History 108: Premodern Japan (Fall 2010)

As an introduction to Japanese civilization from earliest times to the late 19th century, this course will be organized around the broad categories of “culture” and “politics” as manifested in aristocratic, warrior, and commoner life. Within this framework we will survey the ways in which Japanese have over the centuries organized themselves collectively, created meanings for private and social existence, and given expression to thoughts and feelings in physical and mental spaces. We will examine these expressions of Japanese cultural history through myths, religious texts, law codes, literature, architecture, pictorial art, and other cultural artifacts.

Asian Studies 115F: Self & Cyborg in Japanese Animation (Fall 2010)

Animated films and TV programs (anime) rank among contemporary Japan’s most prominent global exports and most important domestic media products. The range of audience and content in anime—from cartoony kid shows to sophisticated feature films to fantastical romances to philosophically complex SF to stomach-churningly violent pornography—render it a significant object of study as a product of the so-called “information society” of late capitalist, postmodern Japan. Many anime treat themes associated with “serious art” and thus require us to take them seriously even as we enjoy them as “simple” entertainment. While one risks taking the enjoyment out of any pop cultural form by submitting it to academic scrutiny, we will enjoin our study of anime in the belief that close analysis of anime will enhance our enjoyment of it. In this course we will be engaging some of the medium’s most challenging examples that deal with issues of human consciousness, selfhood, reality versus illusion, and human-machine relations.

Can one be human in a non-human body? At what point do technological enhancements to the body diminish one’s humanity? To what extent can an artificial intelligence develop a sense of self? What is the relationship between body, mind, self, and identity? How do visual and electronic media construct and deconstruct self identity? Does reality matter if a simulation is realistic and you don’t realize it’s a simulation? Who are you? These are but a few questions that this course tackles through the medium of Japanese animation (anime), examples of which are well-known for taking up challenging philosophical and psychological issues such as these. The subset of anime that this course focuses on represents some of the most thought-provoking work created for feature-length theatrical release and for TV series broadcasts in Japan. We will look at the works of Oshii Mamoru (Avalon, Ghost in the Shell, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence); Kon Satoshi (Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, Paranoia Agent, Paprika); and Nakamura Ryutaro (Serial Experiments Lain). We will also view The Matrix in relation to cyberpunk anime. Outside screenings on Monday evenings required.

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