japan

Explorations in Japanese Contemporary Culture

PROGRAM

Explorations in Japanese Contemporary Culture is a six-week, six-credit interdisciplinary program which explores the many and diverse dimensions of Japanese contemporary culture. Based at Temple University, Japan Campus, the program is designed for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students interested in Japan, Asian studies, media studies, journalism, and international and/or inter-cultural communication.

This program is geared towards students’ own personal and professional interests.
Participants will examine specific examples of Japanese entertainment — music, television, comic books—film, fashion, theater, journalism and other cultural activities in Tokyo life today. The course begins with an examination and discussion of some of the debates about what “culture” means today, its national character in Japan, and its changing shape in a modern global environment. Each student, in consultation with the faculty member, develops an individual or small group project designed to investigate “in the field” one aspect of Tokyo “culture.” These journalistic inquiries might focus on such topics as Japanese boy bands and their fans, the fashion culture of Harajuku, manga (comic books) clubs, or the representation of female politicians in the popular press. The specific nature of the final product depends on students’ professional interests, i.e., a future print journalist might write an in-depth report, a photographer create a photo essay, or a broadcast student a short documentary.

COURSES

The six-week program consists of one six-credit course. Undergraduate students enroll in Journalism 3751: Foreign Studies in Journalism, for six credits. Graduate students enroll in Journalism 5890: Seminar in Communications Abroad for six graduate credits.

The goals of this course are two-fold. One is to increase students’ familiarity with
“ethnographic” techniques employed by academic researchers, journalists, writers, and documentary-makers — to name a few — to explore in-depth various cultures or subcultures. The other is to increase familiarity with Japanese popular culture, its origins, its nature, and its position on the larger global popular cultural scene. More specifically, students will learn to use the tools of ethnography ranging from collecting cultural artifacts and writing detailed fieldnotes to participant observation and in-depth interviewing.

Students will also review what others have written about Japan, its culture, its history, and its media. Finally, participants will be required to employ the ethnographic tools learned in class to conduct an analysis of some aspect of Japanese popular culture and draw conclusions in the form of a final project accompanied by a paper.

The course will be structured around lectures, discussions of readings and examples provided in class, workshops during which various media texts are analyzed, guest lectures, and field trips illustrating various aspects of topics discussed in class. Field trips will take place in the afternoon, after assigned class time, to such places as museums and media studios. Students will be asked to write a short reflection on each field trip answering questions provided in class. These reflections will be included in the research portfolio.

FACULTY

The program will be directed and taught by Professor Fabienne Darling-Wolf. Dr.
Darling-Wolf teaches courses in international communication, multimedia and print
design, gender issues, mass media theory and qualitative methods in the Department of Journalism, and the Mass Media and Communications Doctoral Program at Temple’s main campus.

Her personal and research interests include gender issues in the Japanese media, Japanese popular music, Japanese television dramas and Japanese women’s interpretation of popular culture. She has lived in Japan for extended periods at several points in time.

HOUSING

Students may choose to take advantage of housing arranged by Temple University or to make their own housing arrangements. More detailed housing information describing the housing facilities and amenities is provided to all accepted students in one of the pre-departure Web postings.

2009 CALENDAR (Summer I)

6 weeks: mid-May to early July
Exact Dates TBA

2007 PROGRAM COSTS (program not offered in 2008)

*Please note that this fee is based on the 2007 fee and will be updated.

ELIGIBILITY

Please see General Summer Information for program eligibility and application requirements that apply to all programs.

Application Deadline: February 15

For further information, please contact Dr. Fabienne Darling-Wolf, Temple University,
Department of Journalism, 215-204-2077, fabienne.darling-wolf@temple.edu.