Numbering Code	U-ECON00 20020 SJ43	Year/Term	2022 ・ First semester
Number of Credits	2	Course Type	Seminar
Target Year	2nd year students	Target Student
Language	Japanese	Day/Period	Wed.3
Instructor name	TAKEZAWA HIROYUKI (Graduate School of Economics Associate Professor)
Outline and Purpose of the Course	Topic: Considering Visible Society, Politics, and Economics from the perspective of Concealed History, Thought, and Religion. In recent years, well-known managers and major business journals have begun to consider history, thought, and religion as important tools for analyzing society. This point of view has been enforced even more during the COVID-19 pandemic. The kind of problems expressed by comments emphasizing the importance of a perspective on history, thought, and religion is as follows: Taking a passive stance and simply memorizing already established knowledge does little in helping us understand society today; or making decisions on the basis of this understanding, given how quickly knowledge can become obsolete. On the contrary, what is now of utmost importance is developing the kind of basic insight and analytical capacity, which facilitates the creation of new knowledge, and the ability to bring this knowledge together to form a comprehensive perspective. This kind of ability can be obtained by understanding and analyzing what lies behind history or thought, even though these subjects might, on the surface, appear to be far removed from practical use. Following this line of thinking, we shall be reading, interpreting, and discussing a number of journals and related texts, with the aim of developing the students’ capacity to analyze society, politics, and economics from the perspective of history and thought.
Course Goals	1. The ability to comprehend texts: Students will acquire the ability to thoroughly read and comprehend foundational texts in the humanities and social sciences. 2. The ability to engage in dialogue: Students with differing views will acquire the ability to engage in dialogue while searching for common ground. 3. The ability to explain: Students will acquire the ability and technique of clearly stating their own opinions and interpretations. 4. The ability to investigate: Students will acquire the ability to thoroughly investigate areas relating to the core subjects covered in the seminar.
Schedule and Contents	In this seminar, students will be analyzing and reviewing texts from a wide range of subjects that examine society or human beings from the perspective of history or ideas. Through this approach, students are expected to develop the ability to see their own societies and fellow human beings in a new light. Although I will be deciding on the specific reading list after consulting with the seminar attendees, I would like to make selections from various genres and areas, including novels, business texts, and academic works. When conducting discussions in class, we shall be examining the rather complicated question of how we ought to understand society and human beings. Here, students should go beyond the mindset of simply accepting everything the instructor says, in a one-sided fashion, and instead approach this problem as something to reflect on through a dialogue involving the entire class. Easily reaching an agreement (even if it is in alignment with the instructor’s view) is actually counterproductive in this case. Instead, I wish for students to learn the necessary techniques to successfully engage in active discussion. 　　However, in order to conduct this kind of seminar, students must first enjoy reading texts that cover a broad range of topics. As part of this process, students will also need to acquire knowledge regarding the historical contexts of these books, and learn scholarly theories or perspectives on human psychology. To this end, aside from enjoying the texts selected for the unit, it is important for the students to make sure that they are able to adequately understand and interpret them, forming their own impressions and thoughts. This will help them to better participate in the seminar itself. 　At the same time, I would like to ensure that students have the opportunity to learn how to properly conduct discussions during each seminar session. To this end, I would like to go beyond the consensus method that I assume everybody has already sufficiently acquired. Instead, (and this may seem counterintuitive) I wish to see students learn how to engage in productive opposition through a constant process of trial and error. We shall also be paying attention to the acquisition of fundamental academic techniques (e.g., interpreting texts, utilizing the library and the Internet, creating handouts, methods for effective discussion, etc.). Graduate student teaching assistants and research center graduate students will also likely offer their advice regarding such subjects. 　As well as the above, from several years prior, we have been holding jointly run summer camps in coordination with other universities (K?chi University, Kansai Gakuin University, etc.). I hope to see the seminar students proactively contributing in the planning and running of these camps. I shall also be organizing one-on-one consultations for students who require extra assistance. 　To date, some of the novels we have covered in our seminars include Yamasaki Toyoko’s Futatsu no Sokoku, Shiroi Kyot?, Shizumanu Taiy?, Fum? Chitai, and others. We have also looked into a number of works by Fukazawa Ushio, and by Shimazaki T?son (e.g., Hakai and others.) With respect to academic texts, I have examined a number of textbooks that have been used in second semester seminars for 2nd year students.
Evaluation Methods and Policy	Consistent participation (40%) and completing shared reports (60%) is required. Furthermore, credit will not be awarded to students who miss more than 4 classes. Shared reports will be graded on the degree of success in achieving set goals.
Course Requirements	１．Enjoyment of discussion, and a keen interest in human beings and history. ２．A desire to proactively contribute to the seminar proceedings. ３．Attendance in introductory seminars. ４．Confidence in operating word processing software, and the ability to conduct exchanges via email. ５．Fundamental competency in searching for research literature.
Study outside of Class (preparation and review)	The core of this class involves the close reading of selected literature. Accordingly, students are required to constantly develop their reading comprehension and ability to conduct dialogue. Furthermore, students are required to carefully think over the material (specified sections of books) that will be discussed in each class, and identify the main points of the arguments on their own prior to attending. When it is your turn to give a report, please print out a list beforehand that clearly indicates the main points of the argument under discussion, as well as your own comments.
Textbooks	Textbooks/References	Other material will consist of texts selected from a wide range of genres, including novels and academic works (selections will be made during the first seminar by asking the attendees about their preferences.)
References, etc.	Introduced during class