Gender and Japanese Popular Culture

Calendar

SES #	TOPICS	KEY DUE DATES
1	Introduction to the Course What is “popular” culture, and how might it differ from traditional culture, high culture, and mass culture? What are some “gender issues” related to Japanese popular culture? Overview of the syllabus
2	Feminist Social Theory and Cross Cultural Perspective	Microtheme due
3	Guest Lecturer: Professor Edward Schiappa, Comparative Media Studies, MIT
4	Women and Media + “Rotten Girls” (fujoshi) Manga	Microtheme due
5	“Rotten Girls” (fujoshi) Manga (cont.)	Microtheme due
6	“Cool Japan” and Its Discontents	Microtheme due
7	Participatory / Convergence Culture	Microtheme due
8	Capital, Debt, and Power	Microtheme due
Special Event in Lieu of Class: Dissolve Unconference: A Summit on Inequality
9	Peer Review Writing Workshop	Essay 1 draft due
10	Robots, Gender, and Sexism in 21st Century Japan Screening: Shanghai Dragon. Directed by Shoji Kawamori. Color, 20 min. 2007.	Essay 1 due
11	Robots, Gender, and Sexism in 21st Century Japan (cont.)	Microtheme due
12	Anime and Collaborative Creativity	Microtheme due
13	Anime and Collaborative Creativity (cont.)	Microtheme due
14	Either Attend Class or Attend Harvard University Professor Theodore C. Bestor’s lecture “Washoku on the World Stage: UNESCO and the Promotion of Japanese Cuisine.”
15	Gender and Performance
16	Host Clubs, Masculinity, and Seduction
17	Onnagata
18	Idols and Celebrity Culture
19	Gender and Games (featuring Kyrie)	Essay 2 due
20	Queer Japan Screening: We Are Transgenders. Directed by Lulu Ogawa. Color, 78 min. 1998.
21–23	Final Presentations
24	Conclusions and Future Questions	Final paper due