Introduction to Contemporary Japanese Society and Culture
Students who have an interest in Japan, but little or no background in Japanese studies, will gain a broad overview of contemporary Japanese society and culture. They will read, watch, listen to, discuss, and write about a variety of materials introducing topics such as Japan’s geography, history, customs and events, social structure, religion, family, demographics, regional cultures, minority groups and subcultures, politics, economy, sports, literature and arts.
NOTE: Students may earn credit for only one of CUST 1200 and JAPN 1200 as they are identical courses
Transferable (refer to transfer guide)
Issues in Contemporary Art I
Students will study theoretical issues relevant to the production and reception of visual art and popular culture in the last 35 years, including debates around semiotics, modernism/postmodernism, feminism(s), postcolonialism, and the attendant politics of identities produced through structures of race, class, gender and sexual preferences/practices. Students will examine the emergence of new technologies and their use in art practices. Students will visit exhibition venues, including public museums and galleries, commercial galleries and artist run centres. Note: This is a seminar-based course.
Prerequisites: One of ARTH 1120 or 1121 or FINA 1165 or ENGL 1100 or by permission of the instructor
NOTE: Students may earn credit for only one of FINA 2147 and CUST 2147 as they are identical courses.
Transferable (refer to transfer guide)
Issues in Contemporary Art II
Students will expand their knowledge of issues in the field of contemporary art. They will explore principles of critical and cultural studies that inform contemporary art praxis.
Students will actively participate in this seminar-based course, which is structured around a series of required readings and facilitated discussions, supplemented by relevant slides, video and digital materials.Students will also go on local field trips to galleries, museums and artist run centres.
NOTE: Students may earn credit for only one of FINA 3147 and CUST 3147 as they are identical courses.
Prerequisites: FINA 2147/CUST 2147 or ARTH 2122 or 2222 or ANTH 2120
Transferable (refer to transfer guide)
German Culture through Film
Students will view subtitled German films and read excerpts in translation from works of Germanic historiography, philosophy, psychology, and sociology, which highlight the key issues in the cultural history of the German-speaking countries. They will then apply critical reading, viewing, and writing strategies as they examine and evaluate the central concepts and themes used to organize Germanic cultural history, as well as the ways in which textual and visual media create, enforce, and challenge these assumptions.
NOTE: Students may earn credit for only one of CUST 3300 and GERM 3300 as they are identical courses
Prerequisites: ENGL 1100 and (one of ENGL 1202, ENGL1204, CRWR 1100, FINA 1121) and 3 credits from any 2000-level course or higher
Transferable (refer to transfer guide)
Japanese Culture and Business
Students will explore the role and characteristics of business in Japan and the powerful influence of business on contemporary Japanese culture. First, they will follow the development of industry and business in Japan from the beginning of the Edo Period until the end of the Second World War. Then students will examine the remarkable recovery and development of Japan’s postwar economy that culminated, in 1980s and 90s, in theories and stereotypes relating to the concept of a unique Japanese business style. Finally, students will examine changes in the Japanese economy since the bursting of Japan’s "economic bubble" in the mid 1990s, and the effects of these changes on business, society and culture today. Students will read texts as well as current articles in newspapers (such as the Wall Street Journal or The Daily Yomiuri (English edition), journals and magazines (such as The Economist), and watch movies and documentaries in order to explore a broad range of topics, from the role of business in Japan’s international relations to its effects on the lives of individual Japanese and their environment.
NOTE: Students may earn credits for only one of CUST 3310 and JAPN 3310 as they are identical courses. The course will be conducted in English
Prerequisites: 30 credit of 1100-level courses or higher
Transferable (refer to transfer guide)