Japanese IV: Cultural Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of humankind, and its subfields (e.g., social/cultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology, physical anthropology, and archaeology) cover various aspects of what make us human. In this course, students get acquainted with various methods and theories used in this field, and get the opportunity to reflect over how these can be applied to the study of Japanese culture and society. The seminar topics include the relationship between theory and method, defining researchable questions, research ethics, participant observation, sensory ethnography, writing fieldnotes, interview techniques (unstructured, semi-structured, structured), transcription, sampling, designing questionnaires, coding data, data analysis, research proposal evaluation criteria, peer review processes, interpersonal relations with fieldwork interlocutors, and other methodological topics such as oral histories, life histories, censuses, focus group interviews, and archival research.