Japan in World History--History and Memory

3 units

This course examines the history of World War II in Asia and how it has been remembered in the postwar era. We will trace the war, from the first Japanese military attack on China in 1931 through the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. We will also examine several postwar controversies concerning how the war has been forgotten and remembered in Japan, in the rest of Asia, and in the United States. Goals include grasping the empirical history of the war as a step to becoming familiar with the theories and methods of Memory Studies in History.