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COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course covers the history of Japan from the 1868 Meiji Restoration to the present, with particular focus on the emergence of modernity, the Pacific War, and popular culture. The first section of the course will examine Japan's modern revolution in the Meiji Restoration; industrialization and modernization in the Meiji Period; and the development of Japanese colonialism. The second section of the course will focus on the Pacific War, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the American Occupation, with particular focus on the politics of gender and race. The third section of the course will look at Japan's explosive postwar economic recovery and the consumer and popular culture it produced.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

REQUIRED TEXTS:

REFERENCE WORKS:

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SCHEDULE:

SECTION TWO: Nationalism, War, Modernity

SECTION THREE: Identity and Culture in Postwar/Postmodern Japan

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POLICIES:

Arrangements and Accommodation
Speak to the professor immediately if you need different arrangements or accommodations to finish this course. Please consult the Center for Academic Excellence to complete required preliminaries if you have special needs.

If you anticipate difficulty attending class or completing an assignment for any reason, please contact the professor as soon as possible. Special arrangements can be made, but not without prior warning. Except in situations of medical emergencies, truancy and missed assignments/exams will be given grades of F unless you have consulted with the professor ahead of time.

Attendance:
Mandatory for all students! Speak to the professor if you need to miss a class. Your attendance grade will suffer with each missed class. Furthermore, unexcused absences for more than 1/3 of the class meetings in a semester will result in an automatic fail.

Cheating and Plagiarism:
You are expected to produce original work in this course. If you copy the words of another author (from a book, article, website, etc.) without quoting and citing the source, you are committing plagiarism. If you buy or borrow a paper written by another person, you are cheating and plagiarizing. Neither will be tolerated under any circumstance. Those who violate either the letter or spirit of Occidental College regulations will face disciplinary proceedings and may automatically fail the course. Beware what seems to be the easy solution! Faculty have full access to internet cheating sources, and are on the lookout for “borrowed” work. Also, exams and assignments in this course will vary from semester to semester. Notes and progress reports may be required for any assignment without prior announcement. As stated above, if you anticipate difficulty completing an assignment, please contact the professor immediately.

Community and Communication
By taking this course you are entering a community. All members of the community are expected to treat each other with respect. Disputes and disagreements are an anticipated and acceptable aspect of community; insult and abuse of any sort are not. Some of the subjects covered in this course will stir emotions. It will benefit every student, the professor, and the larger Oxy community if we can integrate these personal responses into our study of Japan without letting them govern the direction of our enquiry and understanding.

The key to our course community is effective and affective communication. This will involve developing and refining our ability to exchange information, queries, and opinions in a variety of formats. Some of us are confident debaters and oral communicators, while others prefer the written word. This course has been structured to give all students avenues of expression, whatever your strengths. It is also expected that students will attempt to improve their communication skills in areas that are not instinctive or natural. Unfocused writers need to develop structure and direction. Good talkers need to become good listeners. Shy students must gain confidence in their ability to influence the flow of discussion. Secure writers need to learn to transform their eloquence into visual and oral form.

Finally, I will make every attempt to get to know each student in the course, and hope that you will reciprocate. If you have a question, comment, or complaint, come to office hours, talk to me after class, email me, or phone me. I am always interested in what you have to say.

Email Communication
I will regularly send email messages to the entire class. You are responsible for checking your Oxy email daily, and for responding to messages that require your participation. I will only use your Oxy email address. If you wish, you can set up your Oxy account so that it forwards mail to a different account. See the Help Desk at ITS for more info. However, I highly recommend that you switch to your Oxy email address, as you will be required to use the login and password for many computer functions in this and in other classes.

Course Website
The hub of all activity for this course is the website, located at the URL address listed at the top of this syllabus. You should check it as often as possible, particularly before and after class meetings. New assignments, changes to the syllabus, special links and announcements, and other information will be posted there. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO REGULARLY CHECK THE WEBSITE FOR UPDATES. Doing so is part of your participation in the course. If you ever have problems gaining access to password-protected portions of the site, email me immediately or go ask at the ITS Helpdesk.

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