| OSAKA UNIVERSITY SHORT-TERM STUDENT EXCHANGE PROGRAM |
Objective
For the purpose of understanding contemporary Japanese culture, a historical
survey of artistic activities will be attempted particularly with emphasis
on various performing arts. The course will start from an introduction
to contemporary scenes in people's life, in which a variety of elements
of performing arts can be found. In the intermediate stage, it will focus
on some representative genres such as bunraku (puppet theater) and
koto music. The concluding hours will be spent to a generalisation,
again stressing the importance of understanding the contemporary value
systems.
Textbook
Reading materials will be provided.
Lecture Outline
Week 1. Life and performing arts in contemporary Osaka
Week 2. Festival and performance
Week 3. Puppet theatre : (1) puppetry
Week 4. Puppet theatre : (2) musical aspects
Week 5. Puppet theatre : (3) literary aspects
Week 6. Bamboo flute
Week 7. String instruments
Week 8. Chamber music
Week 9. Vocal versus instrumental expressions
Week 10. Stylized conversations as expressive performance
Week 11. Music and dance in religious context
Week 12. Osaka and its vicinity as a historical monument of arts
Week 13. Cultural identity and performing arts in Osaka Students are required
to read the provided materials in advance for the next class.
Grading
Class participation 78%
Examination 22%
Objective
This course examines various aspects of law in contemporary Japanese providing
necessary materials for comparative study of Japanese law with law in other
countries. In order to learn the actual operation of law in Japan, court
and law firm visits are planned.
Textbook
No particular textbook will be used.
Lecture Outline
Week 1. Introduction- History of Japanese law
Week 2. Structure of government
Week 3. Judiciary
Week 4. The role of law in Japanese society
Week 5. Family law in transition
Week 6. The companies and workers
Week 7. The Japanese anti-monopoly law and its anti-monopoly policy
Week 8. The protection of intellectual property in Japan
Week 9. Negotiation-Japanese style
Week 10. International trade and Japan
Week 11. Visit to Osaka District Court
Week 12. Visit to law firm in Osaka
Grading
Class participation 50%
Examination 50%
Objective
Polymers or macromolecules are extremely large molecules built up from
sequences of small chemical units called monomers jointed together by chemical
bonds. Polymers, both naturally occurring and synthetic, are among the
materials most frequently encountered in everyday life ; they are a main
constituent of our bodies, food, clothes, and houses. Advances in polymer
research have contributed to the phenomenal growth of today's high tech
age. This course will attempt to present an introduction to polymer science
and a brief overview of modern polymer technologies. The objectives of
this course are (1) to introduce students, who have little or no chemistry
background on a college level but wish to acquire some familiarity with
polymers, to basic polymer science including polymer syntheses, structures,
and properties, and (2) to acquaint them with bio-related polymers and
modern polymer technologies.
Lecture Outline
Week 1. Introduction to polymers. What are polymers ?
Week 2. Brief history of polymer science and technology
Week 3. Chemical structures of polymers
Weed 4. Polymer synthesis
Week 5. Polymer synthesis
Week 6. Naturally occurring polymers
Week 7. Solid structures of polymers
Week 8. Solution properties of polymers
Week 9. Solid properties of polymers
Week 10. Polymers in biology
Week 11. Polymers in everyday life
Week 12. High tech polymers
Week 13. Polymers in electronics
Week 14. Polymers in medicine
Grading
Class participation 50%
Examination 50%
Objective
The course aims to give basic knowledge of traditional brewing and food
production and advanced biotechnology developed in Japan. Traditional brewing
products include Sake, Shotyu, Shoyu (Soy sources),
and O-su (vinegar). Traditional fermented foods are Miso,
Natto, and O-tsukemono. Many of these processes are not so
familiar to the foreigners. They will be compared with those of western
foods such as beer, wine, cheese, yogurt, and other fermented products.
Modern biotechnology has been applied for the production of amino acids,
antibiotics, enzymes, drugs, biofuels, and biomass. These products are
produced not only by microorganisms but also by animal and plant cell cultures.
Students will understand the specific reasons why biotechnology has been
well developed in Japan through this course.
Textbook
Materials will be given during the lectures. Some lectures will use video
and slide projectors.
Lecture Outline
Week 1. Sake brewing (Prof. Murooka)
Week 2. Traditional fermented foods in Japan (Prof. Harashima)
Week 3. Introduction of the role of microorganisms on the earth (Prof.
Seki)
Week 4. Production of antibiotics (Prof. Yamada)
Week 5. Fermentation processes and computer (Prof. Shioya)
Week 6. Adaptive evolution of enzymes (Prof. Urabe)
Week 7. Extreme environmental microorganisms (Assoc. Prof. Takagi)
Week 8. Microbiological aspects of environmental control (Prof. Suga)
Week 9. Genetic and protein engineering (Prof. Kanaya)
Week 10. Mammalian and plant cell technology (Prof. Kobayashi)
Week 11. Utilization of biological resources in Asian countries (Prof.
Yoshida)
Week 12. Bioseparation engineering I (Prof. Kuboi)
Week 13. Bioseparation engineering II (Prof. Kuboi)
Week 14. Visit to industries (Sake brewery and modern pharmaceutical
companies).
Grading
Participation in class 50%
Short paper 50%
Objective
The Great Hanshin Earthquake struck the urban area of Kobe and neighboring
cities along Osaka Bay on January 17, 1995. The main objective of this
course is to examine important lessons from this disaster. Fundamental
topics in naval and ocean, civil, architectural and environmental engineering
are also discussed.
Textbook
No particular textbook will be used. Materials will be served during the
lecture.
Lecture Outline
Week 1. Introduction, Geological and Geotechnical Information and Earthquake
Damage
Week 2. Damages of Transportation Systems by Earthquake and Their Improvement
Week 3. Building Damage in Earthquake
Weed 4. Disaster Reduction of Coastal and Harbour Structures
Week 5. Roll of Ships and Harbours at Natural Disasters
Week 6. Environment and Human Behavior in Disaster
Week 7. Housing and Urban Planning for Disaster Reduction
Week 8. Internet and Disaster Prevention Information
Week 9. Safety Design in Architecture
Week 10. Technology on Structural Response Control
Week 11. Deterioration and Maintenance of Structures
Week 12. Urban Risk Management
Week 13. Collision of Ships and Oil Skimming
Week 14. Capsizing of Ships
Week 15. Floating Structure Attacked by Tunami
Students are required to submit a short paper on the topics of this course.
Grading Class
Participation 40%
Short paper 60%
Objective
This course will provide an introductory survey of classical Japanese literature
from the perspective of No drama. Lecture and readings will focus
on complete No plays and relevant excerpts from the classics upon
which they are based. One advantage of this approach is the effect of the
strong visual impact of the stage art in bringing literary classics to
life. Another advantage is the demonstration of concrete ways in which
ancient Japanese traditions have been kept alive over the centuries. Supplementary
lectures will include some analysis of political, religious, and social
contingencies which contributed to the formation of this cultural tradition,
and its influence on contemporary Japanese culture and society.
Textbook
Anthology of Japanese literature : Earliest Era to Mid-Nineteenth
Century, ed. Donald Keene, Tuttle.
Japanese No Dramas, Royall Tyler ed., Penguin.
Lecture Outline
Week 1. Lecture : Introduction to classical Japanese literature
Reading for next week : Keene, Introduction, The Luck of the Sea,
Kokinshu
Week 2. Lecture : Introduction to No-Historical background and early
literary sources (ancient and early-Heian)
Reading for next week : Tyler, General Introduction, Tokasago
Week 3. Lecture : First-category No plays featuring deities
Reading for next week : Keene, Tale of the Heike, Shinkokinshu
Week 4. Lecture : Literature of the Kamakura Period
Reading for next week : Tyler, Atsumori, Tadanori
Week 5. Lecture : Second-category No plays featuring warrior ghosts
Reading for next week : Keene, Tales of Ise, yugao
Week 6. Lecture : The Tale of Genji, and other Heian court literature
Reading for next week : Tyler, Nonomiya, Izutsu, Matsukaze
Week 7. Lecture : Third-category No plays featuring women
Week 8. Video showing : Midterm essay due
Reading for next week : Keene, Sotoba Komachi
Week 9. Lecture : Fourth-category No plays
Reading for next week : Tyler, Hanjo, Sumidagawa
Week 10. Lecture : Fourth-category No plays, cont'd
Reading for next week : Tyler, Funa Benkei
Week 11. Lecture : Fifth-category No plays
Week 12. Lecture : The canonization of No in the Tokugawa Period
Week 13. Lecture : The perspective offered by noncanonical plays
Week 14. Conclusion ; final paper due
Grading
Evaluation will be based on class participation, a midterm essay, and a
final paper.
Objective
This course will provide the international students with an opportunity
to learn what characterizes Japanese technology and industry. The lecturer
will deal with the subject based on his own experience, as a scientist/engineer/businessman,
in Japanese and American corporations. He will discuss examples of how
a new technology grew into a mature commercial technology in electronic
and petrochemical industry. He will also discuss how the dynamics of the
society has affected the growth of technology and industry. Basic knowledge
of physics and chemistry at the high school level is desirable but not
mandatory.
Textbook
No particular textbook will be used.
Lecture Outline
Week 1. How did Japanese semiconductor industry emerge from the postwar
rubble? A lecture and A Video-History of Japan's Electronic Industry; Part
1. Birth of the Transistor
Week 2. How did the embryonic transistor technology evolve into advanced
integrated circuit technology? A lecture and A Video-History of Japan's
Electronic Industry; Part 2. Electronic Circuits in Stone
Week 3. How did Japanese culture affect the growth of computer industry?
A lecture and A Video-History of Japan's Electronic Industry; Part 3. Calculator
Wars
Week 4. How did various peripheral industries support semiconductor industry?
A lecture and A Video-History of Japan's Electronic Industry; Part 4. The
Technological Giants of the Micron World
Week 5. How did laser grow into a mature commercial technology?
Week 6. Field trip to a semiconductor industry.
Week 7. Dead line for the mid-term paper: a short essay on the history
of electronic industry, and a group discussion.
Week 8. A group presentation on the history of electronic industry.
Week 9. How did polyethylene grow into a mature commercial technology?
How did it affect the growth of other industries?
Week 10. How did Japanese petrochemical industry manage to utilize C-4
hydrocarbons?
Week 11. Field trip to a petrochemical industry.
Week 12. A look at the dynamics of the society that affect the growth of
technology and industry; in Japan and in the Western World.
Week 13. Computerized Steel Mill. A Video-Story of Computer Soft-Ware,
Part 5. Wonder of a Giant System
Week 14. Dead line for the term paper: a short essay on the growth of technology
and industry, and a group discussion.
Week 15. A group presentation on the growth of technology and industry
Grading
Assessment will be based on
participation in the classes 25%
participation in the filed trips 15%
contribution to the group discussion/presentation 10%
essays 50%.
Objectives
The main subject of Technical Japanese Part II will be "Energy and
Environment". This course will provide students with an opportunity
to read Japanese literature on current topics in this field and to communicate
with scientists and engineers in research and industry settings related
to this subject, in order to actually apply the skills equipped in Technical
Japanese Part I.
Lecture Outline
ref. : Technical Japanese : Part I. (#97-8)
Grading
Participation in class 20%
Assignment 30%
Final written examination 30%
Final oral interview 20%
Instructors
Shinya Otani and other staffs
Objectives
The objectives of ELEMENTARY JAPANESE are ;
(1) to be able to use and comprehend commonly used phrases in daily interactions
with university community,
(2) to be able to deliver personal informations, experiences, simple comments,
etc. in conversation in Japanese,
(3) to have basic understanding of sentence structures, vocabulary, and
pronunciation,
(4) to become familiar with texts written in hiragana, katakana
and simple kanjis.
(5) to develop strategies for getting information about Japanese language
through interactions with native Japanese speakers.
Textbook
"Reference Manual for Learners of Japanese" (International Student
Center, Osaka University)
"Introduction to Written Japanese" (International Student Center,
Osaka University)
"Nihongo de hanasoo" vol.2-vol.4 (English Language Education
Council)
Lecture Outline
15 weeks, 3 times/week, 90 min. each
The lecture outline will be announced during the first class.
Grading
Class abundance, participation, performance 40%
Quiz, assignment, essay, and presentation 20%
Final written exam 20%
Final oral exam 20%
Instructors
Shinya Otani and other staffs
Objective
The objectives of INTERMEDIATE JAPANESE are :
(1) to expand the repertoire of collocations for daily communications in
both spoken and written Japanese,
(2) to become familiar with language structures both of spoken and written
Japanese,
(3) to be able to orally deliver factual informations/knowledge and some
simple opinions,
(4) to be fluent in comprehending and writing texts using hiragana, katakana
and approx. 1,000 kanjis,
(5) to develop strategies for getting information about Japanese language
and facilitating language acquisition through interactions with native
Japanese speakers.
Textbook
"An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese" Akira Miura
and Naomi Hanaoka McGloin, The Japan Times
Lecture Outline
15 weeks, 3 times/week, 90 min. each
The lecture outline will be announced during the first class.
Grading
Class attendance, participation performance 40%
Quiz, assignment, essay, and presentation 20%
Final written exam 20%
Final oral exam 20%