Professor
Kirk Kanesaka
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2019 - This class was not the easiest GE but it was still fairly easy. We had a reading response every week, graded on content. There were no papers, but this was made up for with the essay section and short answer portions of the midterm and final. The final luckily was not cumulative, it just contained material after the midterm to the end of week 10, which was good because there is a lot of content in the textbook which made this not the easiest GE. The slides were not posted, so you have to take your own thorough notes. Professor Kanesaka was passionate about the material and delivered decent lectures. We also got to watch a few snippets of anime if you're into that.
Fall 2019 - This class was not the easiest GE but it was still fairly easy. We had a reading response every week, graded on content. There were no papers, but this was made up for with the essay section and short answer portions of the midterm and final. The final luckily was not cumulative, it just contained material after the midterm to the end of week 10, which was good because there is a lot of content in the textbook which made this not the easiest GE. The slides were not posted, so you have to take your own thorough notes. Professor Kanesaka was passionate about the material and delivered decent lectures. We also got to watch a few snippets of anime if you're into that.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2019 - I loved Japan 70 with Kanesaka! I was pretty nervous to take the class, since it didn't have many reviews, but it ended up being one of my favorite classes ever. Every week, we got assigned 1 reading and 1 film to watch that both related to a certain topic (i.e. geishas, samurai, etc.) I felt as though the class was pretty reading-heavy though, and not so much with films. For homework, you had to upload a 400-word reading response every week to CCLE. Both the midterm and final was an essay that you had a week to write. The topics were pretty difficult, but both the professor and my TA were such a big help with both essays! If Casey Martin is a TA for the class, TAKE HIM! He was such a good TA, who was so so helpful in his office hours and discussion sections. Overall, the class was very enjoyable and pretty chill if you put in the work!
Spring 2019 - I loved Japan 70 with Kanesaka! I was pretty nervous to take the class, since it didn't have many reviews, but it ended up being one of my favorite classes ever. Every week, we got assigned 1 reading and 1 film to watch that both related to a certain topic (i.e. geishas, samurai, etc.) I felt as though the class was pretty reading-heavy though, and not so much with films. For homework, you had to upload a 400-word reading response every week to CCLE. Both the midterm and final was an essay that you had a week to write. The topics were pretty difficult, but both the professor and my TA were such a big help with both essays! If Casey Martin is a TA for the class, TAKE HIM! He was such a good TA, who was so so helpful in his office hours and discussion sections. Overall, the class was very enjoyable and pretty chill if you put in the work!
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2020 - I took this class in Spring 2020, the first quarter offered completely online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall this wasn't a difficult GE, though the workload (mainly the amount of writing) was disproportionately high. As a result of the quarantine/new online format, lecture times were modified to be once a week, and what were originally meant to be in-class screenings were now the responsibility of the students to watch in their own time. Despite the lectures being online, they were never recorded and attendance was taken for part of a participation grade. Grading was 10% participation, 10% weekly quizzes, 30% online assignments (mostly posting responses on the forum), 20% research project proposal, 30% final research paper. Every week we were required to watch an assigned anime movie, with the lecture later that week discussing the movie, its context and impact, and possible interpretations. Additionally, we needed to submit 1) a written response to the movie and 2) a response to another student's response. I don't know if it was the quarantine draining my motivation or just my inability to write, but I personally found coming up with these weekly responses the most difficult part of the class. Most, if not all, of the grading is done by your TA, so if you end up with a chill TA the class should be a breeze. In addition to the screening and responses, there was also weekly reading, with anywhere from 1 - 5 articles/excerpts from books assigned. Quizzes, taken on CCLE, were not terribly difficult, but there would be an occasional hyper-specific question on either the week's anime or readings. Professor Kanesaka himself was extremely accommodating during this time, and made the final paper completely optional (and guaranteed those who submitted would get at least an A- on the assignment). His lectures, though a little dry at times, were informative, and I feel I really learned a lot in this class.
Spring 2020 - I took this class in Spring 2020, the first quarter offered completely online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall this wasn't a difficult GE, though the workload (mainly the amount of writing) was disproportionately high. As a result of the quarantine/new online format, lecture times were modified to be once a week, and what were originally meant to be in-class screenings were now the responsibility of the students to watch in their own time. Despite the lectures being online, they were never recorded and attendance was taken for part of a participation grade. Grading was 10% participation, 10% weekly quizzes, 30% online assignments (mostly posting responses on the forum), 20% research project proposal, 30% final research paper. Every week we were required to watch an assigned anime movie, with the lecture later that week discussing the movie, its context and impact, and possible interpretations. Additionally, we needed to submit 1) a written response to the movie and 2) a response to another student's response. I don't know if it was the quarantine draining my motivation or just my inability to write, but I personally found coming up with these weekly responses the most difficult part of the class. Most, if not all, of the grading is done by your TA, so if you end up with a chill TA the class should be a breeze. In addition to the screening and responses, there was also weekly reading, with anywhere from 1 - 5 articles/excerpts from books assigned. Quizzes, taken on CCLE, were not terribly difficult, but there would be an occasional hyper-specific question on either the week's anime or readings. Professor Kanesaka himself was extremely accommodating during this time, and made the final paper completely optional (and guaranteed those who submitted would get at least an A- on the assignment). His lectures, though a little dry at times, were informative, and I feel I really learned a lot in this class.
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