Hot on the heels of the Summer J-Pop course we are offering at Wash U, I am also designing a new Anime class at the University of Missouri, St. Louis, being offered for the first time this fall.  You don’t have to be an UMSL student to take it!

Description: Japanese 2111

Students will explore and analyze anime and manga from sociological, literary, and anthropological perspectives, attempting to foster deeper understanding of contemporary Japan and the historical context from which the selected works emerged.  In each module, we will watch anime that address specific cultural, historical, and literary topics, such as how the postmodern condition is reflected in Kon Satoshi’s Paprika; how the nostalgia for the past can be both heartwarming but also an escape from reality in Only Yesterday, and how human emotion can be so delicately, beautifully communicated in a 30 minute film like 5 cm/second. For some modules, there will be guided slideshows illustrated with clips from feature-length anime; in other modules students will watch anime after reading critical pieces and give an account of their own assessment of what they saw in the context of what they have learned.  Students will engage in threaded discussions, turn in short assignments, and write a 5-7 page paper at the end of the course.