MA Interdisciplinary Japanese Studies

Norwich is the home of the UK’s leading research centre for the study of Japanese arts, media, and visual cultures. Since 1999, the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures has been developing and sharing its world-class research with the city and with UEA. Building on UEA’s strengths in media studies, creative writing, intercultural communication, gender studies, and history, the course offers a wide range of disciplinary approaches and methods.

The MA in Interdisciplinary Japanese Studies responds to our contemporary moment in which globalisation and future-oriented concerns put Japan and its cultures at the centre of debates on urgent issues such as technology and digital innovation, population change, media representation, and health and ageing. The course draws on UEA’s specialist research and teaching to position Japanese Studies in relation to the major humanities disciplines including literature, history, politics, and art. Through our unique interdisciplinary approach, we celebrate UEA’s distinctive approach to engaging with Japan.

On this course you will explore Japanese arts and culture, society and history through a diverse range of disciplinary approaches and methods. You’ll learn about the history of ideas and engage with key writings about Japan, and think critically about the direction of contemporary Japanese studies.

You’ll be taught by experts from across the many disciplines that fall under Interdisciplinary Japanese Studies – including art history, film and media studies, history, politics, and international relations. And you’ll gain a valuable perspective on the subject through input from experts in Japanese arts, cultures and heritage researching at the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures.

About

Looking at a variety of topics through the lens of Japan offers an exciting opportunity to engage with the world while expanding your understanding of art, media, literature, history, and politics. Whether you have already studied, or lived in, Japan and wish to broaden your knowledge, or whether you plan to focus your studies on the region for the first time, an MA in Interdisciplinary Japanese Studies offers the perspective of a different culture and academic tradition.

Knowledge of the Japanese language is not a requirement of the programme.

As our world becomes more globalised each day, there has never been a better time to study this subject. You will benefit from UEA’s expertise in Japanese arts, media, politics, and history. What’s more, you’ll learn about a variety of research methods, equipping you with the tools to actively participate in shaping the field yourself.

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Course Reference Number: 1544813

Important Information

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the courses listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the regular review of course programmes. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes, there will normally be prior consultation of students and others. Changes may for example consist of variations to the content and method of delivery of programmes, courses and other services, to discontinue programmes, courses and other services and to merge or combine programmes or courses. The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will inform students.

Assessment for Year 1

Your achievement on the MA in Interdisciplinary Japanese Studies will be assessed by coursework rather than exams. This will include essays, research proposals, and your final dissertation.

In all your modules you’ll get frequent formative feedback from your tutors – helping you to develop your knowledge and skills before producing summative work.

Structure

You can take the MA in Interdisciplinary Japanese Studies as either a one-year full-time or two-year part-time course.

We begin with our year-long core module, Researching Japan. This is an important introduction to the fundamental writings and debates in Japanese studies across the history of the field, equipping you with the tools to actively participate in its future direction. If you choose to study part-time, this module will make up the first year’s workload, together with dissertation planning.

You will also cover the history of ideas and key writings about Japan, and be encouraged to think critically about the direction of contemporary Japanese studies more broadly.

In the autumn and spring semesters, you will choose three modules from a range of optional modules, focusing on the specific areas of Japanese studies that interest you. If you study part time, you will choose one optional module in Year 1, to study alongside the year-long compulsory course module, and while beginning planning and research towards your dissertation.

Your dissertation will be organised and developed across the two years of part-time study. This is your chance to pursue an area of specialist study of your choice, investigating a specific academic methodology or topic. You’ll get advice from two members of staff as supervisors to support you in researching and writing up your dissertation. The dissertation module is supported by the core module, helping you to develop a range of transferrable skills for the workplace, future research, or doctoral-level study.

Teaching and Learning

Teaching

You’ll be taught by a leading team of research-active academic staff who bring diverse disciplinary perspectives to the study of Japan. They have particular strengths in Japanese arts, cultures, and heritage, Japanese politics and international relations, Japanese film, media, anime, and manga, gender in Japan, and Japanese history from the early modern era to the present day.

Our researchers have explored many different themes using a variety of approaches and methods – from experimental art movements to archaeology, and from wartime culture to post-war social change. At UEA and the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures, academics across the arts, humanities, and social sciences have published influential work on Japanese Studies.

You will be mainly taught through lectures and seminars. You’ll usually spend around eight hours a week (for full time students) in seminars, which will incorporate small and whole group working.

As part of your core module on Researching Japan, you’ll attend presentations from staff and visiting researchers at the Sainsbury Institute public lecture series, academic workshop events, and the Center for Japanese Studies seminar series, allowing you to discuss ideas in development. And you’ll have the opportunity to attend additional lectures from visiting speakers addressing themes in any area of study relevant to your interests at UEA.

Independent study

Working independently is an important aspect of study at Master’s level. You’ll do preparatory reading for each seminar as well as working towards your coursework. You’ll bring your own areas of interest to every module and have the opportunity to define your focus. In the dissertation, you will have the opportunity to focus on a subject area that you’re passionate about and potentially see a career path within. You’ll also have access to the world leading Lisa Sainsbury Library at the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures.

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Assessment for Year 2

Your achievement on the MA in Interdisciplinary Japanese Studies will be assessed by coursework rather than exams. This will include essays, research proposals, and your final dissertation.

In all your modules you’ll get frequent formative feedback from your tutors – helping you to develop your knowledge and skills before producing summative work.

Structure

Year 2, you will choose two more optional modules to study while researching and writing your dissertation

Teaching and Learning

Teaching

You will be mainly taught through lectures and seminars. You’ll usually spend around eight hours a week (for full time students) in seminars, which will incorporate small and whole group working.

Independent study

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The first year of your taught Masters programme.

Assessment for Year 1

Your achievement on the MA in Interdisciplinary Japanese Studies will be assessed by coursework rather than exams. This will include essays, research proposals, and your final dissertation.

In all your modules you’ll get frequent formative feedback from your tutors – helping you to develop your knowledge and skills before producing summative work.

Compulsory Modules

RESEARCHING JAPAN

Code HUM-7012Y

Credits 40

This module will provide an introduction to research skills and resources necessary for undertaking postgraduate research about Japan. The module will be convened by Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures (SISJAC) and organised with the support of the Centre for Japanese Studies (CJS), located in the Interdisciplinary Institute for the Humanities (IIH). This compulsory core module will include units offered by all Japan-related UEA and SISJAC academic staff. There will be a significant amount of teaching time devoted to dissertation preparation. Each week is organized around a key text, theory, or movement in Japanese studies. Significant works in the field will provide case studies around which we develop our understanding of the opportunities offered by interdisciplinary engagement with Japan.

Optional A Modules

(40 credits)

JAPANESE CINEMA AND MEDIA: PRODUCTS, PEOPLE, PLATFORMS

Code AMAM7021B

Credits 20

Japanese cinema has been at the forefront of non-Anglophone cinematic discourses since the earliest periods of “world” cinema history. Investigating Japanese cinema will allow us pose a variety of important questions in relation to the history, techniques, and culture of cinema as it is created and consumed around the world. This module offers an overview of Japanese cinema and associated media through a transcultural lens. We will examine how Japanese cinema as art, propaganda, and entertainment has continuously struggled to consolidate its international roots with a stylistically pronounced “national” identity. From analysis of the discourse surrounding importing cinema apparatus in 1896, we will work towards the present day, considering how filmmaking and distribution practices in Japan have been altered by the Internet and globalism.

JAPANESE MODERNITY: A HISTORY OF IDEAS

Code HIS-7030A

Credits 20

Having been largely closed to western influences for more than 200 years, Japan opened to international trade in the mid-nineteenth century. The process of modernization that followed was swift and radical, transforming the east-Asian nation into a capitalist and industrial power with colonial ambitions in the course of a few decades. Technology and practical knowledge imported from the west supported this transformation, but so did an insatiable curiosity for western ideas. This module explores the intellectual exchanges that shaped Japanese modernity, and the tensions they created, for example with regard to geographical thought, Christianity, revolutionary politics, aesthetics, the man-nature relationship, and gender issues. Most importantly, it examines how foreign ideas were understood and renegotiated in light of east-Asian indigenous traditions.

JAPANESE ART HISTORY AND CULTURAL HERITAGE: INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACHES

Code HUM-7013B

Credits 20

Japanese art history is a dynamic and innovative research field, exemplary within the context of local art histories. This intellectual excellence can be attributed to the unique academic constellation that informs research on Japanese art, concentrated around two main fields: art history and areas studies. Japanese art scholarship thus benefits from the synergies of employing both visual and regional expertise. In particular, through its strong relation to area studies, art history of Japan is drawn to interdisciplinary cooperation and dialogue. This course is designed to make students aware of the benefits and possibilities of exploring Japanese art from an interdisciplinary standpoint, and to help them identify research subjects that appeal to the larger academic audiences. Focusing on art history’s connections with other research fields, from literature studies to environmental studies, this module is based on a series of case studies from premodern and modern Japanese art, with each session dedicated to art history’s relation to a specific discipline. This integrated approach will encourage interdisciplinary discussion and collaborations, while addressing visual material in a new and innovative way. This course brings together academic expertise of the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures, the Interdisciplinary Institute for the Humanities, and visual resources in the collection of the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts.

THE FOREIGN RELATIONS OF CHINA AND JAPAN IN THE MODERN WORLD

Code PPLI7007B

Credits 20

The module looks at the history of China and Japan from the mid-19th century to the present day. You'll cover the attempts at modernisation, conflict between the two nations, their relationships with the Asian region and the United States. You'll also investigate their contrasting attempts to develop in the postwar period. In addition, you'll assess their current policies and the issues of importance to China and Japan in the 21st century, and explore whether they can move beyond the legacy of this difficult history.

Admissions Live Chat

Important Information

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring, review and update of modules. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes and their constituent modules, the University will endeavour to consult with students and others. It is also possible that the University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. In some cases optional modules can have limited places available and so you may be asked to make additional module choices in the event you do not gain a place on your first choice. Where this is the case, the University will inform students.

This is the second year of your taught Masters programme.

Assessment for Year 2

Your achievement on the MA in Interdisciplinary Japanese Studies will be assessed by coursework rather than exams. This will include essays, research proposals, and your final dissertation.

In all your modules you’ll get frequent formative feedback from your tutors – helping you to develop your knowledge and skills before producing summative work.

Compulsory Modules

DISSERTATION

Code HUM-7011X

Credits 80

The dissertation is an opportunity to pursue an area of specialist study on a specific academic methodology or topic. Students will be assigned two members of staff as supervisors to advise on research and writing. The dissertation module is supported by the core module, allowing students to develop a range of transferable skills for the workplace, future research, or doctoral-level study. Students will pursue and individual research project, drawing on knowledge gained on other modules in the MA in Interdisciplinary Japanese Studies and acquiring an in-depth knowledge of a more specialist area of research.