Majoring in Japanese
B.A. Major in Asian Studies: Japanese Concentration
Core Requirements
JAPN 305: Advanced Japanese
JAPN 306: Advanced Japanese II
Students whose initial language placement is above JAPN 305 should consult the department.
At least three advanced Japanese courses from the following list:
JAPN 401: Gateway to Mastering Japanese
JAPN 408: Japanese Journalism
JAPN 409: Japanese Modernism
JAPN 410: Topics in Contemporary Japanese Literature
JAPN 411: Food and Culture in Japan
JAPN 412: Making Music in Japan
JAPN 413: Fashioning Japan: Gender, Nation, and Dress
JAPN 414: Manga as a Japanese Art and Culture
JAPN 415: Sports in Japanese Culture
JAPN 416: Understanding Japanese Business Culture and Its Practice
JAPN 417: Japanese Culture through Film and Literature
JAPN 490: Topics in Japanese Language and Literature
JAPN 521: Investigating Japanese Culture through TV Dramas
JAPN 590: Advanced Topics in Japanese Language and Literature
At least two culture courses from the following list:
ASIA 54: First-Year Seminar: The American Life of Japanese Women
ASIA 58: First-Year Seminar: Chasing Madame Butterfly
ASIA 63: First-Year Seminar: Japanese Tea Culture
ASIA 67: First-Year Seminar: Japanese Fashion: History and Culture
ASIA 233: Drugs, Sex, and Sovereignty in East Asia, 1800-1945
ASIA 692H: Senior Honors Thesis II
CMPL/ASIA 379: Cowboys, Samurai, and Rebels in Film and Fiction
CMPL/ASIA 380: Almost Despicable Heroines in Japanese and Western Literature
CMPL/ASIA 481: Rhetoric of Silence: Cross-Cultural Theme and Technique
CMPL/ASIA 483: Cross-Currents in East-West Literature
CMPL/ASIA 486: Literary Landscapes in Europe and Japan
JAPN 150: Introduction to Japanese Culture
JAPN 160: Introduction to Japanese Literature in Translation
JAPN 161: Geisha in History, Fiction, and Fantasy
JAPN 162: Japanese Popular Culture
JAPN 231/HIST 271: Premodern Japanese History and Culture
JAPN 246/HIST 247: Early Modern Japanese History and Culture
JAPN 261: Japanese Theater
JAPN 277: Empire of Sex: Eroticism, Mass Culture, and Geopolitics in Japan, 1945-present
JAPN 363/HIST 370: Samurai, Monks, and Pirates: History and Historiography of Japan’s Long 16th Century
JAPN 375: The Culture of Modern Imperial Japan, 1900-1945
JAPN/WGST 381: Women and Work in Japan
JAPN/WGST 384: Women Writers in Japanese Society
JAPN 451: Swords, Tea Bowls, and Woodblock Prints: Exploring Japanese Material Culture
JAPN 482: Embodying Japan: The Cultures of Beauty, Sports, and Medicine in Japan
LING/JAPN 563: Structure of Japanese
JAPN 305 + JAPN 306 + 3 advanced Japanese language courses + 2 culture courses = 7 of the 8 major courses. The 8th course may be (student’s choice) either a 4th advanced language course or a 3rd culture course.
Placement credit (PL) may not be used to meet core requirements for the concentration.
Additional Requirements
Japanese through level 4 (JAPN 101, 102, 203, and 204)
Approved courses taken in UNC–Chapel Hill-sponsored study abroad programs may count in the concentration. No more than one first-year seminar or senior honors thesis course may be included among the two culture courses.
Students majoring in Japanese are also encouraged to take the following courses as electives or to fulfill some of the General Education requirements: ANTH/ASIA 586; ASIA/GEOG 265; ASIA/HIST 134, 281, 286, 287, 288; ASIA/RELI 183, 284.
With the approval of the associate chair of Asian studies, a student may count a course in directed readings (ASIA 496 or JAPN 496) in the concentration in Japanese. To register for ASIA 496 or JAPN 496, a student must obtain the approval of the associate chair and the faculty member who will supervise the project.
Of the eight courses in the concentration in Japanese, at least six must be passed with a grade of C (not C-) or better. No course in the concentration may be taken Pass/D+/D/Fail.