授業の目的 【日本語】 Goals of the Course(JPN) | | |
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授業の目的 【英語】 Goals of the Course | | -- Students will be able to define the characteristics and affordances of major media forms and how they are used in transmedia storytelling
-- Students will become conversant with critical terminology and methodologies used in media studies, platform studies, and game studies
-- Students will develop strategies for critically engaging with meaning and affect in media texts, and understanding how texts are culturally situated |
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到達目標 【日本語】 Objectives of the Course(JPN) | | |
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授業の内容や構成 Course Content / Plan | | This course is an introduction to the study of contemporary narrative-driven media in Japan, with an emphasis on transmedia storytelling. Working with a select few franchises, we will seek to understand how narrative conventions and plot structures are tailored to media affordances, and how industry, audiences, and even the materiality of media itself play agentic roles in shaping the development of storyworlds. Working primarily within the setting of Japan, we will start off with some historical context about pre-digital transmedia cultures of wartime and early postwar Japan, culminating in the Kadokawa “media mix” of the 1970s, followed by a look at participatory communities that formed around dōjinshi fanzines of the 1960s through the 1990s. Major shifts in the media ecology of Japan during the so-called “lost decade,” including the spread of the internet, digital tools for self-publishing, and the rapid development of gaming technologies, helped radically reshape the spaces of cultural consumption and fan labor, while also expanding the audiences for Japanese media on a global scale. Despite attempts to steer these developments towards national or political agendas—such as in the “Cool Japan” campaign of the 2010s—regular people like you and me still play a decisive role in determining how we consume or “prosume” media culture. So, in a sense, this class is about us and about why our digitally-mediated experiences with stories matter. NUPACE students and undergraduate students from programs like JACS are welcome to join the course. |
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履修条件・関連する科目 Course Prerequisites and Related Courses | | No course prerequisites, but prior background in East Asian media culture, or East Asian humanities, would be helpful. |
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成績評価の方法と基準 Course Evaluation Method and Criteria | | 30% Class Participation 20% In-class critiques of media texts 10% Chatbot exercise (use generative AI to create a paper based on your research interests in this class; write a brief critique that outlines how your own approach will be different) 40% Final Project (Research Paper or Creative project w/ precis) |
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教科書・テキスト Textbook | | All readings will be provided on the first day of class. There are no textbooks to purchase. |
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参考書 Reference Book | | References will be provided on the first day of class. |
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課外学習等(授業時間外学習の指示) Study Load(Self-directed Learning Outside Course Hours) | | Students should expect to spend two to three hours per week on reading and assignments. |
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履修取り下げ制度(利用の有無)学部のみ Course withdrawal | | Students who wish to withdraw from the class should do so by the deadline. |
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備考 Others | | |
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授業開講形態等 Lecture format, etc. | | |
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