The East Asian Studies Center is pleased to partner with the Ohio State Newark Campus to offer a course in Spring 2021, "Contemporary Japanese Film: Anime and J-Horror" (Arts and Sciences 1101, class number: 36413).

To be taught by Prof. Robert Hughes, associate professor of English, the course will be offered during the second session of Spring semester (March 5 - April 23) on Mondays and Wednesdays from 11:30 a.m. - 12:25 p.m. This course, to be graded pass/fail, will be offered entirely online and is open to students on both the Newark and Columbus campuses.

Course Description: This 1-credit course (SP 2021, second session) looks at five classic films of Japanese anime: My Neighbor Totoro, Ghost in the Shell (1995), Perfect Blue, Spirited Away, and Your Name, and two classics of Japanese horror film: Ringu and Battle Royale. Our time period is concentrated in the 1995-2002 era, but with one film earlier and one later. The films themselves range from whimsical and moving to disturbing, but they are wonderfully curious, all of them, and students will find much to think about in their strangenesses and in their philosophical themes. Students will be expected to write a response paper on each film and turn it in prior to the start of our second-day discussion on that film; a final essay is also required.

This course is supported in part by a U.S. Department of Education Title VI Grant to The Ohio State University East Asian Studies Center.