PURPOSE--To provide individual instruction for advanced readings in Japanese material for students majoring (or sometimes minoring) in Japanese. As policy, the course is restricted to students who have exhausted all other advanced course options--JAPN 107-8, JAPN 110, JAPN 121-22, JAPN 162, JAPN 198-99. We prefer that students take courses that we already offer so we don't have to add unnecessarily to our teaching load.
PERSONALLY--I have offered Directed Readings to some majors under extraordinary circumstances--time conflicts, high advanced language ability, etc. Directed Readings with me focuses on Classical Poetry as that is my field specialty and that is the only topic I could offer to justify my time away from other responsibilities.
REQUIREMENTS--Students who decide to study with me:
- Must be registered in JAPN 185 and/or 186.
- Must have completed JAPN 109 (Bungo).
- Will study Classical material, mostly Heian poetry (my field of expertise) or some aspect related to it (which is actually everything in Heian period Japan).
- Must meet with me each week for two (2) hours throughout the semester, during which the student will report on and discuss their readings and research for the week. Inability to report and/or discuss will be evaluated as unsatisfactory work and will affect the final grade accordingly.
- May incorporate their sork in this class to advance their research agenda for their Proseminar thesis paper (JAPN 199).
- Accept that tardiness and absences will affect the final grade accordingly. (In general, the student without a verifiable excuse will receive an F, no more than one excused absence per semester.) I offer Directed readings on Tuesdays 4 to 6 PM.
- Will be assigned a term paper, as well as perform additional work at my discretion.
