| class date |
what
work is due for class today? |
what are the in-class activities today? |
| 8/21 |
Buy
books for the
class in the student store. All books are listed on the class
syllabus. |
This first class
will be led by Ms. Laurel
Foote-Hudson and Ms. Sally
Beth Moore. These two Asian Studies majors are writing
senior honors theses this semester, have traveled to Japan on Study
Abroad Programs, and will be your film discussion leaders today. View documentary, Women in Japan: Memories of the Past, Dreams for the Future. This 2002 video presents six women in Japan who have spent much of their lives abroad, showing the diversity of their experiences and their beliefs. How have their experiences abroad shaped the course of their lives? You will begin the course readings as scheduled with Dr. Bardsley in class on Thursday. |
| 8/23 |
Read Madame Butterfly by David Belasco
(online on class BB site) and "Introduction" in Embracing the East: White Women and
American Orientalism by Mari Yoshihara (class text). Bring
both texts to class. |
We will perform Madame Butterfly by reading it aloud; students will choose parts to play. We compare our ideas of this famous play to those offered by Mari Yoshihara in Embracing the East. |
| 8/28 |
Read Ch.
1, "Asia
as Spectacle and Commodity: the Feminization of Orientalist
Consumption" in Embracing
the East; also read "Japanese Novelty Stores" by Cynthia A.
Brandimarte (online on JSTOR). |
We discuss late
19th-early 20th century American fascination with "things
Japanese." Why did American women collect Japanese vases,
decorate their homes with fans, and wear kimono? What
objects can one buy in the U.S. now that express national or regional
culture? |
| 8/30 |
Read Ch.2, "Visualizing Orientalism: Women Artists' 'Asian' Prints'" in Embracing the East. | We discuss today's reading, focusing on analyzing the author's argument in Ch. 2 and asking what other kinds of images would support or expand this argument. |
| 9/04 |
First Tutorial We will talk about the tutorial format in advance and students will be given a topic for the three-page paper that is due at the tutorial. (See the syllabus for more information on the tutorial). |
In class, view film:
D. W. Griffith's 1919 silent film, Broken Blossoms. (Media
Resources Center Call # 65-V327) How do the themes and images in the film compare with the representations of Asia and Asians we've seen in art and objects? |
| 9/06 |
Read Ch. 4, "Racial Masquerade and Literary Orientalism: Amy Lowell's 'Asian' Poetry" in Embracing the East. | Fieldtrip: Visit to the Ackland Art
Museum We discuss the possible connections we can make between Lowell's poetic vision of Asia and the visual representations in the Ackland. |
| 9/11 |
Read Ch.3,
"'When I Don Your Silken Draperies': New Women's Performances of Asian
Heroines" in Embracing
the East. Also read online at Salon.com: "Gwenihana""Gwen Stefani neuters Japanese street fashion to create spring's must-have accessory: Giggling geisha!"By MiHi Ahn |
This chapter takes us
back to Madame Butterfly and
early performances of the heroine by Americans. How do these
performances of Asia compare to Gwen Stefani's controversial invention
of the Harajuku Girls? What does this tell us about the politics
of representing race on stage in the early 20th century and the early
21st? |
| 9/13 | Read Parts One
and Two of Ishigaki Ayako, Restless Wave: My Life in Two Worlds |
In the first
part of class, we discuss tourism and the travel-for-pleasure
experience: what are we seeking? What privileges and responsibilities
come with tourism? How do we share this experience with those back home? In the second part of class, we talk about traveler Ishigaki Ayako's memoir and how she represented her early life in Japan to American readers. |
| 9/18 |
Read Parts Three
and Four of Restless Wave: My Life in Two Worlds |
We continue our
discussion of Ishigaki Ayako's work--how it shapes one "American life"
of a Japanese woman and how it presents travel itself. |
| 9/20 |
Review your
notes for the midterm exam. Also for this exam, you will choose one more chapter to read in Embracing the East---the chapter on Agnes Smedley, Pearl Buck, or Ruth Benedict. These short chapters go into detail about a single American woman's encounter with Asia. You will have one essay question on the chapter of your choice. Also read the short Conclusion to the book. |
Midterm examination: Study guide for this
exam posted on course BB site on 9/13 First report of event attendance due today, too. |
| 9/25 |
No assignment due to today. You get a breather after the midterm. | Fieldtrip: Visit to the Rare Book
Collection in Wilson Library We Meet at 9:30 in the lobby of Wilson Library; go up the steps at the front of the building and enter through the main doors. We wil be looking at rare travel guides to Japan. |
| 9/27 |
Read Cathy Davidson, 36 Views of Mount Fuji: On Finding Myself in Japan | We talk about an American woman's experience of travel and teaching in Japan. What do you find in this memoir that is different from Ishigaki's? What's the same? |
| 10/02 |
Finish reading 36 Views of Mount Fuji | We continue our discussion of Cathy Davidson's book, asking how it adds to our understanding of travel literature. How does this book compare with those older travel guides in the Rare Book Collection? |
| 10/04 | Read the Introduction and Ch. 1, "Women and Children First" and Ch. 2, "Like a Boy of Twelve" in Naoko Shibusawa, America's Geisha Ally: Reimagining the Japanese Enemy. | We discuss the interactions of Japanese and Americans during
the occupation years (1945-52). We analyze the arguments
presented in the readings. |
| 10/09 |
Second Tutorial The writing assignment and discussion will focus on Michener's 1954 novel Sayonara. Topic for the short essay will be given the week before. |
No class today. We will hold the tutorial discussions of Sayonara this week. |
| 10/11 | Read Ch. 3
"Sunday at Hirohito's" and Ch. 4, "A Transpacific Treason Trial"
in America's Geisha Ally You need to have chosen the book for your term paper by today. |
Class discussion
today will expand on our reading of America's postwar interest in the
politics of Japan's throne by considering the status of princesses in
Japan today. In particular, we look at the controversy
surrounding the youngest princess and the question of whether or not
she will become emperor. Race, racial prejudice, and national
identity figure both in the story of the imperial family and in the
treason trial discussed in America's
Geisha Ally. |
| 10/16 |
Read Chp. 6, "Channeling Atomic Guilt" and Chp. 7, "Hollywood's Japan" in America's Geisha Ally |
We discuss Shibusawa's argument and view clips from the films she cites such as Barbarian and the Geisha (1958); Boy Geisha (1958), Teahouse of the August Moon (1956). |
| 10/18 | fall
break |
fall break |
| 10/23 |
Read Introduction and Chps. 1&2: "The Promised Land: A Genealogy of Female Internationalism" and "Internationalism as Resistance" in Karen Kelsky. Women on the Verge: Japanese Women, Western Dreams. | According to Kelsky, how have Japanese women in different eras written about their American life? What are their motivations for travel? How do they write about their experiences for Japanese and American audiences? |
| 10/25 |
Read Chp. 3,
"Capital and the Fetish of the White Man" in Women
on the Verge. Use these discussion
questions. optional reading: Ch.5, "A Kamikaze Goes to College" in America's Geisha Ally |
We discuss
representations of American men in Japan and Japanese men in the U.S.
in light of the argument in Kelsky's chapter.
Small group discussions of the Kelsky book following the questions
posted. We will also go over the term paper project today. |
| 10/30 |
Read Chp. 4 "(Re)Flexibility in Inflexible Places" and "Conclusion" in Women on the Verge | Presentation:
"Japan's Miss Universe." Jan Bardsley
will discuss her current research on the history of beauty pageants in
Japan, especially the stories of Japan's most successful Miss Universe
competitors. Presentation followed by discussion of last two chapters in Women on the Verge. What connections can we make between the international beauty contest and the journeys to the U.S. made by women in Kelsky's book? What are the differences in these "American lives of Japanese women?" short 2-page op-ed essay responding to Kelsky's main argument is also due. For an example of an op-ed piece, google this one on Princess Masako by Anna Quindlen: Public & Private; Happily Ever |
| 11/01 | Read in Rebecca
Chiyoko King-O'Riain's book, Pure Beauty: Judging
Race in Japanese American Beauty Pageants: Introduction: Negotiating Racial Hybridity in Community Beauty Pageants 1. Race Work and the Effort of Racial Claims 2. The Japanese American Community in Transition |
We discuss
Japanese-American beauty pageants: How do these pageants define
race, ethnicity, and community? How did they get their start? How
do they represent Japanese heritage? What are the possible links
among these beauty queens, other portraits of Japanese women in
American culture, and the examples of American women masquerading as
Japanese that we have discussed? |
| 11/06 |
Read in Pure
Beauty: 3. Japanese American Beauty Pageants in Historical Perspective 4. Cultural Impostors and Eggs: Race without Culture and Culture without Race 5. Patrolling Bodies: The Social Control of Race through Gender |
Resume
discussion of Pure Beauty. Compare/contrast themes and scenes in this documentary to
the arguments and evidence presented in Pure Beauty. |
| 11/08 | Read in Pure
Beauty : 6. The "Ambassadress" Queen: Moving Authentically between Racial Communities in the United States and Japan . 7. Percentages, Parts, and Power: Racial Eligibility Rules and Local Versions of Japanese Americanness in Context. Conclusion: Japanese Americanness, Beauty Pageants, and Race Work |
Short 2-page op-ed
essay
responding to
King-O'Riain's main
argument is due
in class today. Discussion of final chapters of Pure Beauty. |
| 11/13 |
Almost time for
the student presentations! Get together with others in your group to
discuss the order of the presentations and to organize your powerpoint
slides. You can meet in our usual classroom at 9:30 or another
time & place. |
student presentation
organization day |
| 11/15 | Your reward for all the work on the term paper is the chance to hear one of the leading anthropologists on Japan talk about her new research. You'll have a chance, too, to talk with Dr. Miller informally and tell her about your research. | Dr. Laura Miller, author of Beauty Up!
Exploring Contemporary Japanese Body Aesthetics and
professor of anthropology at Loyola University, Chicago, talks about
her current research on girl's culture in Japan today. TERM PAPER DRAFTS ARE DUE TODAY IN CLASS. These should be double-spaced, around 8 pages; include footnotes. If you have doubts about where to go with the Conclusion or how to tie two ideas together, for example, insert some comments saying so. I'll help you come up with some ideas. |
| 11/20 |
Each
presentation is 10-minutes long; 5 presentations per session.
Discussion will follow after all the presentations. (See the
syllabus for more details). Students can jazz up the group presentation
titles. Second report of event attendance due |
JOURNEYS TO JAPAN Student Presentations Nov.
20: Meiji Sarah Ogden: Clara’s
Diary
Malcolm Frazier: Ghostly Laura Beth Burger: missionary literature Alice Lee: Miss Cherry Blossoms Clark Hines, Mme. Chrysantheme |
| 11/22 |
thanksgiving
break |
thanksgiving
break |
| 11/27 |
no reading due |
Nov. 27: The Roaring
Twenties Noreen Durkin: Daughter of a Samurai Chelsea Cooper: Daughter of a Samurai Lauren Brown: Facing Beth Wollman: Memoirs of a Geisha TERM PAPER DRAFTS HANDED BACK TODAY |
| 11/29 |
no reading due; final exam study
questions posted this week. |
Nov. 29:
Occupation-era books Monica Hollifield: Brittany Brown: Teahouse of the August Moon Emily Owens: Popcorn on the Miya Shitama: Baby-san Evening event: casual dinner party and evening viewing of the film Tampopo tonight . The film takes almost 2 hrs; we can eat while we view. 6:30-8:30pm. |
| 12/04 |
last day of class TERM PAPER--final copy due by Dec. 5th at 5pm in hard copy at the Asian Studies office. It's okay to turn it in before this. |
12/04: Contemporary Megan Carriker: novel on samurai <> Nilima Shah: Princess Masako Troy Mullane: business Taylor Parkes: Out Chiko Akiyama: Robots |
| 12/07,
08, 10 |
final examination Sign up for 90 minute slots with two of your classmates and the instructor. Days available for the exam: 12/07, 08 & 09. Exam questions will be posted here on 11/29. |
These exams take
place in Dr. Bardsley's office, 305 New West. Each student gives
a short presentation on a topic announced in the last week of class.
This is followed by discussion of questions covering the course as a
whole. This exam enables you to make links between all the
materials we've seen and read, and come up with your own creative
interpretations and ideas for future research. |
| 12/11 | Final grades will be posted today |
Here's
to a good winter break! Thanks for all your work and enthusiasm. |