KOS4560 ¨C Traumatic memory and national identity across the Middle East and East Asia

Course content

This course focuses on how collective trauma and memory of the recent past in Japanese and Arabic sociocultural contexts are reworked and elaborated in a cross-cultural perspective. Students will learn about dynamics of national identity construction through the analysis of media and visual productions (including literature, film, graphic novels and manga), to reflect critically on global societies today. The course is jointly delivered by the University of Oslo, the University of Stockholm, and the University of Bologna, through the framework of the Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Program (BIP). It consists of a seminar in Oslo, an online module, and an intensive workshop in Bologna. This is an opportunity for students to engage in an area-studies-based exchange and to work collaboratively with students from different programs and from different universities.

Learning outcome

Learning outcomes

• You will gain an understanding of modern and contemporary Japanese and Arabic culture and society as it is portrayed in literary works, including graphic novels.
• You will learn how to perform a close reading of literary and visual texts and examine them comparatively and in relation to their respective social, political, economic, and cultural contexts.
• You will learn to reflect on how trauma and memory are reflected in literary and visual cultural productions, and how these cultural productions in turn affect public perceptions of historical memory and trauma.
• You will develop interdisciplinary and cross-cultural analysis skills.
• You will develop advanced academic writing and discussion skills.
• You will acquire advanced collaborative research and project management skills, and gain concrete experience working in a culturally diverse environment.

Admission to the course

Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for?in Studentweb.

If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about?admission requirements and procedures.

Formal prerequisite knowledge

Admission to Japanese Studies (programme option) or Middle East Studies (programme option)

MES4000 ¨C Theory, Methodology and Project Description in Middle East- and South Asia Studies or JAP4010 ¨C Theory and Method in Japanese Studies