Course

Premodern Japan: Status, Sex and Power - ARTS2908

Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

School: School of Humanities and Languages

Course Outline: School of Humanities & Languages

Campus: Sydney

Career: Undergraduate

Units of Credit: 6

EFTSL: 0.12500 (more info)

Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 3

Enrolment Requirements:

Prerequisite: 30 units of credit at Level 1; or 24 units of credit and enrolment in a Japanese Studies extended minor in Arts/Education (4053)

Excluded: ARTS2903, HIST2050, HIST3102

CSS Contribution Charge: 1 (more info)

Tuition Fee: See Tuition Fee Schedule

Further Information: See Class Timetable

Available for General Education: Yes (more info)

View course information for previous years.

Description

Subject Area: Women's and Gender Studies
This course can also be studied in the following specialisations: Asian Studies, History, Japanese Studies

'Premodern Japan' offers a thematic overview of Japanese history from prehistory to the Meiji Imperial Restoration of 1868, its central theme being the history of women, gender and sexualities.

The course includes a focus on historiography—a consideration of central issues in global women's and gender history, as well as different approaches to Japan's history. Since the course is essentially a cultural and social history, we will not only discuss the ideas and social practices of ruling classes (civil aristocrats and then bushi/warriors), but also look at popular Buddhism, folk religion, peasant rebellion and commoner resistance, and aspects of popular culture. The weekly topics are more varied than the subtitle of ‘Status, Sex & Power’ would suggest, though central themes in the course include the situation(s) and role(s) of Japanese women of different classes from ancient times; gender constructs (of femininity and masculinity) in the literature of different classes and in scripture; and attitudes toward sex and marital and sexual practices.
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