An honors thesis is required of all the students graduating with honors. Students ordinarily sign up for this course as a two-semester sequence. The first semester the student performs research under the supervision of a faculty member; the second semester the student writes an honors thesis.

A culminating experience for majors involving a substantive project that demonstrates a synthesis of learning accumulated in the major, including broadly comprehensive knowledge of the discipline and its methodologies. Senior standing required.

This course involves the development and exchange of scholarly information on specific topics in the field of linguistics. Course rotates between various topics and may be taken up to four times. The scope of work shall consist of research by course registrants, with the exchange of the results of such research through discussion, reports, and/or papers.

This seminar explores topics related to pre-modern and modern Japanese literature. Topics vary by year and participants conduct in-depth discussion, reading and research related to the topic.

The exchange of scholarly information and/or secondary research, usually in a small group setting. Instruction often includes lectures by several different persons. Research projects may or may not be required of course registrants.

A selective survey of the history of Japanese religion from the 16th century through the present. Topics may include Shinto and Buddhism; Christianity and its suppression; Edo-period official and popular religion; State Shinto; and Japan's "new religions" and "new new religions."

Selective survey of the history of religions in Japan from the 11th century through the 16th. Topics covered may include the medieval worldview; apocalyptic thought and related practices; Pure Land Buddhism; Zen; and proselytization and religious competition in medieval Japan.

A selective survey of Japanese religious history from earliest times through the 11th century. Topics covered may include prehistoric religions; the development of Shinto; Nara-period state Buddhism; tantric Buddhism in the Heian period; and spirit possession and exorcism.

This course offers students an in-depth look at the history and historiography of Modern Japan (1868-Present), with a special emphasis on the relationship between empire and everyday life in Japan's modern experience. The course is divided into four chronological units spanning the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and students will have the opportunity to crowdsource their reading materials from a list of recommended and representative books within each unit. Class discussions will provide an overview of the latest English-language scholarship on Japan's modernity to familiarize advanced undergraduates and graduate students with the styles of research and interpretation that inform our understanding of history today.

This course offers students an in-depth look at the history and historiography of Edo Japan (1600-1868). Each week explores a different key theme in the social and cultural atmosphere of Japan under Tokugawa rule to provide a holistic view of life during the "Great Peace." Topics include the emergence of order from a time of instability and upheaval, exchange and tensions with the outside world and between social groups, and the political stakes of Edo's flowering popular culture. Class discussions will also provide an overview of the latest English-language scholarship on the Edo period to familiarize advanced undergraduates and graduate students with the styles of research and interpretation that inform our understanding of Japanese history today. We will pay particular attention to the major epochs in historiography and how their unique concerns influenced the diverse meanings attributed to Edo Japan over the last half century.