Japanese Studies

Japanese Studies

Major Program (part of Modern Languages Major)

You may choose Japanese as one the two concentrations that make up the Modern Languages Major where you study 30 credits worth of  one language (one concentration) and another 30 of another language (another concentration). All this means is that you will complete either all or most of the required courses for the Japanese Minor (see below) plus the transfer credits from a Japanese university through one of our exchange programs, with the total of 30 credits for Japanese.

Minor in Japanese Studies

The Minor in Japanese Studies is designed to provide students with an intermediate to advanced level competence in Japanese along with an understanding of various aspects of Japanese society, its civilization, its culture and its institutions.

The minor in Japanese consists of 24 credits of Japanese language courses and courses on Japan.

CodeCoursesSemesterCredits
JSE101Introduction to Japanese I (concurrent registration of JSE150 strongly recommended for exchange programs)Fall3
JSE102Introduction to Japanese IIWinter3
JSE201Intermediate Japanese IFall3
JSE202Intermediate Japanese IIWinter3
JSE301Advanced Japanese IFall3
JSE302Advanced Japanese IIWinter3
JSE150Introduction to Japanese Society and Culture (concurrent registration of JSE101 strongly recommended for exchange programs)Fall3
JSE310Independent Study IWinter3
JSE311Independent Study IIFall/Winter3
JSE320Introduction to Debate in JapaneseFall/Winter3
JSE330Introduction to Japanese LinguisticsFall/Winter3
JSE401Internship in Yamaguchi IFall3
JSE402Internship in Yamaguchi IIWinter3

You can also take a 6-credit intensive Japanese course JSE100, which combines JSE101 and JSE102. The course is offered every 2 years in Spring. It meets Monday through Thursday, 3 hours a day. The offering of this course is scheduled in Spring 2015 and in Spring 2017, pending a budgetary approval. (N.b., as of March 16, 2015, it has become clear that JSE100 is NOT offered in Spring 2015, due to a budgetary compression.)

Transfer Credits

You may also transfer credits earned elsewhere to satisfy partially the requirements for the minor. For example, you may transfer the credits you will earn at a Japanese university through our exchange programs in order to obtain a Minor in Japanese Studies from Bishop’s University.