Japanese Classical Literature (Tuesdays, April 30 - May 28, 2024)

This 5-week course will cover a variety of literary forms, beginning with early poetry and prose and including classics from the aristocratic age (e.g., The Tale of Genji, The Pillow Book) where women writers and poetry reigned supreme, the warrior age (Zen works, drama) where war, warrior, and religious concerns transform the literary landscape, and the early modern age (Love Suicides and other dramas, haiku) where townspeople broaden our horizons as to what constitutes classical literature. A variety of themes will be explored including customs, gender, social structure, and commercialization. Readings will be provided, including excerpts of longer works. All participants will receive a copy of the full Seidensticker translation of The Tale of Genji (you’ll only need to read the assigned chapters). The course will also include teaching suggestions and materials such as manga comics adaptations which I hope you will use to introduce the texts to your students.

The course will entail reading the weekly materials and watching the recorded lectures—and posting questions and comments to our online discussion forum. Most of all, I look forward to hearing about your thoughts and experiences of classical Japan once a week in a Zoom session. I look forward to seeing you all there!

- Professor Lynne Miyake

Instructor

Lynne K. Miyake is an Emerita professor of Japanese at Pomona College. Miyake’s background is in classical Japanese literature, and she works extensively in the narrative prose and diary literature traditions of the 10th through 12th centuries.

• video presentations 
• readings
• mandatory online forum participation
• five live online Zoom discussions 

• 3 Continuing Education Units (processing fee covered by the US-China Institute)
• Certificate of Completion
• Online resources and materials

*Must complete seminar requirements

Reading assignments and pre-recorded lectures for each week will be available in an online forum and are to be completed prior to the discussion sessions. Access and log-in information will be provided upon acceptance into the course. Please refer to the Seminar Requirements (to be updated) for details on assignments and course completion.

Discussions are on Tuesdays, 4-5pm PT.

This program is sponsored by the USC U.S.-China Institute and the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia.

Join our Teaching about Asia Facebook Group to Interact with other educators and get information about professional development seminars, Asia-focused events, international study tours, and other resources to help you bring Asia into your classroom. 

How to apply - Submit your application below. Please add uschina@usc.edu to your address book so the email does not end up in the spam folder.