ANTHR 3514 - [Learning in Japan]

(SBA-AS)

Fall. 4 credits.

Next offered 2014-2015.

H. Miyazaki.

This course approaches contemporary Japanese society through the lens of ongoing debates about learning, education and educational institutions. In recent years, education has emerged as one of the most urgent and contested social issues in Japan. We will cover a wide range of topics from the debate about history textbooks to the competition for admittance to preschools and primary schools, the reorganization of universities and other research institutions and the notion of Japanese workers as experts in knowledge creation through learning. The goal of the course is to reevaluate the celebrated Japanese commitment to learning and to understand the changing significance of education in Japan.