Course Content and Outcomes Guides (CCOG)

CCOG for JPN 262A Winter 2025


Course Number:
JPN 262A
Course Title:
Japanese Popular Culture
Credit Hours:
3
Lecture Hours:
30
Lecture/Lab Hours:
0
Lab Hours:
0

Course Description

Introduces Japanese popular culture through reading, film, media, discussion and writing. Course conducted in English. Prerequisites: WR 115, RD 115 and MTH 20 or equivalent placement test scores. Audit available.

Intended Outcomes for the course

Upon completion of the course students should be able to:

  1. Interpret cultural and social perspectives and contributions as related to the topic of focus, based on a deepened understanding of historical and contemporary trends that have influenced Japanese popular culture.

  2. Identify culturally-grounded assumptions of one’s own culture and apply a basic understanding of Japanese popular culture.

  3. Evaluate social and cultural consequences of human activity as related to the topic of focus.

  4. Analyze historical and cultural works as related to the topic of focus (works include but are not limited to literature, film, art, technology, media, music, language, philosophy, religion).

Integrative Learning

Students completing an associate degree at Portland Community College will be able to reflect on one’s work or competencies to make connections between course content and lived experience.

General education philosophy statement

Japanese popular culture is made up of historical and contemporary trends that strongly influence artistic production, politics, economics and language. This course requires students to focus on Japanese popular culture and the ways in which it reveals the values of the society that produces and consumes it. The course will also consider the ways in which the experiences of people have been shaped by factors like history, gender, society, ecology, language and politics. Students must also evaluate relationships between different cultural products, practices and perspectives. One of the key goals of this course is for students to reflect on their own attitudes, values, and beliefs, and how these affect their perception of products, practices and perspectives in Japanese popular culture.

Aspirational Goals

  1. Apply cultural understandings learned in class effectively in authentic interactions with members of Japanese society.

  2. Enhance intercultural skills through the practice of self-appraisal and examination of one’s personal beliefs in comparison to the beliefs of others.

Course Activities and Design

  • Regular attendance

  • Assigned readings

  • Research of specific themes individually and/or in groups

  • Discussion in class

  • Presentations individually and/or in groups

  • Written essays assigned outside of class or in-class

  • Written quizzes in-class and/or oral evaluations

  • Optional: Student portfolio

  • Optional: Service Learning activities

Outcome Assessment Strategies

Students will be assessed by any combination of the following:

  • Regular attendance 

  • Active participation in small groups and class discussions

  • Presentations individually and/or in groups

  • Written essays assigned outside of class or in-class

  • Written quizzes in-class and/or oral evaluations

  • Optional: Student portfolio

Course Content (Themes, Concepts, Issues and Skills)

General overview of the following:

  • Concept of culture

  • Concept of popular culture

  • Cultural identity (contrast of the cultures of the United States of America and Japan)

  • Cultural diversity in Japan

  • Japanese motivations, values, and beliefs

  • Geography and History of Japan