This is an introductory course to philosophy for those who do not have any background knowledge about the subject. Philosophy is an active subject in the sense that in learning philosophy we do not just remember what great thinkers in the past said but discuss some fundamental issues which have been the object of interest for centuries. Indeed, Socrates, who is thought as a father of western philosophy, regards philosophy as a craft. Given this nature of philosophy, the course attempts to enhance students’ discussion skills by facilitating their active engagement with traditional philosophical issues, as well as their good understandings of the topics covered by the course. The course covers core areas of the subject, namely, epistemology, metaphysics and ethics.This is an introductory course to philosophy for those who do not have any background knowledge about the subject. Philosophy is an active subject in the sense that in learning philosophy we do not just remember what great thinkers in the past said but discuss some fundamental issues which have been the object of interest for centuries. Indeed, Socrates, who is thought as a father of western philosophy, regards philosophy as a craft. Given this nature of philosophy, the course attempts to enhance students’ discussion skills by facilitating their active engagement with traditional philosophical issues, as well as their good understandings of the topics covered by the course. The course covers core areas of the subject, namely, epistemology, metaphysics and ethics.

This is an introductory course to eastern philosophy for those who do not have any background knowledge about the subject. The course covers some basic information about Shakyamuni, Mahayana Buddhism (with special emphasis on the Lotus Sutra) and Nichiren. In this course, we give particular focus on the Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren (1222-1282). In recent decades, there has been vibrant scholarship on Nichiren, and some interesting research has been done on this controversial Japanese figure, both in Japanese and other languages including English. Given this state of affairs, we choose Nichiren as a sample eastern philosophy from which we may gain some valuable insights for considering various contemporary issues utilizing the recent work available in English.

This is a course in socio-cultural anthropology. The course starts with asking the seemingly simple question: “What does it mean to be human?” Over the weeks we explore this in light of anthropological approaches to the study of the body, personhood, communication, social relations, identity, gender, race, rituals, taboos, consumption, material culture, and processes of globalization amidst times of uncertainty and algorithms. An underlying query concerns the issue of universality and relativism: to what extent do all humans, societies, and cultures have something in common and to what extent is each of them unique. A hallmark of anthropological comparative work is the ability to see universal human patters (e.g. all societies have gender stratification, food taboos, marriage and systems of kinship relations, social sanctions, morality) but simultaneously accounting for how these forms can vary significantly in different socio-cultural contexts and over time, which show us just how socially constructed ideas about who we are is. To avoid placing our values at the center of our analysis (ethnocentrism), students will learn anthropological approaches that aim to understand different societies and people’s behaviour from the inside. Students will learn to take cultural relativism as a methodological principle. This module is a requisite for entering the Global Japan Studies seminar in AKADEMIA. Course book: Pountney, L. & Maric, T. (2021) “Introducing Anthropology: What Makes Us Human?”

This module addresses a range of topics related to modern and contemporary Japan. Students will learn to analyze the significance of discourses (meaning-systems), norms and embodied everyday practices. We start by considering sources of Japanese identity that have both historical and mythical foundations, and move onto to study contemporary Japan where a social ethos often expressed as ‘harmony’ (wa) reveal the way social practice embody social hierarchies and where public conformity to social rules is typically regarded as virtuous behaviour. Students study various contemporary social issues related to changing family relations, gender, media, minorities, AI robotics, diversifying Japan, popular culture and Cool Japan and more. Students will learn how gender socialization and stratification go to the heart of social, cultural and political life, and the implications of a still strong ethno-nationalist discourse that predominates across institutions from school and work places to government agencies. Each week students read chapters from Yoshio Sugimoto (2021) “An Introduction to Japanese Society”, and Brian McVeigh (2014). “Interpreting Japan”. This module is a requisite for entering the Global Japan Studies seminar in AKADEMIA.

Introduction to Peace Studies targets the 1^st and 2^nd-year undergraduate students who don’t have any background knowledge of Peace and Conflict Studies. These courses aim to introduce and examine the key areas of conflict analysis, conflict resolution, and peacebuilding as well as a few topical issues relevant to Japan and East Asia. Wherever possible, moreover, the courses will introduce theoretical thoughts that may be useful for students’ conflict analysis. Introduction to Peace Studies I specifically pays attention to two main areas of learning: (1) sources of conflict and (2) contemporary issues of Peace and Conflict. The classes between Weeks 1 and 7 will review a range of factors that cause or exacerbate violent conflicts at international, state, and sub-state levels. The classes between Weeks 8 and 15 will overview selected topics that have emerged as the main agenda of the contemporary academic debates.

Introduction to Peace Studies targets the 1^st and 2^nd-year undergraduate students who don’t have any background knowledge of Peace and Conflict Studies. These courses aim to introduce and examine the key areas of conflict analysis, conflict resolution, and peacebuilding as well as a few topical issues relevant to Japan and East Asia. Wherever possible, moreover, the courses will introduce theoretical thoughts that may be useful for students’ conflict analysis. Introduction to Peace Studies II specifically pays attention to two main areas of learning: (1) key concepts of Peace and Conflict and (2) actors and modalities of peace processes. The classes between Weeks 1 and 6 will critically review a range of concepts and theories of peace-supporting activities. Then, the classes from Week 7 will look into different forms and procedures of conflict resolution and peacebuilding. In addition to reviewing the topic areas, this module will focus on developing students’ skills to critically examine and review scholarly works.

Metaethics is a branch of philosophy that enquires some foundational issues underlying our normative and evaluative judgements such as “torturing a child is wrong”, “we should help others” and “education is important”. It is unclear whether these judgements represent some objective facts or they simply express our emotional reactions, and in metaethics we ask these questions and consider the theoretical underpinning for those judgements. The course will cover the following topics: the overview of the current metaethical debates in philosophy, cognitivism vs non-cognitivism in metaethics, moral/evaluative realism and relevant epistemological issues, moral fictionalism, moral abolitionism and moral explanations.

Students learn theories, debates and case studies derived from the Durkheim/Mauss and Weberian traditions of the study of moral sentiments, judgments, and social-political practices; students will learn how moral questions are embedded in the substance of the social rather than pertaining to some discrete categories separated from other spheres of human activities (e.g. political, social, economic, cultural). Anthropological studies show how morality - honour, dignity, self-worth, and virtuous comportment - are historical contingent, but also critical to understanding human consciousness and actions. Anthropology of religion has given rise to some of the discipline’s most enduring questions pertaining to cultural difference, community, rationality and legitimization, symbolization and myths, meaning and motivation, relativism, time, emotions, hierarchy and more. The study of moral life and symbolic meaning, whether classified as ‘religion’, or some other phenomena such as nationalism or Humanoid AI techno fetishism, involves also the study of statecraft, the modern constructions of ‘race’ and ‘gender’, consumerism and capitalist values, and the search for social status and dignity, harmony and conflict, processes of alienation, objectification, death, suffering, salvation, well-being and happiness. Readings for each week are taken from Michael Lambek (2008) Anthropology of Religion, and Didier Fassin (2015) A Companion to Moral Anthropology.

This module aims to introduce the theoretical, normative and practical underpinnings of the development and peacebuilding in conflict-affected societies. Some thematic areas that will be covered include the socio-cultural consequences of colonial/neo-colonial rule, the contemporary debates on the liberal peacebuilding models and their alternatives, the complex relations between poverty, economic growth and conflict, and the roles of external actors in promoting post-conflict peacebuilding. Moreover, the course will offer students an opportunity to develop their critical views on a wide range of challenges facing contemporary practice of humanitarian aid, post-conflict reconstruction, and economic and social development.

As a seminar in Peace Studies, students can choose a topic relevant to conflict resolution and peacebuilding in conflict-affected societies.