Description: Seminar, one hour. Introduction to the anime, Mushishi, by Yuki Urushibara. Mushishi addresses human anxieties toward nature and human existence amidst the onset of the 21st century and rising concerns about climate change, ecological devastation, human severance from nature, and postmodernity. Investigation of contexts within the work, and multitude of lessons it provides for daily life--consideration of nature of interbeing and connection between all living things. Students engage with questions concerning relational beings, the sentient supernatural, mythic storytelling, Japanese folk histories, constructed nostalgia, and harmonies between human and non-human realms, as presented in Urushibara's creation. P/NP grading. Facilitated by Ryan McGurk, with Satoko Shimazakias as faculty mentor.

Units: 0.0