Japanese Studies

[ courses | faculty ]

3024 Humanities and Social Sciences Building
Muir College
http://japan.ucsd.edu

All courses, faculty listings, and curricular and degree requirements described herein are subject to change or deletion without notice. Updates to curricular sections may be found on the Academic Senate website: http://senate.ucsd.edu/Curriculum/Updates.htm.

The Program in Japanese Studies coordinates a variety of campus offerings dealing with the language, history, culture, and political economy of Japan. The program is especially strong in the area of modern and contemporary Japan. In addition to courses available in the Departments of Anthropology, Economics, History, Linguistics, Literature, Music, Political Science and Sociology, qualified undergraduates also may enroll in Japan-related courses in the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies with consent of instructors.

The Major

A. Lower-Division Requirement
(9 courses)

  1. Japanese language: two years lower division or the transferred equivalent:
    Japanese Studies 10A-B-C
    Japanese Studies 20A-B-C
  2. East Asian History:
    HILD 10-11-12
  3. The language requirement may be waived by demonstrating the equivalent proficiency through exam.

B. Upper-Division Requirement
(12 courses)

  1. Japanese language: six upper-division language courses or the transferred equivalent from
    Japanese Studies 100A-B-C
    Japanese Studies 130A-B-C
    Japanese Studies 140A-B-C
    Japanese Studies 150A-B-C
    Students may petition to include three upper-division language courses taken abroad under EAP or OAP.
  2. Japanese Studies 190 (JAPN 190): Selected Topics in Contemporary Japanese Studies. This is a seminar-style course focusing on selected topics in contemporary interdisciplinary studies of Japan. Prerequisites: upper-division standing; student must complete a minimum of one upper-division Japanese studies approved course, or consent of instructor.
  3. The remaining five courses must be taken from two or more different disciplines.
    1. Students may petition to include two nonlanguage upper-division courses taken abroad under EAP or OAP.
    2. Students may include one 199 (Special Studies) course.
  4. All upper-division courses must be taken for a letter grade, with the exception of JAPN 199. Beginning in fall 2010, students who declare for the Japanese Studies major and minor will be allowed no more than one course with a D grade to count toward the program requirements. This new requirement will not apply to students who declared their major or minor prior to fall 2010.
  5. The language requirement can be waived by demonstrating the equivalent proficiency through exam. The required number of courses must be fulfilled by taking other nonlanguage upper-division courses.

C. Honors Program

  1. Junior standing or higher.
  2. A GPA of 3.5 or better in the major.
  3. Overall GPA of 3.2 or better.
  4. Completion of at least four upper-division nonlanguage courses approved by the Program in Japanese Studies.
  5. Recommendation of a faculty sponsor familiar with the student’s work.

Students who qualify for honors take a two-quarter sequence Japanese Studies 196A-B (fall and winter quarters preferred) of directed study during which they define a research project, carry out the research, and complete an honors thesis.

The completed honors thesis will be evaluated by a committee consisting of the student’s thesis adviser and one other faculty member appointed by the Program in Japanese Studies director.

The Minor

A minor in Japanese studies consists of at least fifteen units of Japanese language (lower or upper division) and at least sixteen units of upper-division nonlanguage course work taken from two or more departments. Students may use one nonlanguage course taken abroad. All courses to be used for the minor must be approved by the Program in Japanese Studies and must be taken for a letter grade. Beginning in fall 2010, students who declare for the Japanese studies major and minor will be allowed no more than one course with a D grade to count towards the program requirement. This new requirement will not apply to students who declared their major or minor prior to fall 2010. Students who are already beyond first- and second-year language levels will be placed in one of our upper-division Japanese language courses, Written Japanese (100A-B-C), Third-Year Japanese (130A-B-C), Fourth-Year Japanese (140A-B-C), or Advanced Japanese (150A-B-C), and will be required to take four upper-division language courses and three upper-division nonlanguage courses. The language requirement can be waived by demonstrating the equivalent proficiency through exam. The required number of courses must be fulfilled by taking other nonlanguage, upper-division courses. As a rule for all scenarios, all courses must be taken for a letter grade to earn a minor in Japanese Studies.