This is a comprehensive course addressing approaches to the study of Japanese culture. Students will be introduced to a series of influential cultural interpretation frameworks as well as to a set of cultural symbols related to Japan. The readings provided during the semester expose the students to authentic academic writing and to a number of disciplinary and inter-disciplinary approaches to Japanese culture, e.g. literature, history, cultural anthropology, etc. The themes cover areas ranging from Japanese traditional aesthetics and philosophy to discourses of national ideology. Students have a chance to further develop their research, argumentation and critical skills through a theme-based group project and a final research paper.P