Week I: The origins of Anime and Introduction

Japanese Anime: Culture and Cinema

A Freshman seminar

Fall 2012

Mary A. McCay

Bobet Hall 314

Office Hours: TR 11-12:15, T 3-4:30, W. 9-noon

Phone: [phone] (office), 504-858-9348 (cell, please do not call after 10 P.M.)

Email:[e-mail]

Course Description/Abstract: Anime encompasses history, culture, politics, technology, and issues of social justice. This Freshman Seminar will deal with all those issues and will help student learn how to “read a film.” Student will have the opportunity to see Anime in its cultural ad historical contexts and will engage with the films as documents that influence the way people think about their world.
What is the Freshman Seminar?

The freshman seminar is, in a sense, your introduction to the importance of and the value of the common curriculum. During this course, you will literally be making a transition from high school reading, writing, and thinking to college level inquiry, analysis, evaluation, argument, and assessment. Further, the seminar will introduce students to an interdisciplinary approach to thinking and learning, and it will help students engage in Loyola’s educational mission of thinking critically and acting justly.

What is the Common Curriculum?

All Loyola students take a series of courses in Composition, Literature, Fine Arts, History, Mathematics, Natural Sciences, Philosophy, Religious Studies, and Social Sciences. While there are several options in all areas, the courses are developed to focus on:

Examining the world from different but interconnecting disciplines

Helping students relate their major to a larger educational context

Helping students to think critically about their world and to act justly in it.

Helping students understand and participate in value oriented education.

Helping students develop their critical thinking, writing, and speaking skills.


Goals and Objectives (Learning Outcomes)

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  Students will learn to read anime as a text (CC rubric A1, A7).
  
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  Students will learn the cultural history of anime (CC Rubric A 7, C 9)
  
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  Students will understand the connections between Western and Eastern approaches to film (CC Rubrics A1, C 9, D 1)
  
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  Students will learn to write critically about culture and film (A 1, 2, 3).
  
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  Students will be able to relate the issues of anime to their own experience and to the social world around them C 7, D1, 4).
  
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  Students will make the connections between social justice issues in the Anime they view and in their own lives D4 and 5).
  

Texts:

Antonia Levi: Samurai from Outer Space (SOS on calendar)

Gilles Poitras: The Anime Companion. This text will serve as a reference book. I will highlight terms you need to know on Blackboard (AC in calendar) Please buy these texts from Amazon. com or from Barnes and Noble. THE TEXTS WILL NOT BE IN THE LOYOLA BOOKSTORE. PLEASE BUY YOUR BOOKS BEFORE YOU COME TO CLASS ON THE FIRST DAY AS THE SYLLABUS INDICATES READINGS YOU MUST DO FOR THE INTRODUCTORY CLASS.
I will also post readings on Blackboard, so please check the course materials each week.

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  Class Attendance and Participation You must attend class and participate in the discussion. That means that you must watch the films each week (they will be streamed and shown on the big screen) before class each week. You must also do the readings in the required text and those posted on blackboard before coming to class on Tuesdays. If I call on you and you are not prepared twice, you will have to take the mid-semester exam. If I call on you after the mid-semester, and you are not prepared twice, you will have to take the final. There are other stipulations as well, so please be aware of them. You may have two absences before the mid-semester without penalty, and two after the mid-semester without penalty. If you have more than two absence before the mid-semester, you will take the mid term exam. If you have more than two absences after the mid-term, you will have to take the final exam. If you have more that five absences, I reserve the right to fail you for the course. 10 Points
  

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  Blog: You must blog once a week (at least 350 words), and you must comment on another student’s blog each week (at least150 words). Weekly blog must be posted before Friday at 5:00 P.M. of the week it is due. Blog comments are due on Sunday evening before 5:00 P.M. You will learn how to blog during the first week of class, Blogs must be grammatically correct, and must address an issue the film of the week deals with. THE PURPOSE OF THE BLOG IS TO GET STUDENTS TO THINK CRITICALLY ABOUT ISSUES AND TO HELP OTHER STUDENTS THINK CRITICALLY BY COMMENTING ON AND CHALLENGING POSITIONS OTHERS TAKE. Do not simply tell another student you like or agree with his or her blog; find an issue to discuss, 50 points.
  

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  Thought Questions: From time to time, I will give you a thought question as the beginning of class to generate discussion and to get students to think critically about an issue. For example: Akira deals with many social and political issues of post-nuclear societies. Teenagers constitute the central protagonists, so I might ask you to discuss how their relationships, issues about authority, and the way they solve problems, resonate with your experience 10 points
  

Brian Sullivan is the Blog Guru. His phone # is 854: 7129; his email is [e-mail]. If you are having trouble with blogging or commenting, you must get in touch with him.

Jonathan Gallaway is the Blackboard wizard. If you are having trouble with Blackboard, you must get in touch with him. His phone # is 864-7168. His email is [e-mail].

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  Mid-Term Exam: People who have missed more than two classes before the mid-term, more than one blog or more than two comment must take a mid-semester exam to get credit for missed work. The exam grade will replace one missed class or one blog or two comment. Thought questions may not be made up as they are. If I call on you and you are unprepared twice, you must take the mid-semester. If you have missed more than two assignments, you are already in trouble, and I will speak with academic resources to have students who are falling behind get some help with time management. Students who are not required to take the exam will help to prepare the mid-term examination. I will determine who must take the mid-term exam on the basis of work and class performance. Silent Bob’s will take the mid-semester. Please understand that the mid-semester will NOT take the place of a missing paper. However, students who have not turned in paper #1 will have to take the mid-semester, and I will decide how much credit they will get. They will still have to do the paper for some diminished credit. No student who fails to complete the two papers will be able to pass the course
  

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  Film Papers: You will have a short paper (3-5 pages) before the mid-semester and one (the same length) before the end of the course. This paper must be typed in Times New Roman Twelve Point type and must follow MLA format. This paper will help me assess your progress in terms of writing critically about issues and about film techniques. We will use part of a class period to determine the paper questions. Each paper will be worth 15 points.
  

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  Final Exam: This exam will cover all the films and readings we have done for the second half of the course. The same rules apply for the final as for the mid-semester exam. The members of the class not required to take the exam will help select the questions for the final. The final will replace a missed blog during the second half of the course, a missed comment, or a missed class. Students who have failed to turn in paper #2, or who have turned it in late will be required to take the final. I will determine how much credit to apply for a missed or late paper. I will determine who must take the final. Silent Bob’s will take the final.
  

Late and Make-up Policy: This course is part of your job as a student. Remember, when your boss asks you to do a job, you have to do it on time. Think of all your courses this way. NO LATE WORK! However, I understand that sometimes life can be cruel, so, if you have a real problem, email me and talk to me about it. YOU MUST DO THIS BEFORE THE ASSIGNMENT or BLOG is due. If we can work something out, we will, If you turn work in late without an agreement from me that you may, I reserve the right not to grade it, to decrease the grade, or to penalize you by making you take the mid- semester or the final.

WHY AM I SO MEAN? Students who turn work in on time will not tell you this, but they resent people who turn in work late without penalty. They reason that, had they taken more time, they could have gotten a better grade, and they are probably right. If Jacob turns his work in on time and gets a B, but Elroy turns his in three days late and gets a B+, Jacob is rightly unhappy. Students who follow the rules deserve my consideration.

I reserve the right to give pop quizzes if I feel that students are not doing the readings or watching the films.
Grading Scale

96-100: A

90-95: A-

86-89: B+

83-85: B

80-82: B-

76-79: C+

73-75: C

70-72: C-

65-69: D+

60-64: D

Below 60: F

Disability Policy: If you have a disability and wish to receive accommodations, please contact Sarah Smith, Director of Disability Services at 504-865-2990. If you wish to receive test accommodations (e.g., extended test time), you will need to give the course instructor and official Accommodation Form from Disability Services at the beginning of the term. The Office of Disability Services is located in Monroe Hall 405.
Emergency Procedures:

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  In the event that there is an interruption to our course due to the cancellation of classes by the university as a result of an emergency, we will continue our course on Blackboard within 48 hours after cancellation.
  
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  All students are required to sign of to Blackboard and to keep up with the course assignments within 48 hours of evacuation and routinely check announcements and course materials associated with each class. Class handouts will be posted under course materials.
  
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  Students should be familiar with their responsibilities during emergencies, including pre-evacuation and post-evacuation for hurricanes. This information is available on the Academic Affairs web site:
  
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  http://academicaffairs.loyno.edu/students-emergency-responsibilities
  

Calendar

Film Screenings are on Monday evenings at 6:30 P.M. in Bobet 332

unless otherwise indicated.

Week I: The origins of Anime and Introduction. (Reading: SOS, Chs. 1 and 2.) We will also learn how to do a blog.

Week II: Anime Dystopias, Akira
Week III: Ninja Scroll. Reading: SOS Ch. 3.
Week IV: Perfect Blue. Psychosis, self-image, and gender competition.
Week V: Cowboy Bebop
Week VI: Paper #1 is due on Thursday of Week VI. You will post this paper in the appropriate place in blackboard. Instructions for posting are in The Course Materials folder on Blackboard

Week VII (10/11-13): Your mid-semester grade will be based on class attendance and participation, on blogs, comments, and on Paper #1. If a student has missed work, turned in work late without permission, has more than two absences, he/she will take a mid-term exam. All students will come to class on Tuesday to discuss
Week VII Film: Ghost in the Shell, review and help make up the exam. Only those required to take the exam need to attend class on Thursday. The Screening of Ghost in the Shell will be on Monday evening. Reading: SOS Ch 5.This film will be on the exam.
Week VIII: World War II: The Harp of Burma. Reading: SOS Ch. 6. I will also show some Japanese anime propaganda films made in Japan during WWII.
Week IX: World War II continued Grave of the Fireflies.
Week X: Barefoot Gen
Week XI: Ah! My Goddess . You must also read SOS, Ch. 7
Week XII: Princess Mononoke Ecological concerns in anime,
Week XIII: Thanksgiving Break: Please note that there will be no class on Tuesday, but read the instructions for turning in your paper on Blackboard. Paper #2 Due. This paper must be posted on blackboard by at 5 P.M on Friday at the end of Week XIII. Since this is the Thanksgiving break, make sure you have access to internet and blackboard over the break. If you do not, you must turn your paper in on Tuesday before leaving for the break.
Week XIV: Nausicaa. More ecology and more war—versus the ideology of tolerance.

Etc.

Week XV: Auteurs Study of Hayao Miyazaki. Reading: SOS Ch. 8.

Spirited Away: The screening for this film is required. Please make arrangements to be at the screening. I will serve pizza. Bring your own drink. PLEASE DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE TO GET OFF WORK OR OTHER OBLIGATIONS. YOU SHOULD SPEAK TO YOUR SUPERVISOR AT THE BEGINNING OF THE TERM TO PLAN FOR THIS SCREENING. IF YOU HAVE A CLASS ON THE NIGHT OF THE SCREENING, PLEASE SEE ME IMMEDIATELY.
Final Exam: The same rules apply to the final as to the mid term. I will inform those people who have to take the exam on the night of the Spirited Away Screening.

The exam will take place in the classroom on Thursday, December 15, from 9-11 A.M. Please do not make plane reservations for a departure that would prevent your taking the exam because you will not know until the last week of class if you are exempt.

Film Screenings: All film screenings will be on Monday evenings in Bobet 332. Students who attend at least 11 of the fourteen films will be given extra credit on their final grade. If you have a B- for a final grade, but have attended 11 of the films, you will receive a B. You must sign in at the screening. Failure to sign in means you do not get credit for attending the film. Note: Screenings are not required, but, since I go to them, and encourage students to see the films in a group, I give extra credit for attending.