Japanese Studies
Overview
Japanese is housed in the Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture (CSLC) department. Besides serving as one possible area emphasis within the CSLC major, Japanese also offers a stand-alone major. The Japanese Studies major is intended for students primarily interested in Japanese language, literature, and culture. The major aims to help students attain a high degree of fluency, and much of the coursework is done in Japanese. The language is a vital component not only of CSLC, but all studies related to East Asia. The faculty of Japanese is additionally affiliated with the East Asian Studies program and major, and serves these accordingly in an advisory capacity.
Major Requirements
COURSEWORK
Language Component:
Five courses total
One literature in translation course:
| JAPN 271 | Fiction in Japanese Literature and Film | 4 units |
| JAPN 273 | Popular Culture and Literary Traditions of Tokugawa Japan | 4 units |
One methods or theory course:
| CSLC 200 | Literature, Culture, Self: Being in the Wor(l)d | 4 units |
| CSLC 201 | Forms of Feeling, and a Feeling for Form: Literature and Its Lifeworlds | 4 units |
| ENGL 290 | Introduction to Literary Methods | 4 units |
| ENGL 370 | Literary Criticism | 4 units |
| JAPN 271 | Fiction in Japanese Literature and Film | 4 units |
| JAPN 273 | Popular Culture and Literary Traditions of Tokugawa Japan | 4 units |
| JAPN 460 | Translating Texts | 4 units |
| LING 301 | Introduction to Linguistics | 4 units |
Three additional Japan-related courses:
| AMST 270 | Asian American Literature | 4 units |
| AMST 272/EASN 272 | Asian Immigrants in American Society | 4 units |
| AMST 280/DWA 246 | The United States and East Asia | 4 units |
| ARTH 160 | Introduction to East Asian Art | 4 units |
| ARTH 266 | The Arts of Japan | 4 units |
| ARTH 368 | Japanese Painting | 4 units |
| HIST 141 | East Asian Survey | 4 units |
| HIST 248 | Modern Japan | 4 units |
| POLS 227 | East Asian Politics: China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan | 4 units |
| RELS 160 | How to Live and Die Well in Buddhist Traditions | 4 units |
| RELS 215 | Shamans, Sages, and Spirits in East Asia | 4 units |
| RELS 266 | Sexuality and Gender in Buddhism | 4 units |
| RELS 276 | Empire and Religion in Asia and the Pacific | 4 units |
Second-Stage Writing Requirement
This requirement is fulfilled through either a seminar course (JAPN 271 or JAPN 273) or a 2-unit Independent Study in the fall semester of the senior year, in which the student will produce: either (1) a 20-page paper written in English on Japanese language or literature, including source texts written in Japanese; or (2) an annotated translation, with commentary, of a Japanese language text into English. In the spring semester, the student will make any required revisions and prepare an oral presentation to be given in Japanese.
Comprehensive Requirement
Students will fulfill this requirement by completing a seminar course or a 2-unit Independent Study in the fall semester of the senior year, in which the student will produce a 20-page paper written in English on China, Japan, or an East Asian comparative/transnational topic; in the spring semester, the student will make any required revisions and prepare an oral presentation to be given in English.
College Honors
Students with an overall GPA of 3.25 and a major GPA of 3.50 may submit an honors research proposal at the end of the fall semester of the senior year. If the proposal is supported by two faculty advisers, the student will enroll in a 2-unit Independent Study in the spring to expand the fall semester senior comprehensive paper into a distinguished 40-page paper.
Minor Requirements
Five courses (20 units) numbered JAPN 202 and above. LING 301 may fulfill one of these course requirements. Three of the five courses must be completed as Occidental courses (one of the three MUST be taken at the Eagle Rock campus. The other two may be taken at an Occidental-in-Japan campus).
Transfer Credit Policies
The Japanese Studies Program policy on transfer credit conforms to College policy (with the additional restrictions noted for the minor above). Students who earn a score of 4 on the AP Japanese Language examination will earn four units of credit and be placed into JAPN 201 while those who earn a score of 5 will earn four units of credit and be placed into JAPN 202. The department does not place students based on IB or A-level examinations.
Students should reference the Transfer Credit section for more details.
Courses
Japanese Courses
Faculty
Regular Faculty
Damian Stocking, chair
Associate Professor
B.A., University of California, Berkeley; M.A., Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
On Special Appointment
Motoko Ezaki
Non-Tenure Track Professor
Advisory Committee, Group Language
B.A., M.A., Seinan Gakuin University; M.A., Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
Yuki Taylor
Non-Tenure Track Associate Professor
B.A., M.A., Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles