Description

Based at Temple University, Japan Campus (TUJ) in central Tokyo, the Summer Institute of Studies in Japanese Popular Culture is a program for undergraduates who wish to focus their academics on studies of Japanese popular culture.

This unique program is designed to introduce students to various aspects of Japanese popular culture, including the inter-related fields of art, music and design, and analyze their collective expression in mass media and youth subcultures. Summer Institute courses include Anime in Japanese Popular Culture, Manga in Japanese Popular Culture, Japanese Popular Culture, and Youth and Deviant Subcultures in Japan. Students also have the option of studying Japanese language, commensurate with their level of language proficiency. Although courses focus particularly on contemporary popular culture, they are contextualized by broader perspectives on Japanese society and culture, with anthropological and sociological analyses of identity, media and contemporary social problems in mass society. The courses are comparative in nature, and are informed by academic discourses on globalization (the diffusion of cultural innovation in popular culture) and the influence of popular culture, both in Japan and abroad.

Students enroll in three of the courses offered, for a total of nine or ten credits. Courses are taught by distinguished faculty and are conducted in English. Japanese language proficiency or previous Japan experience is not required, but students may begin or continue their study of Japanese as a component of the program.