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Unit information: Anime in 2023/24

Unit name Anime
Unit code FATV20031
Credit points 20
Level of study I/5
Teaching block(s) Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director Dr. Ristola
Open unit status Not open
Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units)

None

Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units)

None

Units you may not take alongside this one

None

School/department Department of Film and Television
Faculty Faculty of Arts

Unit Information

Why is this unit important?

Anime is a highly popular animation form with vast economic and cultural reach. It offers a distinctive animation style and history that is now well-understood through a significant body of academic theory and contextual scholarship. Anime now operates as a major cultural industry that challenges normative views of animation’s potential in terms of both aesthetics and audiences; developing an understanding of its global reach and fandom is therefore at the heart of this unit, which examines the flows, impact and influence of anime as it circulates all over the world. This unit offers students the chance to explore the global phenomenon of anime in depth, broadening their engagement with culturally and geographically diverse media.

How does this unit fit into your programme of study?

This Year 2 unit builds on critical approaches developed in Year 1, meeting a range of programme learning outcomes such as generating knowledge of current practices of film and television in national, international and global contexts, and the shifting configurations of cultural and aesthetic practices.

Your learning on this unit

An overview of the content:

This unit will introduce students to Japanese animation and the distinctive history, aesthetics and characteristics of ‘anime’. Students will discover Japanese animation’s variety of forms, exploring animation techniques, production histories and contexts of distribution and reception. It will take a cross-cultural view of anime, guiding students through its Japanese origins to its various global cultural forms.

How will students, personally, be different as a result:

After engaging in this unit, students will have developed an improved understanding of animation aesthetics, will be better able to navigate diverse media forms and understand how to approach the questions that surround production, distribution and reception of a culturally specific form in a globalised world. Students will also gain practice in deploying creative skills for analytical purposes.

Learning Outcomes:

On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:

  1. Situate anime as an aesthetic form and cultural phenomenon within and beyond Japan
  2. Distinguish between styles and varieties of Japanese animation
  3. Explain how social, cultural and institutional factors affect the production, distribution and reception of anime
  4. Construct an argument about animated media in a cross-cultural context informed by academic research

How you will learn

Students will learn through a combination of lectures, seminars, screenings, readings and creative activities. The combination of critical analysis, contextual study and creative application is designed to ensure that students approach the topic from a variety of angles to suit a range of learning styles.

How you will be assessed

Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):

Group Practical Portfolio to include short video or abridged series, 3-5 mins (50%) [ILOs 1-2]

Individual Essay, 2000-words (50%) [ILOs 1-4]

When assessment does not go to plan

When required by the Board of Examiners, you will normally complete reassessments in the same formats as those outlined above. However, the Board reserves the right to modify the form or number of reassessments required. Details of reassessments are normally confirmed by the School shortly after the notification of your results at the end of the academic year. 

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. FATV20031).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.

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