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UDIST-3000-1: Japan: Search for Emptiness

Summer 2019

Subject: Upper Level Interdisciplinary Studio
Type: Workshop
Delivery Mode: In-Person
Level: Undergraduate

Campus: San Francisco
Course Dates: May 22, 2019 — August 17, 2019
Meetings:
05/22: Wed 10:00AM-04:00PM,
05/29 — 06/13: Every Day 9:00AM-05:00PM,
07/13: Sat 10:00AM-04:00PM, San Francisco - Grad Center - GC4
08/03: Sat 10:00AM-04:00PM, San Francisco - Grad Center - GC4
08/17: Sat 10:00AM-04:00PM, San Francisco - Grad Center - GC4
Instructor: David Asari

Units: 3.0
Enrolled: 0/4 Closed

Description:

Interdisciplinary Studios extend a student's cross-school experience from Core Studio up into his or her upper division years. 3 units of Interdisciplinary Studio are required of all majors and must be completed in the junior or senior year. This advanced level studio is thematic in nature. Technical demonstrations are paired with thoughtful readings, seminar discussions and ambitious projects. Collaboration, experimentation and presentation skills are developed in concert with critical thinking.Section Description:Students wishing to register for this course need to first obtain instructor approval by emailing the instructor (instructor emails are listed with a more detailed program description in portal: cca.edu/abroad). Once a student is approved, registration must be done in person at the Student Records Office on either campus.The Japanese concept of emptiness is rooted in the ancient Shinto belief that a void attracts kami or gods, and wabi sabi is the quintessential Japanese aesthetic that identifies beauty as things that are imperfect, impermanent, or incomplete. Students in this course discover, define, and document examples of these traditional Japanese concepts during 10 days in Japan’s present-day capitol and megalopolis, Tokyo, with a day trip to its former de facto capitol, Kamakura, and four days in its ancient capitols, Kyoto and Nara.
 
After the first five nights in Tokyo, the group takes the Shinkansen, Bullet Train, down to Kyoto where they spend six days visiting Japan’s most exquisite examples of traditional gardens, temples, and shrines, with a day trip to Nara, the oldest capital of Japan. In Kyoto, the instructor guides students to six of the city’s most significant temples and gardens with one open day for individual research. Then the class returns to Tokyo for the final five nights.
 
The outcome of this course integrates narrative with visual images and may take any form including 2D, 3D, and time-based media. Final projects are evaluated on the quality of research, analysis, creative thinking, form giving, and craft. Collaboration is always an option.

Pre-Requisites and Co-Requisites:

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