Cultural Studies
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.
NOTE: Students may earn credit for only one of FINA 2147 and CUST 2147 as they are identical courses.
Prerequisites: One of ARTH 1120 or 1121 or FINA 1165 or ENGL 1100 or by permission of the instructor
Transferable (refer to transfer guide)
Interdisciplinary Expressive Arts 1
Students will learn about the history, philosophy, and current application of interdisciplinary approaches within the expressive arts. They will develop interdisciplinary skills in creativity and academic inquiry, will become familiar with multiple expressive modalities (creative writing, music, movement, fine arts, theatre, expressive arts therapies, storytelling, photography, film making, etc.) and will explore the application of those modalities in an integrated learning environment.
NOTE: Students may earn credits for only one of CUST 3100 or IDEA 3100, as they are the same course.
Prerequisites: 30 credits of 1100-level or higher courses
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, ENGL 1204, 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)
Japanese Culture Through Film
Students will deepen their understanding of contemporary Japanese art and culture by viewing important post-war Japanese movies. They will focus on influential directors and characteristic genres, including but not limited to comedies, samurai epics and anime [animation]. Students will view a variety of works (in English or Japanese with English subtitles), discuss important themes and cultural references, and connect these movies to the broader Japanese culture, especially youth culture. They will observe how movies both make and question “culture” and, in turn, how culture determines the content of movies and their popular success. Students will read works by critics who examine various characteristics of Japanese culture, especially its “visual bias”, evident in arts ranging from Japanese writing (Kanji) and wood-block prints (ukiyo-e) to contemporary movies, magazines, commercials, and fashion. Students will also identify the contributions of Japanese film to international “movie culture” and discuss, more generally, the importance of visual media in the post-modern, post-literate, non-rhetorical age of film, television and the Internet. Finally, they will consider how the increasing success of Japanese animation in foreign markets might contribute to Japan’s cultural integration into the global community and discuss the future of post-modern technological societies.
NOTE: Students may earn credits for only one of CUST 3320 and JAPN 3320 as they are identical courses. The course will be conducted in English.
Prerequisites: 30 credits of 1100-level courses or higher
Transferable (refer to transfer guide)
The Graphic Novel as Cultural Product
This course critically investigates the graphic novel as cultural product and practice. Students will examine the unique manner in which comics communicate and be encouraged to analyze examples rigorously in both formal and narrative terms. Students will respond by means of ongoing forum posting, short formal analytic response papers and a creative term project suiting each student's individual interests and talents.
Prerequisites: (ENGL 1100) and (one of ENGL 1202, ENGL 1204, CRWR 1100, FINA 1100, FINA 1165, FINA 1167) and (3 credits from any 2000-level course or higher)
Transferable (refer to transfer guide)
Interdisciplinary Expressive Arts 2
Students will learn to apply a diverse number of current interdisciplinary approaches within the expressive arts. They will develop the interdisciplinary skills to employ creativity across multiple expressive modalities (creative writing, music, movement, fine arts, theatre, expressive arts therapies, storytelling, mythopoetics, photography, film making, etc.) and will explore potential academic and career directions within the cultural and social services sectors.
NOTE: Students may earn credits for only one of CUST 4100 and IDEA 4100, as they are the same course.
Prerequisites: CUST 3100, IDEA 3100, or permission from the instructor
