Education Program “Global Japan Studies Program”（Graduate Level）

The Global Japan Studies network aims to promote exchanges between Japanese studies scholars outside Japan and researchers within Japan. Its activity has two pillars: research and education. The GJS network works toward the formation of researchers’ community and distribution of research information on the one hand, and provides undergraduate-level courses on politics, economy, culture and society of Japan. From this year, the GJS network started a new initiative to integrate research and education by developing the graduate course ITASIA139 which is being offered as part of the curriculum of the ITASIA program in the Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies. ITASIA is a 10-week term course consisting of weekly lectures given by established scholars in and outside the University of Tokyo.

Course Title： ITASIA 139 “Intellectual Giants” in UTokyo: Critical Evaluation of Their Accomplishments in Contemporary Contexts

Instructors: Profs. Masaki Nakabayashi, Wolfgang Schwentker, Katsuo Nawa, Shigeto Sonoda.

Introduction：This graduate course is the first series of lectures that critically examine and evaluate the history of major intellectuals and scholars of or associated with the University of Tokyo in the modern period. By examining various intellectual legacies of one of the most important research and education institutions in Japan and the world, this course aims to generate critical understanding of modern knowledge production and circulation in relation to social change and cultural formation in Japan. By so doing, potential contribution of Japanese scholarship to the understanding of contemporary (global) issues will be explored.

Every year, a specific theme or period or a group of prominent intellectual figures will be identified for focused study and discussion, and scholars working on that specific topic are invited from within or outside of Japan to lecture and lead classroom discussions. For 2018, the lectures will focus on the question of “the social” and address the issues of how (Japanese) society has been understood by scholars of the University of Tokyo and what social implications their understanding has generated. We arranged six lectures by three sociologists and one anthropologist to approach this set of questions.

Course prerequisite: None (open to all graduate students)

Course requirement: Attendance and discussion participation: 40% Final report (6 page, double spaced): 60%

Course Schedule (tentative):

Week 1 (Sep.27): Introduction Lecturer: Prof. Shigeto Sonoda and Yijiang Zhong

Week 2 (Oct. 4): Moritaro Yamada: Finding the Risk Sharing Mechanism of the Informal Sector. Lecturer: Prof. Masaki Nakabayashi (University of Tokyo)

Week 3 (Oct. 11): Moritaro Yamada: Risk Sharing, Stability, and Growth. Lecturer: Prof. Masaki Nakabayashi (University of Tokyo)

Week 4 (Oct.18): Maruyama Masao, Otsuka Hisao, and Kawashima Takeyoshi: Modernization of Japan and Max Weber (I). Lecturer: Prof. Wolfgang Schwentker (Osaka University)

Week 5 (Oct.25): Maruyama Masao, Otsuka Hisao, and Kawashima Takeyoshi: Modernization of Japan and Max Weber (II). Lecturer: Prof. Wolfgang Schwentker (Osaka University)

Week 6 (Nov.1): Ishida Eiichiro and Nakane Chie: In Search of Uniqueness of Japanese Society. Lecturer: Prof. Katsuo Nawa (University of Tokyo)

Week 7 (Nov.15): Fukutake Tadashi and Makino Tatsumi: “Asia Connection” in Japanese Sociology. Lecturer: Prof. Shigeto Sonoda (University of Tokyo)

Final report due on Nov. 22

Details in English

Organizer: The Global Japan Studies Network (GJS)
Co-organizer: Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, the University of Tokyo
Contact： gjs[at]ioc.u-tokyo.ac.jp