Continued introduction to the basic spoken patterns of contemporary Japanese.

Contemporary spoken and written Japanese.

Continued readings in varied modern texts and advanced conversation and oral comprehension.

Explores current works by Japanese playwrights with attention to their theatricality, their use of language, and the social issues they bring to light. Students will develop their skills for reading in Japanese, contextual research, and translation for performance and voice-over. Students will also stage selections of the plays to work on oral delivery and gesture. Readings will be in Japanese (with adjustments for student language levels) and in English.

Manga: Method and Message is grounded in the practice of critical analysis of Japanese comics. The course covers the history of manga from its early incarnations in Tokugawa-era illustrated hand-scrolls (e-maki), through the 1930s popular paper theater (kamishibai), to contemporary genres of the medium, such as comic strips (yonkoma manga), gekiga , shojo manga, Boys Love (BL), biographical manga and a wide variety of commercial productions. The assigned manga represent the works of a diverse group of author-creators, who depict varied daily life, tragic histories, and social and political critiques. Students also learn about the Japanese government's strategic deployment of manga during the wartime era and contemporary uses of comics for state-supported propaganda. While introducing students to analytical vocabulary and reading practices that engage visuals, script, spacing, and coloring, the curriculum also reinforces a wide-variety of writing strategies for analyzing visual mediums. Through quizzes, diverse writing assignments, drawing, commonplace book entries, group work, and a final individual project, students learn how to conduct rigorous analysis of the artwork, organization, pacing, and coloration of manga while improving analytical writing skills.

Manga, in their modern incarnation, have been enormously popular across Japanese society for over 100 years. Using the medium of Japanese-language manga, this course helps advanced students reinforce fundamental grammar and expands vocabulary. In particular, students learn varied situational forms of politeness, colloquial speech patterns of spoken Japanese, and advanced onomatopoeia (gitaigo/giseigo/giongo/gijogo). A final research and translation project offers students an opportunity to create an academic portfolio that can be used to confirm advanced Japanese language skills.

Explores the intersections between performance and sexuality in early modern Japan. Our main sites will be the stage, the brothels, and everyday life as we examine how people of the period performed gender and sexuality. We will draw from popular fiction, kabuki, puppet theatre, woodblock prints, guides to the pleasure quarters, and censorship edicts. Taught in English.

Explores the impact of censorship on discourse using materials from the UMD Libraries' Gordon W. Prange Collection (https://www.lib.umd.edu/collections/special/japan), an archive of Japanese publications issued in the first four years of the Occupation of Japan (1945-1949). Students will learn to analyze a variety of Japanese language texts, leveraging modern AI tools to facilitate their work. Final presentations will focus on items such as children's books, manga, magazines, and posters. Class will be taught in English.