Modern Japan: Conflict in History

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This course surveys the history of modern Japan from the late-Tokugawa period to the present. Its primary goal is to promote basic understanding of major events, while also aiming to analyze the modern history of Japan in transnational and comparative contexts through exploring a number of common themes of modern global history: nation building, colonialism, total war, and various transformations and social conflicts in the postwar period. Through such examination, this course aims at promoting critical thinking concerning diverse historical interpretations and controversies. Accordingly, students will be exposed to a broad range of historical debates and viewpoints throughout the course.