| Week 1: Introduction |
| 1 | Introduction to the Course | |
| Week 2: Analyzing Japan / Analyzing Popular Culture |
| 2 | Film Segment: "The Japanese Version" | |
| 3 | The History of Popular Music in Japan | |
| Week 3: Racial Boundaries and Representation in Popular Culture |
| 4 | Film Segment: "Doubles" | |
| 5 | Race in Japanese Hip-Hop | |
| Week 4: Gender, Sexuality, and Popular Culture |
| 6 | Seminar on "Gender Roles and Anime."
If unable to attend the Seminar, then your Assignment is to Write a 2-page Commentary Contrasting Two of the Assigned Readings (Due by Ses #8). | |
| 7 | Special Event: "Comfort Women of Korea visit MIT."
If you cannot attend, an additional assignment can be done instead. | |
| Week 5: Identity, Resistance, and Popular Culture: Borders and Crossings |
| 8 | Japanese Identity: Homogeneity or Difference? | Discussion of Essay #1 Assignment |
| 9 | Methods and Approaches to the Study of Popular Culture | Essay #1 Due (5 Pages, Double-Spaced) |
| Week 6: Manga and Cultural Production |
| 10 | Harvard Talk | |
| 11 | A Sociology of Cultural Production of Manga | |
| Week 7: Manga and Power |
| 12 | Metropolis: Fritz Lang to Tezuka to Otomo | |
| 13 | Manga and Social Commentary | |
| Week 8: Manga and Anime |
| 14 | Harvard Talk | |
| 15 | Who are the Otaku? | |
| Week 9: Assessing Manga as Cultural Form |
| 16 | In Class Discussion of Manga Issues Re: Essay 2 | |
| 17 | | Essay #2 Due (5 Pages, Double Spaced) |
| Week 10: Re-Imagining Japan |
| 18 | Tradition and Transnationalism | |
| 19 | Flow or Appropriation - Whose Culture is it? (2) | |
| Week 11: Japanese Television |
| 20 | Student Presentations 1 | |
| 21 | Japanese Television | |
| Week 12: Japanese Popular Literature |
| 22 | Student Presentations 2 | |
| 23 | Japanese Popular Literature | |
| Week 13: Crisis and Restructuring |
| Week 14: Popular Culture and Japan's Future |
| 24 | | Final Paper is Due the Last Day of Class.
There is no Final Exam |