“Anime on Campus”: Courses on Japanese Animation at American Colleges

College classes on Japanese animation/Japanese comics that are currently being offered at colleges and universities around the U.S. or that have been offered in the past are now listed on a separate page. This page will be updated continuously, and if you know of any other classes that you would like to see listed there, please do not hesitate to let me know!

The introduction to the original version of this list is:

Much of the emphasis of this blog has been on scholarly approaches to Japanese animation and Japanese comics as expressed in “scholarly output” – publications, conference presentations, and the like. But, just as with any other academic field or area, “anime studies” has a second side – teaching about Japanese animation. And in fact, the question “are there classes at American colleges/universities on anime” is one that gets asked fairly frequently.

The short, straight-forward answer to this question is – yes, plenty of colleges and universities of all types around the U.S. now have classes on Japanese animation. But these classes are structured in many different ways, offered by different departments, and really, have a wide range of goals. Many are meant to be introductory surveys, others are designed specifically to give first-year students an opportunity to explore in an academic setting something that they are already familiar with on their own, and some use Japanese animation as a way of leading students to consider other, broader topics.

Precisely because I have now seen this question come up several times, I decided to put together a list of classes on anime at American colleges/universities. The list was based on the results of an advanced Google search for the string (anime OR “Japanese animation”) AND class, with results limited to the .edu domain. I am certain that this list is not complete – and any additions are always welcome. I also know that a number of other colleges/universities offer classes specifically on manga, but have decided not to include those. And of course, I also know that there are vastly more classes out there, at all levels and across many disciplines, fields and subject areas, that include some discussion of Japanese animation. Again, though, my goal for compiling this particular list is specifically to bring together examples of classes on anime/Japanese animation – that could emphasize both their similarities and their differences! And hopefully, this list will be of use to anyone who is considering teaching a class of this type themselves!

[This list only covers courses that are being offered currently or have been offered in the recent past. Generally, I simply list the school name, the title of the course, and, if one is available, a short description, although I am able to link to articles about several of the courses, and to a syllabus for one of them. I also compiled a similar list for courses on Japanese animation/anime that were offered at American colleges and universities in the early 2000’s – that list is available on the Anime on Campus page that is a supplement to the archived Online Bibliography of Anime and Manga Research.]