Join us for a free one-day workshop for educators at the Japanese American National Museum, hosted by the USC U.S.-China Institute and the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia. This workshop will include a guided tour of the beloved exhibition Common Ground: The Heart of Community, slated to close permanently in January 2025. Following the tour, learn strategies for engaging students in the primary source artifacts, images, and documents found in JANM’s vast collection and discover classroom-ready resources to support teaching and learning about the Japanese American experience.
Rituals and Objects in Japanese History (Feb. 20-March 27, 2025)
This course will use objects from art, industry, technology, and war to consider the richness of the Japanese past. From court ceremonies to samurai rituals on the battlefield, from daily gift exchanges to Buddhist mortuary markers, Japanese communities have expressed their dreams, fears, power, and imagination using material culture and rituals focusing on objects. Join us to explore Japan’s history through the study of things.
Overview:
The five-week (Feb. 20 - March 27) seminar includes:
- video presentations
- readings
- mandatory online forum participation
- weekly live online Zoom discussion with an instructor (Thursdays, 4-5 pm Pacific Time).
Instructor
Professor Morgan Pitelka teaches history and Asian studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He is a specialist in the history of late medieval and early modern Japan, with a focus on the samurai, tea culture, ceramics, cities, and material culture.
Benefits
- 3 Continuing Education Units (processing fee applicable)
- Certificate of Completion
- Online resources and materials
*Must complete seminar requirements
Schedule and Topics
Reading assignments and pre-recorded lectures for each week will be available in an online forum and are to be completed prior to the discussion sessions. Access and log-in information will be provided upon acceptance into the course. Please refer to the Seminar Requirements Document for details on assignments and course completion.
Online discussions (via Zoom) will be each Thursday, 4-5pm Pacific Time.
| Session | Date | Topic |
| 1 | Thurs 2/20 | Ritual and Material Culture in Prehistoric Japan |
| 2 | Thurs 2/27 | Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daily Life of the Imperial Court |
| 3 | Thurs 3/6 | Social and Cultural Rituals and the Maintenance of Warrior Society |
| 4 | Thurs 3/20 | The Performance of Power in Early Modern Japan |
| 5 | Thurs 3/27 | Ritual and Materiality in the Construction of Traditional Culture in Modern Japan |
How to Apply
Send your name and your school's name and location to us at asiak12@usc.edu. We'll contact you when registration opens on December 2.
This seminar is possible because of a generous grant from the Freeman Foundation and is offered in conjunction with the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia.
Featured Articles
October 20, 2024
October 20, 2024
Please join us for the Grad Mixer! Hosted by USC Annenberg Office of International Affairs, Enjoy food, drink and conversation with fellow students across USC Annenberg. Graduate students from any field are welcome to join, so it is a great opportunity to meet fellow students with IR/foreign policy-related research topics and interests.
RSVP link: https://forms.gle/1zer188RE9dCS6Ho6
Events
Wednesday, November 20, 2024 - 3:00pm
Hosted by USC Annenberg Office of International Affairs, enjoy food, drink and conversation with fellow international students.
Thursday, November 7, 2024 - 4:00pm
Join us for an in-person conversation on Thursday, November 7th at 4pm with author David M. Lampton as he discusses his new book, Living U.S.-China Relations: From Cold War to Cold War. The book examines the history of U.S.-China relations across eight U.S. presidential administrations.