JAPAN 70
Images of Japan: Literature and Film
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Knowledge of Japanese culture, literature, or language not required. Introduction to visual and textual images of Japan's literary heritage, including documentary and feature films based on Japan's literary classics. Letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2019 - I loved Japan 70 with Kanesaka! I was pretty nervous to take the class, since it didn't have many reviews, but it ended up being one of my favorite classes ever. Every week, we got assigned 1 reading and 1 film to watch that both related to a certain topic (i.e. geishas, samurai, etc.) I felt as though the class was pretty reading-heavy though, and not so much with films. For homework, you had to upload a 400-word reading response every week to CCLE. Both the midterm and final was an essay that you had a week to write. The topics were pretty difficult, but both the professor and my TA were such a big help with both essays! If Casey Martin is a TA for the class, TAKE HIM! He was such a good TA, who was so so helpful in his office hours and discussion sections. Overall, the class was very enjoyable and pretty chill if you put in the work!
Spring 2019 - I loved Japan 70 with Kanesaka! I was pretty nervous to take the class, since it didn't have many reviews, but it ended up being one of my favorite classes ever. Every week, we got assigned 1 reading and 1 film to watch that both related to a certain topic (i.e. geishas, samurai, etc.) I felt as though the class was pretty reading-heavy though, and not so much with films. For homework, you had to upload a 400-word reading response every week to CCLE. Both the midterm and final was an essay that you had a week to write. The topics were pretty difficult, but both the professor and my TA were such a big help with both essays! If Casey Martin is a TA for the class, TAKE HIM! He was such a good TA, who was so so helpful in his office hours and discussion sections. Overall, the class was very enjoyable and pretty chill if you put in the work!
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2017 - I really loved taking this class. The only criticism I have with Mr. Lippit was his voice. He is very soft-spoken, and even with a microphone, if there was a minor disturbance, it was very hard to hear him. However, the class itself was both engaging and interesting. Each week had a different theme of literature, consisting of a short story/book and a movie. I have to admit, during the first half the semester, the movies were rather long but the stories were relatively short. The opposite occurred during Weeks 7-10. Section is considered mandatory, as attendance is worth 10% of your grade. I would definitely take this class again; its workload was minimal at best. All you have to do is write a 1 page report double-spaced every week. The midterm and final were pretty straightforward (the final is non-cumulative). If you have the opportunity, definitely take this class!
Spring 2017 - I really loved taking this class. The only criticism I have with Mr. Lippit was his voice. He is very soft-spoken, and even with a microphone, if there was a minor disturbance, it was very hard to hear him. However, the class itself was both engaging and interesting. Each week had a different theme of literature, consisting of a short story/book and a movie. I have to admit, during the first half the semester, the movies were rather long but the stories were relatively short. The opposite occurred during Weeks 7-10. Section is considered mandatory, as attendance is worth 10% of your grade. I would definitely take this class again; its workload was minimal at best. All you have to do is write a 1 page report double-spaced every week. The midterm and final were pretty straightforward (the final is non-cumulative). If you have the opportunity, definitely take this class!
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2021 - Interesting class that involves watching a lot of interesting and unique movies and some short stories/parts of books. Topics ranged from the supernatural to manga to gender. Many involved an uncomfortable amount of suffering, but I feel like most humanities are like that. Watching all the films can take a decent chunk of time. Really opened my eyes to a lot of different perspectives though. Lectures were recorded and involved discussions about the context and history surrounding the topics. Professor Shima had students do group discussions about whatever they wanted to promote socialization. Quizzes were easy and based on just identifying the text/movie based on a passage/scene. Weekly Discussion Questions were graded fairly generously. Midterm and Final paper with no written tests. I'm not a great writer, so I think the grading was not too harsh based on what I got. My TA was great and I heard nothing but good things for the other TAs as well. Discussions were based on one of the works and pretty casual, but mandatory. TLDR; Pretty interesting class that I do not regret taking. Pretty easy but can be a bit time consuming if you try to watch and read everything.
Winter 2021 - Interesting class that involves watching a lot of interesting and unique movies and some short stories/parts of books. Topics ranged from the supernatural to manga to gender. Many involved an uncomfortable amount of suffering, but I feel like most humanities are like that. Watching all the films can take a decent chunk of time. Really opened my eyes to a lot of different perspectives though. Lectures were recorded and involved discussions about the context and history surrounding the topics. Professor Shima had students do group discussions about whatever they wanted to promote socialization. Quizzes were easy and based on just identifying the text/movie based on a passage/scene. Weekly Discussion Questions were graded fairly generously. Midterm and Final paper with no written tests. I'm not a great writer, so I think the grading was not too harsh based on what I got. My TA was great and I heard nothing but good things for the other TAs as well. Discussions were based on one of the works and pretty casual, but mandatory. TLDR; Pretty interesting class that I do not regret taking. Pretty easy but can be a bit time consuming if you try to watch and read everything.
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2015 - Winston is a very nice professor. She does repeat herself sometimes, but that helps with the memorization. When I took it, we covered more traditional subjects, such as samurais and geishas, so don't expect anything too contemporary. Books are all online and short stories are always available on CCLE. Very chill, would recommend. It does help to have an interest/background in the subject though.
Fall 2015 - Winston is a very nice professor. She does repeat herself sometimes, but that helps with the memorization. When I took it, we covered more traditional subjects, such as samurais and geishas, so don't expect anything too contemporary. Books are all online and short stories are always available on CCLE. Very chill, would recommend. It does help to have an interest/background in the subject though.
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