Anime History & Culture

By the end of class, students will:
- Be able to recognize the different "periods" of anime history as well as genres of anime and have developed an understanding of the overall development of animation in Japan.
- Be able to identify key figures (animators, artists, studios) as well as key anime titles and recognize their contributions and/or significance.
- Developed an understanding for what role anime plays in Japan and Japanese culture. 
- Have practiced thinking creatively and actively discussing various topics regarding the evolution of anime, its influence on Japanese culture as well as overseas popular culture.

I am experienced in teaching film studies, especially East Asian cinema, but I have also served as a teaching assistant for my professor's course on anime while in college. 

In terms of anime, I have been a longtime avid fan for more than 15 years. Not only do I enjoy watching anime and reading manga (Japanese comics), I also enjoy discussing it with others who have similar interests. I organized and led a Perspectives on Anime film discussion group that met monthly for 3 years while I was homeschooled during high school. I also served as the Anime Club President while an undergraduate student at Wellesley College for 3 years.

An optional quiz on the information covered will be made available after each class (save for the final class, so 9 total) for students to take to check their knowledge (and practice for the trivia game in the final class meeting).

Over the course of these 10 weeks, students will be asked to complete 2 "mini-assignments," one for the third week of class when our guest speaker joins class for the first time, and one for the sixth week of class. Students are encouraged to but are not required to share in class. These mini-assignments are as follows:
- Mini-Assignment #1: Choose a character from your favorite anime (or can be just an anime character design you like), and take a closer look at the character's design and how it reflects that character's background, personality, etc.
- Mini-Assignment #2: Choose a theme song or soundtrack piece from an anime you like that you feel really gives you a sense for the anime's theme, tone, story, etc. 

For their final assignment, students will be asked to write a short paper (can be 200-300 words) on ONE of the following:
- Choose an anime genre (i.e. mecha, magical girl, sports, etc.) and discuss why they like this genre, as well as how the genre has changed in recent years (since 2010). Students will be asked to use at least one example of an anime series from the chosen genre in their paper. Please note that students must get teacher approval for their chosen genre and example before they can proceed with this version of the final assignment. 
- Choose a recent anime title (can be TV series or movie) and discuss why they would recommend this title to others, as well as how it fits (or is different from) the anime discussed/learned about in class. The anime title chosen must not have come out any earlier than 2010. Please note that students must get teacher approval for their chosen title before they can proceed with this version of the final assignment. 

This final assignment will be due by the last class, and can either be posted in the Classroom or sent to the teacher privately. In the final meeting of class, students will be encouraged to (but again, not required) share their thoughts on the anime genre or title they chose. 

Students can take an optional online quiz after each class to check their knowledge (9 total). There will also be a trivia game covering all the content in this 10-week class to test how much students can recall in the final meeting for the class.

Grades are not given for this class but a written report/assessment on the student’s performance can be provided upon request.

1 hour 15 minutes per week in class, and an estimated 0 - 1 hours per week outside of class.