HIST 285(S) Modern Japan*
This course will utilize a wide variety of religious, social, political, and literary materials to explore why Japan has developed into one of the major industrialized nations in the world. The syllabus will be divided into a section dealing with the relationship between traditional Samurai culture and Japan's response to the West, a section showing how the modernization process broke down during the period of Fascism, war, and the American occupation, and two sections analyzing aspects of contemporary Japanese society. Requirements: two short papers, an hour exam, and a self-scheduled final exam. Not open to first-year students. Group C