Imperial Japan

This course is for students interested in exploring the changing ideas, technologies and practices that shaped Japan’s history from the 1850s, when it confronted the power of an encroaching West, to the 1930s when its choices led the nation to the edge of ruin. Lectures and readings will address the collapse of the Tokugawa regime, the Meiji Restoration, the construction of empire, and the emergence of new forms of cultural and political expression. Students will also learn how ideas about gender, race, and tradition were understood and made use of in Imperial Japan. Open to all students.