively about career options and start an international or domestic career search.

CLA 2030 (811) Technology in International Business

Explore the role of information technology as a business enabler and take a look at management information systems’ impact on business models and society. Evaluate the organizational fit and suitability of various technologies and interpret the interaction between information technology, customers, processes, data, human resources, and the overall internal and external environment of international businesses. Understand the ethical challenges of information technology and explain the evolving role of management information systems in the organization, and the role and careers of MIS professionals.

JPNS 2000 (811) Practical Japanese for Study Abroad Students

This course is designed to give Temple Study Abroad Program students the essential conversational and written Japanese necessary to negotiate their time in Japan. Lectures, assignments, field trips, and other activities will be designed with practical, day-to-day life in Japan in mind. This course is not part of the Japanese Language and Literature major, and students pursuing this major or more rigorous study of the language should register for the formal course sequence, beginning with 1001.

JPNS 3000 (811) Practical Keigo

Keigo (Japanese honorific language) is vital for making interpersonal relationships go smoothly and is used throughout Japanese society, from high-end department stores and corporate environments to local restaurants and convenience stores. Despite this, many students of Japanese at all levels encounter difficulties in the proper use of formal Japanese in a given setting. In this course, students will learn the basics of honorific Japanese expression and develop a situational understanding of how Keigo is used through practical role-playing in a wide variety of potential situations. After completing this course, students should be able to speak and act correctly in a variety of situations (e.g., socializing with Japanese families, interacting with Japanese colleagues and superiors in a corporate environment, meeting with clients and vendors, and part-time work in restaurants and shops). Those whose major is not Japanese are also welcome to take this course, but the prerequisite for the course is Japanese 2702: Japanese Intermediate II.

JPNS 3010 (811) Kanji III

Kanji or Chinese characters are an integral part of Japanese orthography system, which is considered as a key factor to learners’ reading comprehension and vocabulary building. However, Kanji is considered to be difficult and rather time-consuming to acquire especially for learners from alphabetic orthography systems such as English speakers. This course is a continuation of Kanji II and designed to promote students’ understanding and mastery of additional 500 Kanji or more at the intermediate level. By mastering additional 500 Kanji, students will acquire the Kanji proficiency equivalent to JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) N3 or N2, and also improve their reading and writing skills in addition to vocabulary building. In this course, students are expected to apply their understanding of Kanji principles and knowledge to learn intermediate Kanji. They will start learning Kanji representing abstract ideas and Kanji with complex radicals. Also, they will learn two- or three-Kanji combination words rather than individual Kanji as well as synonymous or antonymous expressions. Their progress and mastery will be monitored and tested by regular quizzes throughout the course. As part of learning process, students will be encouraged to try The Kanji Proficiency Test (Kanken) Level 7 to 6 depending on the degree of each student’s mastery of Kanji.

POLS 3500 (811) Research Preparation Seminar: Make Trade not War? Economic Exchange and Interstate Conflict

As we live in an age of governments being involved in trade conflicts, we can observe that economic and political exchange between states is deeply intertwined. In this context, measures of economic statecraft, such as sanctions, have become important tools of foreign policy, for instance, for the US government in its trade dispute with China and for Japan in its dispute with Korea. Is economic exchange a source of interstate conflict? Or can international trade, FDI or economic interdependence foster peace or help to avoid conflict? Is economic statecraft merely symbolic or can it be a successful tool of foreign policy? This course offers an introduction to the study of International Political Economy (IPE) that gives you the conceptual tools to deepen your understanding of the connections between economic exchange, peace and conflict. While many IPE studies show positive impacts of trade and FDI on diplomatic relations between states, there are also examples for state relations characterized by “hot economics, cold politics” and vice versa, especially in East Asia. Moreover, there are differences regarding the impact of economic exchange when considering militarized and non-militarized conflicts. Readings include recent historical documents and introductory texts from the field of International Political Economy.

PSY 3620 (811) Gender Studies in Psychology

In this course we are going to explore gender-related issues from the psychological perspective in the global context with special emphasis on gender issues in the Japanese context. This course will focus on the situation of women and men, as well as LGBTIQ+ community in different societies and Japan, highlighting the modern situation and future predictions in relation to family dynamics, gender equality, reproductive health/rights issues, maternal mortality, violence and sex abuse against women, male identity crisis, alternative expressions of gender including genderless identity, sexuality, sex work and human trafficking, all of which have tremendous and very significant impact on the status of women and men in different contexts of modern life and society. The important factor in this course is the analysis of psychological phenomena related to gender issues, which offers an added value for students and broadens the course content, and as a result the psychological models and theories offer students a comprehensive integration of gender studies in psychology, including anthropological, sociological and feminist discourse.

PSY 3620 (812) ADHD in the Cross-Cultural Context

In this seminar, lectures, discussions, and assignments focus on the nature, assessment, and treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in cross-cultural context. Through current scientific literature, students will learn not only the primary symptoms of ADHD, but also associated problems, comorbid disorders, and differential manifestations of symptoms at different developmental ages and across cultures. Furthermore, we will investigate different types of assessment methods and evidence-based treatments of ADHD.

PSY 3620 (813) Clinical Sexology in the Japanese Context

This course introduces the topic of clinical sexology offering discussion about various sexuality phenomena, which shape the contemporary Japanese society. Modern Japan is facing dramatic changes regarding sexual expressions, gender roles and expectations, as well as sexual behaviors, which challenge the time-honored stereotypes about feminine and masculine sexuality in Japan. This course also offers a comprehensive analysis of Japanese sexuality from clinical, psychological, social and cultural perspective, and it introduces cross-cultural models of clinical interventions, applicable in the Japanese context. In addition, the clinical and counseling tools applicable in cross-cultural sexology will be discussed in order to offer the students an opportunity to enrich their psychological studies.

PSY 4696 (811) The Power of Belief

You will explore the omnipresence of belief throughout psychology first by examining what beliefs are and then the class will review how they are studied in various fields of psychology through reading-centered, student-led discussions as you develop your research question (RQ). The course project will be one of the following choices: (1) an extensive and thorough literature review exploring your RQ; (2) a research proposal including a literature review and empirical research design, or (3) an empirical report (for this option you need have a fully developed proposal prior to the start of class as a starting point; you may need to develop it further for this Capstone). To optimize your writing development you will review and critically evaluate your writing according to APA Style (7e)’s guidelines for effective scholarly writing about research. To complete your studies at TUJ, you will create a Senior Portfolio representing the best and most meaningful works and accomplishments from your TUJ experiences. Finally, and for the Senior Portfolio, you will develop or update your curriculum vitae (CV) and résumé and prepare a checklist for requesting letters of recommendation in the future. NOTES: (1) The instructor recommends that you have completed all your 3000-level Psych courses before taking Capstone, including at least 2 advanced (3000-level) courses and the required elective: Internship or Collaborative Research. (2) You can use a fully developed research proposal from a previous course as the starting point for conducting an empirical study culminating in the empirical research report project option; discuss this option with the instructor at the start of the course.