JAPN 314: Japanese Visual Culture and Media
A study of historical and contemporary Japanese society using visual media such as photography, video, maps, and other visual elements. In order to understand urban flows, economic disparities, transportation, and physical environments, students work with socio-geographical methodologies while learning how to extract information from photographs as part of a visual analysis. Pupils make comparisons between what they know about Japanese culture and their own familiar surroundings. instructed in English.
COURSE NARRATIVES
This MLO 4 is fulfilled by JAPN 314 Japanese Visual Culture and Media, which I took in spring 2022. The class was taught by Professor Dr. An Pham. The course description focused on analysis of historical and modern Japanese society through works of art and media including photography, film, maps, and other visual documents in order to learn to extract information from images as part of a visual analysis. I found this course intriguing and interesting because it was about a culture I had never explored before and about which I enjoyed learning. When I started this course, I didn't know much about Japan. It wasn't until this course that I gained more knowledge about it and understood more about their culture and media. Something that attracted my attention was how the media is very different than in the USA. For example, their commercials are very different from what I'm used to seeing in the sense of how more exciting they make the commercial even for the most simple thing they're trying to advertise. Learning about their media changed the way I see commercials from the USA. In the Japanese commercial scenarios, I noticed that what they were advertising had something to do with what they were trying to sell. Unlike what I'm used to seeing in the USA, commercials are demonstrations of the way you can use the product or go into detail about the product's looks and its benefits. This grabbed my attention because I saw how countries are very different when it comes to how they managed their media. This course helped me understand the difference between countries and how much of a difference there is between the U.S. and Japan. It also gave me a glimpse of seeing how their culture is and the differences between cultures.
Claudia Hernandez
A study of historical and contemporary Japanese society using visual media such as photography, video, maps, and other visual elements. In order to understand urban flows, economic disparities, transportation, and physical environments, students work with socio-geographical methodologies while learning how to extract information from photographs as part of a visual analysis. Pupils make comparisons between what they know about Japanese culture and their own familiar surroundings. instructed in English.
COURSE NARRATIVES
This MLO 4 is fulfilled by JAPN 314 Japanese Visual Culture and Media, which I took in spring 2022. The class was taught by Professor Dr. An Pham. The course description focused on analysis of historical and modern Japanese society through works of art and media including photography, film, maps, and other visual documents in order to learn to extract information from images as part of a visual analysis. I found this course intriguing and interesting because it was about a culture I had never explored before and about which I enjoyed learning. When I started this course, I didn't know much about Japan. It wasn't until this course that I gained more knowledge about it and understood more about their culture and media. Something that attracted my attention was how the media is very different than in the USA. For example, their commercials are very different from what I'm used to seeing in the sense of how more exciting they make the commercial even for the most simple thing they're trying to advertise. Learning about their media changed the way I see commercials from the USA. In the Japanese commercial scenarios, I noticed that what they were advertising had something to do with what they were trying to sell. Unlike what I'm used to seeing in the USA, commercials are demonstrations of the way you can use the product or go into detail about the product's looks and its benefits. This grabbed my attention because I saw how countries are very different when it comes to how they managed their media. This course helped me understand the difference between countries and how much of a difference there is between the U.S. and Japan. It also gave me a glimpse of seeing how their culture is and the differences between cultures.
Claudia Hernandez