LART-340: Japanese Culture and History

This course will give students an overview of the currents of Japanese history, from its early beginnings in the Jomon Period through the post-World War II era. Students will examine various types of evidence that historians use to interpret the past, and gain an appreciation of the ways in which analysis-of classic works of literature, political documents, diaries, painting, weaponry, clothing, and poetry-reveals history as dramatic. That analysis of historical evidence also teaches us that history is something created by actual people who held opinions about their social worlds and made decisions in their daily lives. Finally, students will consider Japan's remarkable ecological conditions and the influence they have exerted on the societies that inhabited its islands.