Course syllabus
JAPANESE150 EXPLORING JAPAN (2017SC)
You can download the course schedule by clicking here
Lectures: Attend both (Wed 1-2pm and Thu 1-2pm)
Tutorials: Attend one/week (See ‘Tutorial’ section of this syllabus)
Fri 1-2pm or Fri 2-3pm or Fri 3-4pm
Time and location may change at a short notice. Before your first lecture and tutorial please refer to the timetable on Student Services Online at http://www.studentservices.auckland.ac.nz/en/sso-my-timetables-grades-course-history.html for the most updated information.
CLASS REPS:
Rosalie Alter-Show: ralt575@aucklanduni.ac.nz
Dominic Spary: dspa545@aucklanduni.ac.nz
Course facebook page: Link
COURSE COORDINATOR/LECTURER
Dr. Rumi Sakamoto
Room: 435, 4F Arts 2
Phone: ext. 84600
Email: r.sakamoto@auckland.ac.nz
Office Hours: Tue 12-2
I am available for consultation throughout the semester. If you would like to discuss any aspect of the course, please contact me via email or phone and arrange an appointment.
TUTOR
Ms Florence Crick-Friesen
Email: fcri003@aucklanduni.ac.nz
Office hour: Wednesdy 11:30-12:30, Arts 2, Level 3 (207-313C)
GUEST LECTURERS
Dr Lawrence Marceau, CLL: lecture on Japanese literature
Dr Harumi Minagawa, CLL: lecture on Japanese language
Professor Mark Mullins, CLL: lecture on Japanese religions
STUDENT MENTOR
Where needed, student mentors will help you develop the necessary skills for successful academic life with a focus on coursework completion. Normally s/he will identify students who need help (after the first assignment) and offer their assistance; but if you would like their help, please contact them via email.
In addition to Asian studies mentor who looks after all Japanese150 students, there are two proofreading mentors, who can help International students with their English and academic writing.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
JAPANESE150 is a core course for a Major and Minor in Japanese. This means that you are required to pass this course in order to a major or a minor in Japanese.
It offers students a brief introduction to modern Japanese history, political issues, culture, and society. It is designed for those who are taking up the academic study of Japan for the first time; previous knowledge of Japan or Japanese language is not required.
In addition to offering some basic knowledge on Japanese history, culture and society, it seeks to help students develop skills in critically and analytically examining various aspects of Japan through reading, class discussion, and writing. Through a multi-disciplinary approach, students are expected to learn about a multi-faceted ‘Japan,’ which is often stereotyped as a homogenous society. We will also study the importance and relevance of various events in the past for contemporary society. How do various events of the past contribute to the sense of national identity today? What are the competing memories of the war that shape today’s politics? Who produces and consumes them, and to what end?
The course consists of three parts: 1) HISTORY; 2) SOCIETY AND CULTURE; 3) LITERATURE LANGUAGE AND POPULAR CULTURE. The history section provides a general historical background for the last two parts, where we will examine aspects of contemporary Japanese life focusing on such topics as politics, economy, working life, gender relations, minorities, literature and popular culture. Overall, this course aims to bring together different issues and different disciplinary perspectives to facilitate a basic understanding of Japan as a highly complex and dynamic society.
It serves as an introduction to other fields of advanced study of Japan currently available within the SAS. It is hoped that during the course of study, each student will discover areas of interest and embark on further study of Japan.
CANVAS
All students enrolled in courses at The University of Auckland have access to CANVAS automatically.
CANVAS is designed for students to: access course information relevant to courses in which they are enrolled; check announcements and marks; download resources; complete on-line tests and participate in on-line discussion. You will submit your courseworks to Turnitin via CANVAS. All your lecture notes and recordings, essay titles and any announcements will be posted on CANVAS. It is your responsibility to access CANVAS regularly.
CANVAS announcement will be sent to your university email address. Please check your university email regularly throughout the semester so as not to miss important information. Emails that are sent via CANVAS are assumed to have been read.
For CANVAS Student Guides, go to:
Lecture PPTs for each lecture will be available on CANVAS two days prior to the lecture. Please read them BEFORE you come to the lectures. Many students choose to print out the lecture outline and add their notes on it during the lecture.
Lecture PPTs contain just outlines. They do not substitute for the lectures. You do need to come to the lectures and take notes.
TUTORIALS
There is a tutorial every week from Week 3. Enrol one stream only and stay with your own group throughout the semester. There will be marks associated with tutorial attendance.
WEEK 1: NO TUTORIAL
WEEK 2 (Friday, 4th August 2017): LIBRARY TRAINING SESSION (in computer training room, Kate Edger Information Commons, Level 4, Room 431)
You need to pre-book your Week 2 library training session on library skills
Select one session by the end of the Week 1, using the bookings database of the library at:
https://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/workshops/
Search for JAPANESE 150. Options can be found by clicking the drop down menu.
Choose ONE of the available time slots from the drop-down column. Please note that these tutorials are not necessarily offered at the same time as normal streams. Each stream is limited to 18 students/a stream. First come first served.
Library Training Session will help you search relevant materials for your assignments. Please go to the session after choosing an article to review for the first assignment.
Library exercise mark will count as Week 2 tutorial quiz mark.
If this is your first year at the university and if you haven’t done so already, in addition to (and ideally prior to) the above training session in Week 2, please read: http://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/docs/handouts/introduction-library-search.pdf
There are other useful resources at:
http://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/study-skills/searching
From WEEK3 onwards, tutorials will take place in the usual room.
Please check SSO for the time and location of your tutorial stream.
Tutorial preparation and attendance
Please read your weekly tutorial material before you come to the class. Tutorial readings are in your coursebook. It is your responsibility to read in advance, and come prepared for the tutorial.
Weekly tutorial quiz will take place at the beginning of each tutorial. All the questions will be based on the readings assigned for that week.
Tutorials are an integral part of the course, and topics are closely linked to lectures. They provide students with an opportunity to discuss specific issues relevant to the lectures, as well as practising research skills, and developing essay-writing skills.
Which tutorial stream do I go to? How do I sign up?
When you enrolled the course, SSO would have asked you to choose the tutorial stream. If you haven’t selected a tutorial stream, please do so as soon as possible via SSO. You may change streams via SSO up to the end of Week 2 on the ‘first come, first served’ basis. The number of students for each stream is limited, and the stream signup will be locked automatically as soon as a stream becomes full; so please select your stream early. You need to enrol in the course formally by Friday of Week 2. After that, there will be a late enrolment fee (about $100).
Monday Week 3 is the last day for selecting/changing the tutorial stream via SSO. After that date, you must attend your stream throughout the course.
ASSESSMENTS
1) 2 Hour Final Exam – 50%
2) Article review (800 words) – 15%
3) Essay (1,500 words) – 25%
4) Weekly tutorial quiz – 10%
Please refer to the COURSE SCHEDULE section for the DUE DATES for each piece of coursework.
COURSEWORK
As a significant portion of both final exam and the course work is WRITTEN WORK, we advise that students with problems with English and/or academic writing should seek the help of the STUDENT LEARNING SERVICES at the earliest opportunity (See the section on ‘Student Learning Services’ of this syllabus). They offer a number of workshops, as well as individual advisory session. Some tutorials will be on how to use the library for research and how to write an essay; however if you have not written any essays before, course tutorials will not be sufficient to help students gain skills necessary for writing effective essays. It is your responsibility to seek help to ensure that you have your basic essay writing skills.
When you submit your written work:
- Please word-process your assignments. (Double-spaced, good margins, 12-point font; Times New Roman or other similar fonts are recommended.)
- On each assignment, you must staple an assignment tracking sheet (you need to print it out yourself from CANVAS).
- For review, write "review of [the title of the article/chapter you are reviewing]" on your assignment tracking sheet.
- For essay, write down the essay question on your assignment tracking sheet.
- You must keep a copy of all your assignments for yourself.
- You need to submit both electronic and hard copies. An electronic copy of assignment must be submitted to Turnitin.com (See the section ‘What is Turnitin?’), via CANVAS. A hard copy of the assignment must be handed in the Arts Assignments Centre in Social Sciences Building (SSB), by the entrance to the Arts Students space. Both electronic and hard copies need to be in by 4pm on the due dates. No Turnitin/CANVAS submission, no mark. Any submission after 4pm will be considered to be the next day’s submission.
- Medical certificates for late works must be dated within one week prior to the deadline for the assignment. Any late works without medical certificates will receive penalty.
If you have an illness or other serious problems that affect your ability to attend lectures and tutorial during the course, do not hesitate to discuss your problems with the tutor/coordinator before your coursework is seriously affected.
For both assignments, please ensure that: 1) you have run spell checker and grammar checker to ensure your work does not contain any typo or grammatical error; 2) your footnotes and bibliography are done according to the following section on ‘bibliography and reference style’; 3) your work consists of clearly identifiable paragraphs with topic sentences; 4) you have not plagiarised. Check all direct quotations have to have quotations marks. Any quoted material without quotation marks, even if you add a reference/footnote to indicate the source, will be penalised.
Referencing:
For all written assignments, use Chicago (footnotes). Click the link below and choose Chicago.
Late works:
10% is deducted for each day up to 5 days. An essay submitted past 5 days will not be marked, but will be kept and may be used to determine the final grade if the final mark falls on the C-/D+ borderline. For this reason you should always try completing and submitting your coursework, even if you missed the deadline.
FIRST ASSIGNMENT: ARTICLE REVIEW
Please choose ONE of the assigned article/book chapter and write a review of about 800 words. Please stay within the word limit. Your review must present the key ideas of the article effectively and accurately. It must also discuss and evaluate the article. The aim of the coursework is to encourage you to: 1) read scholarly articles closely and carefully; 2) identify its main ideas and arguments; 3) summarise them in your own words without plagiarism or poor paraphrasing; 4) evaluate scholarly works critically; 5) supply evidence for your own ideas and arguments. You may like to look at some reviews sections in a scholarly journal (e.g. Journal of Asian Studies; Journal of Japanese Studies) for examples of reviews. The library training session in Week 2 will help you how to do this.
Please use at least 3 academic sources and accurately reference all sources you have consulted.
What will be assessed in the first assignment? The following are some of the things you will need to think about.
- Does the review demonstrate an accurate understanding of the article?
- Does it have a visible structure and is it written clearly?
- Does it focus on the author’s main ideas and argument rather than non-essential details?
- Is all information provided accurate?
- Does it contain clear assessment of the article? Has it identified its strength, weakness, usefulness, limitation etc.?
- Have the references been done correctly and meticulously?
SECOND ASSIGNMENT: ESSAY
Essay topics for the second assignment will be distributed later in the course, via CANVAS.
What will be assessed in the second assignment? The following are some of the things you will need to think about.
- Does the essay have clear introduction and conclusion?
- Is the structure clear and meaningful?
- Does the essay answer the question directly?
- Does the essay contain accurate information?
- Is the argument clear and persuasive?
- Are all points supported by evidence, examples, argument?
- Does the essay present in-depth analysis rather than superficial observations, generalisations, opinions, or stereotypes?
- Have the references been done correctly and meticulously?
- Does the essay effectively use more than five good printed sources?
MARKING CRITERIA
A: Excellent (80–100)
An ‘A’ range essay has a clear and strong argument that is well constructed and robustly supported by appropriate evidence. It is based on wide reading of academic journal articles and books, and demonstrates a accurate grasp of the material used. All references and footnotes are done accurately and meticulously. It shows an excellent understanding of the topic, question and relevant issues, and shows a deep engagement with the topic. It manages to incorporate some complexity and subtlety without sacrificing clarity. It demonstrates an excellent command of academic writing, has a clear structure, excellent style and grammar. In addition, A+ work will have some flair and goes beyond what’s normally expected of an A essay.
B: Good/Competent (65–79)
A ‘B’ range essay has a good, clear structure and a convincing argument that is supported by adequate evidence. Reading is adequately done and sources are properly referenced. It demonstrates an accurate understanding of the essay question and tackles the question directly and fully. It demonstrates a good to strong understanding of the topic and relevant issues, and uses resources adequately to show this. Writing is clear throughout, with a good grammar and clear focus. It is evident that the author made a good effort towards the research, writing and presenting of the essay.
C: Satisfactory (50–64)
A ‘C’ range essay demonstrates a reasonable to acceptable knowledge of the subject matter. There is an attempt to answer the question and evidence of effort made towards presenting a coherent essay based on some reading and evidence, but it also contains some problems such as thin or illogical argument, inadequate use of evidence, inadequate reading, a problem with referencing, partial misunderstanding of the topic or reading. Essays in this range may suffer a confused argument and/or structure, inclusion of irrelevant material, or lack of focus. Weak writing also is a typical problem for this range.
D: Fail (0–49)
Essays that demonstrates serious and consistent problems such as inadequate reading, misunderstanding of the question, misunderstanding of the reading, very weak structure or argument, repeated use of inadequate evidence, failure in distinguishing one’s opinion and facts, weak/elementary expression, careless referencing and footnotes. Overall quality is poor.
PLAGIARISM
PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY!!!
Students are encouraged to read widely then express their own views and ideas in their written work. When a student simply copies sentences, phrases, ideas, and even paragraphs from another writer, this is plagiarism and will not be tolerated. When a student copies her/his own essay submitted for another course, this is also a plagiarism. Plagiarism is the theft of another person’s words or ideas. The staff will penalise severely any work containing plagiarised portions, ranging from receiving 0 mark to failing the course.
The following sites are useful in understanding what constitutes plagiarism:
- https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/about/learning-and-teaching/policies-guidelines-and-procedures/academic-integrity-info-for-students/university-regulations-statutes-and-guidelines.html
- http://www.plorg/
- http://www.cite.auckland.ac.nz/index.php?p=plagiarism
Plagiarism policy:
- Whenever you use other people’s works (including websites), they must be accurately referenced. Use quotation, paraphrase or summary – and always reference them.
- If you copy sentences, phrases, ideas etc. from another writer, without acknowledging the source, this is plagiarism.
- If you quote (even with quotation marks), paraphrase or summarise without citing the source, this is plagiarism.
- Any work that contains a plagiarised material will receive 0 mark.
- If you recycle your own assignment you did for another course, this will also receive 0 mark.
- If you cite the sources accurately but do not use quotation marks for direct quotes, you will have your marks deducted.
To avoid plagiarism:
- Make sure you complete Academic integrity course.
- You must document ALL quotations and borrowed ideas
- You must clearly differentiate your own ideas and words from the ideas and borrowed words of other writers. This is done by accurate quoting and paraphrasing.
- Avoid paraphrases that are similar to the original sources. (Even if you cite the original source, if your writing borrow the vocabularies and/or the structure of the original, this is considered to be a plagiarism.
For example, the following ‘paraphrasing’ is too close to the original and therefore unacceptable.
Original:
‘In 1971, for example, Honda Katsuichi began a series of reports in the Asahi newspaper on the Nanjing massacre and other war atrocities Japan committed in China.’ (L. Hein and M. Selden, Censoring History: Citizenship and Memory in Japan, Germany, and the United States, p. 111.)
Plagiarism – Too close to the original; NOT acceptable:
‘In 1971, Honda started writing reports on the Nanjing massacre and other atrocities Japan carried out in China in the Asahi newspaper.’
Paraphrase – in your own words; Acceptable:
‘In 1971, The Asahi newspaper published a series of reports by Honda Katsuichi, documenting Japan’s atrocities in China, including the Nanjing Massacre.’
In addition to plagiarism, ‘The University of Auckland Guidelines: conduct of coursework’ lists the following as examples of cheating in coursework:
- Copying from another student’s coursework
- Making up or fabricating data
- Submitting the same, or substantially similar, assignment that you have done for assessment in more than one course.
- Misrepresenting disability, temporary illness or injury
- Using material obtained from commercial essay or assignment services.
If you are uncertain about basic essay writing mechanics such as quotations, footnotes and references, you can ask for help at the Student Learning Centre. The library also has a good selection of books on study skills and writing, as well as online sources and exercises. Please also refer to the university guideline for coursework and other relevant information available at:
https://policies.auckland.ac.nz/policy-display-register/student-academic-conduct-statute.pdf
University policy on cheating: “The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting his or her learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. This requirement also applies to sources on the world-wide web. A student's assessed work may be reviewed against electronic source material using computerised detection mechanisms. Upon reasonable request, students may be required to provide an electronic version of their work for computerised review.”
TURNITIN
JAPANESE 150 uses Turnitin. You are required to submit an electronic copy of your essays to Turnitin.com via CANVAS as well as a hard copy to Arts Assignment Centre (Social Sciences Building). Turnitin.com is an electronic plagiarism detection service that is used by dozens of universities world-wide. When a student’s assignment is turned in to the system it is matched against millions of Internet pages, databases and a constantly increasing database of all previously and concurrently submitted assignments. Teaching staff receive a report from Turnitin that can be used as a resource to assist staff in making a judgement as to whether a student’s work is plagiarised. The internet has made plagiarism easier than ever before. The ease of downloading and copying "untraceable" online information has led to an epidemic of ‘digital plagiarism,’ and Turnitin was introduced to deal with plagiarism effectively.
FINAL EXAMINATION
The final exam will contain multiple-choice questions, short answer questions and essay questions. The exam timetable will be available on SSO after the close of enrolment. Past examination papers are available from the Library website [Library – Databases – Exam papers] You may bring your coursebook ONLY o the exam.
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Note: UNIVERSITY EXAMS ARE DIFFERENT FROM THE NCEA SYSTEM
Under the NCEA system, you were probably advised that you should focus on achieving a smaller number of 'excellent' grades rather than a larger number of 'achieved' results, and that you should therefore put all your time and effort in an examination into the section(s) where you might expect to be graded 'excellent', and not even attempt other sections.
In a university examination, your final grade is calculated on the basis of the total marks you achieve. If you do not attempt one of the questions, you will get 0 for it, and that will have a serious impact on your total for the paper. For example, if you are expected to answer FOUR questions, each worth 25%, and you answer only three, even if you were to achieve full marks on each of the three, you would have only 75% for the paper, and so the best you could hope for would be a B+ result (and very few students manage full marks in an examination).
In general, especially with essay-type answers, it is relatively easy to earn a pass-mark (50%); to do better, you must write more, and/or structure your answer better, and show additional insight into the implications of the question. This means that it is advisable for you to make at least some sort of response to all of the required number of questions, and then to spend additional time on those you feel more confident of answering better.
READ THE INSTRUCTIONS ON THE EXAMINATION PAPER FIRST, to ensure that you understand how many questions are required. Be careful, when there are options, that you do not waste time answering MORE than the required number of questions. If you do so, it is University policy that the examiner will mark the questions in the order presented in your examination answer book, and once the required number of answers have been marked, no more will be read (even if the last one might have been your best effort!). |
You will receive more information on this year’s final exam in the lectures and tutorials.
What do I do if I missed the final exam because of an injury or an illness?
If you are prevented from being present at the exam because of a serious illness, injury, or exceptional circumstances beyond your control, you can apply for Aegrotat or compassionate considerations. But always try to sit the exam as much as you can – this increases your chances of being granted Aegrotat or compassionate considerations.
Details are found at:
GROUND RULES
The lecturers and tutors are committed to:
*Preparing the lecture PPTs in advance and making them available on CANVAS
*Making lecture recording available on CANVAS
*Starting and finishing lectures/tutorials on time
*Being available for questions and answers during office hours
We expect that you:
*Read the syllabus thoroughly
*Do the weekly readings before lectures and tutorials
*Come to the lectures and tutorials on time
*Respect everyone else’s need to learn
*Participate in tutorial discussion
RESOURCES AND SERVICES
GENERAL LIBRARY
The University of Auckland Library system includes the General Library and the Kate Edgar Information Commons. All items held by the Library; encyclopaedias, books, online journals, DVDs etc. are recorded on the Library catalogue.
Training in finding information for your assignments will be provided in your library training session in Week 2. If you are unfamiliar with the library please arrange an extra instruction via the Library.
The Asian Languages Collection is located on the Level 3 of the General Library.
KEIC (Kate Edger Information Commons)
9 Symonds Street
Website: http://www.information-commons.auckland.ac.nz/
This is a student-centred facility that provides 500+ computers and a number of quiet study space. Usually open 7am – midnight weekdays, 8am-10pm weekends, and extended weekend hours during study and exam breaks.
STUDENT LEARNING SERVICES
Room 320, Level 3, KEIC
Website: http://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/services/student-learning
The Student Learning Services offers various study-skills workshops as well as individual consultations with tutors to all students at UoA. They can support your academic writing, time management, referencing, reading and thinking skills, and test/exam preparation. The following courses are recommended for undergraduate students.
We strongly recommend you use their services and attend workshops.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ENRICHMENT (ELE)
Room 101, Level 1, KEIC
Website: http://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/ele/
If you have difficulty with your English, with writing essays, understanding lectures, doing presentations or any other aspect of English, then ELE (English Language Enrichment) is the place for you. Their language advisors can help you with your English. The service includes language advice, language exchange and language workshops. You can meet with ELE Learning Advisers who will help you to improve and check your own writing (up to four times per semester, each on different assignment).
DISABILITY SERVICES
Any student with a disability who may require alternative arrangements in this course is encouraged to seek advice and assistance from Disability Services as soon as possible after enrolment.
Contact details: Disability Services
(http://www.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/home/about/eo-equity-office/eo-disability-services), Room 036, Basement Level, ClockTower: 8am-4pm; phone ext. 82936: email disabilities@auckland.ac.nz
Frequently Asked Questions
I’VE MISSED LECTURES – WHAT TO DO?
The lecture outlines and lecture recordings are available at CANVAS, so please read/listen to them, as well as doing your weekly readings. Try catching up with your classmate and get notes – or even better have her/him explain them.
WHAT ABOUT MISSED TUTORIALS?
The weekly quiz cannot be taken outside the tutorial hours, so you will lose the mark for the week. Failure to regularly attend tutorials will result in your being poorly prepared for the final examination of the course. If you missed occasional tutorials, please read assigned readings and chat with your classmates to find out what was covered in tutorials.
Under exceptional circumstances, you may attend a different stream on one-off basis. Please consult your tutor in advance.
WHAT IF MY TUTORIAL DAY IS ON A NATIONAL HOLIDAY?
Please attend any of the other tutorials for that week only. We may be able to organise a make-up stream, in which case this will be announced via CANVAS
MY PRINTER/COMPUTER HAS BROKEN DOWN JUST BEFORE THE DEADLINE – CAN I HAVE AN EXTENSION?
No. Extension is granted only with medical certificate or other documents. Prepare your assignment well before the deadline if you are relying on your personal computer/printer. Always backup your work.
WHAT IF I DECIDE THAT I DO NOT WANT TO TAKE THIS COURSE?
You may withdraw during the first 2 weeks without penalty, using SSO. The last date for deleting second semester courses with refund of fees is Friday Week 2. (Note that this course is a core for major and minor in Japanese)
Course summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
|---|---|---|