2022 Faculty Courses Liberal arts and basic science courses Humanities and social science courses
Studies of Culture and Representation A
- Academic unit or major
- Humanities and social science courses
- Instructor(s)
- Kyohhei Kitamura
- Class Format
- Lecture (Face-to-face)
- Media-enhanced courses
- -
- Day of week/Period
(Classrooms) - 5-6 Mon (H1101)
- Class
- -
- Course Code
- LAH.H113
- Number of credits
- 100
- Course offered
- 2022
- Offered quarter
- 2Q
- Syllabus updated
- Jul 10, 2025
- Language
- Japanese
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
Culture and Representation Studies takes an interdisciplinary approach across fields such as art history and philosophy, literature and anthropology, to reconsider cultural phenomena as “representation.” This course aims to introduce culture related to “looking” in modern times. Specifically, this course deals with a broad range of topics from the “sublime” as an aesthetic category to “mannerism” as intellectual history, architecture to horticulture in Western & Eastern contexts, spaces of exposition to Disneyland, and celebrities represented in film/television. However, because this is an introductory course, the instructor will explain these topics in an easily accessible manner. In the class, the participants explore culture through people’s creative practices by looking at a variety of visual images and motion pictures. Students are expected to participation in discussion and exchange opinions in groups about the images being analyzed.
The aim of this lecture is for students to acquire basic knowledge to understand Western or Japanese culture, and to cultivate an attitude to subjectively think about cultural phenomenon.
Course description and aims
At the end of this course, students will be able to:
1) Acquire methods to grasp cultural phenomena from multiple disciplines.
2) Think about familiar culture from varied standpoints.
3) Cultivate the ability to analytically verbalize objects.
Keywords
Representation, Sublime, Mannerism, Garden, Exposition, Body, Media, Celebrity, Spectacle, Advertisement, Disneyland
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
Based on lectures using power point. Students are occasionally given practice exercises related to the contents.
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | Guidance and introduction | Confirm the significance of Culture and Representation Studies |
| Class 2 | What is mannerism? | Understand "mannerism" as intellectual history beyond art history. |
| Class 3 | What is sublime? | Understand "sublime" discussed by Edmund Burke. |
| Class 4 | Architecture and garden | Compare architecture and horticulture in Western & Eastern contexts. |
| Class 5 | Exposition as power | Read politics from spectacular display. |
| Class 6 | Celebrities represented in film/television | Learn the body images of celebrities constructed in society. |
| Class 7 | Advertisement and Disneyland | Understand contemporary cultural industry. |
Study advice (preparation and review)
To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.
Textbook(s)
None required.
Reference books, course materials, etc.
Because there are many reference books for each theme, the instructor introduces them in class.
Evaluation methods and criteria
Class participation (40%) and final report (60%)
Related courses
- LAH.H215 ： Studies of Culture and Representation B
- LAH.H314 ： Studies of Culture and Representation C
Prerequisites
No prerequisites.
Contact information (e-mail and phone) Notice : Please replace from ”[at]” to ”@”(half-width character).
kitamura.k.af[at]m.titech.ac.jp