A selection of our Spring 2023 courses. For a complete list, please visit Course Explorer.

JAPN 410 | Advanced Readings in Modern Japanese

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Instructor: Robert Tierney (rtierney@illinois.edu)

Spring 2022, TT 3-4:20PM

Have you studied Japanese for at least three years? Do you want to improve your reading skills?  Do you need to read contemporary or modern Japanese for research or simply wish to read for pleasure?

This course is open to advanced undergraduate and graduate students.  It will prepare you to read authentic materials in Japanese in different genres and disciplines.  Core readings will include both contemporary and modern works, both literary materials and social science/history readings.  In addition to reading, there will be some emphasis on translation.

Course may be taken for 3 undergraduate or 4 graduate credits.

EALC/CWL230 | Popular Cultures of Contemporary East Asia

The course provides a wide-ranging introduction to the popular cultures and subcultures of China, Korea, and Japan through exposure to popular films, music, anime, games, and everyday practices. Already hugely popular in its home countries, East Asian popular culture has become familiar to American audiences through films, videogames, food, toys, and comic books. The course explores the historical, social, cultural, and economic roots of this global appeal, while gauging popular culture’s impact on national identity, gender, and lifestyle. The course fulfills the Non-Western Cultures and Literature and the Arts General Education requirements. No knowledge of East Asian languages or previous coursework in East Asian studies is required.

Time and Location: MW1-1:50 pm 23 Psychology Bldg. 

Instructor: G. Persiani  (gp2029@illinois.edu)

EALC 398 | Sacred Sites in Japan

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This course aims at an interdisciplinary study of major sites in Japan that are deemed sacred, and of their visual culture. The types of sites to be studied include: imperial mausolea, capitals, Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines, palaces and warrior castles, tea houses, mountains, and parks. The course examines the art and architecture of sacred sites and positions them within a variety of contexts, such as their cultural, religious, and socio-political significance. Particular emphasis will be placed on the questions of how these art and architecture have been received and used and how they and perceptions of the sites shaped each other.

Instructor: Professor Naoko Gunji (ngunji@illinois.edu)

Time: MW 02:00 pm - 03:20 pm Room: G20 FLB