In addition, students will develop comprehension of current financial broadcasts on tape. All class material consists of contemporary authentic texts in Japanese. The prerequisite for this course is successful completion of three years of Japanese or equivalent. This course aims to improve reading skills through reading of current events taken from recent periodicals. It emphasizes accurate comprehension, fluency in reading, and expansion of social, economic, and political vocabulary.
Active participation is required.
This course will use WWW and multimedia learning tools, as well as conventional written materials, to assist integrated Japanese learning. The oral proficiency test for SFS students will be given in this course. Classes will combine rigorous analyses of the texts with student presentations and discussion on issues related to the reading. Through historical readings as well as literature, film and ethnography, this course will trace the trajectory of that change from the late 19th century to the present, looking particularly at the impact of massification on culture. In the process, we will explore several approaches to conceptualizing mass society and its contemporary manifestations in Japan.