Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Syllabic Cycles"
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On this date in Round and Square History15 January 2015—Attendance Policy: Spring 2015
15 January 2015—China's Lunar Calendar: 2015 01-15
15 January 2014—Erlangen 91052: Introduction
15 January 2014—China's Lunar Calendar: 2014 01-15
15 January 2013—Channeling Liam: Free Will
15 January 2012—Hurtin', Leavin, and Longin': Upbeat and Downcast
15 January 2011—Kanji Mastery: Resource Center
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Click here for either half of the Japan, East Asia, and the Pacific World Syllabus
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| [a] Golden RF |
Japan, East Asia, and the Pacific World
HIST 210
Spring 2022
MWF 8:00-9:45
Robert André LaFleur Office Hours:
Morse Ingersoll 206 Monday 12:00-13:30
363-2005 Wednesday 12:00-13:30 lafleur@beloit.edu ...or by appointment
363-2005 Wednesday 12:00-13:30 lafleur@beloit.edu ...or by appointment
Required Books
Benedict, Ruth. The Chrysanthemum and the Sword
Berry, Mary Elizabeth. Japan in Print
Bestor, Theodore. Neighborhood Tokyo
Bestor, Theodore. Tsukiji: The Fish Market at the Center of the World
Bix, Herbert. Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan
Dower, John. Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II
Keene, Donald. Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852-1912
Lu, David. Japan: A Documentary History.
McCullough, Helen. Classical Japanese Prose: An Anthology
McCullough, Helen. Classical Japanese Prose: An Anthology
Ohnuki-Tierney, Emiko. Rice as Self: Japanese Identities Through Time
Rupp, Katherine. Gift-Giving in Japan
Stalker, Nancy. Japan: History and Culture
Winchester, Simon. The Pacific.
All books are on library reserve
On Library Reserve—Required Reading/Watching
Lu, David, Japan: A Documentary History
LaFleur, Robert, Great Mythologies of the World: East Asia and the Pacific
On Library Reserve—Required Reading/Watching
Lu, David, Japan: A Documentary History
LaFleur, Robert, Great Mythologies of the World: East Asia and the Pacific
Course Description
This course will examine Japanese history and culture in the context of the wider East Asian world. We will begin with early Japanese history and the influence of both Korea and China on early Japanese institutions. In an even broader perspective, we will consider Japan (and East Asia's) role in a complex Pacific world, and how that region has shaped the world at large—from cultural and military forces to environmental issues, trade, and development.
We will then examine the development of Japan’s indigenous traditions during the Heian (794-1185), Kamakura (1185-1333), and Ashikaga (1336-1568) periods. The second half of the course will deal with modern Japanese history and culture, paying equal attention to historical and ethnographic materials, and taking a careful look at the development of the Kanto and Kansai regions in modern Japanese history and culture. Throughout the course we will use examples from the Japanese language—spoken phrases, the two major syllabaries (hiragana and katakana), and kanji, or Chinese characters—to analyze Japanese history and culture in a linguistic context.
We will then examine the development of Japan’s indigenous traditions during the Heian (794-1185), Kamakura (1185-1333), and Ashikaga (1336-1568) periods. The second half of the course will deal with modern Japanese history and culture, paying equal attention to historical and ethnographic materials, and taking a careful look at the development of the Kanto and Kansai regions in modern Japanese history and culture. Throughout the course we will use examples from the Japanese language—spoken phrases, the two major syllabaries (hiragana and katakana), and kanji, or Chinese characters—to analyze Japanese history and culture in a linguistic context.
Evaluation
Quizzes 10% Every Class Session
Pacific Essay 5% Week One
Pacific Essay 5% Week One
Source Letter 15% Week Five
Exam I 10% Week Seven
Rice as Culture Essay 20% Week Nine
Rice as Culture Essay 20% Week Nine
Source Paper 30% Week Fifteen
Exam II 10% Week Sixteen
Click here for either half of the Japan, East Asia, and the Pacific World Syllabus
History 210
Japan, East Asia, and the Pacific World
Spring 2022
Week IX
(March 21-25)
NOTE THAT THE SYLLABUS HAS BEEN ADJUSTED
The paper assignment has been moved to the end of Week 10. We are going to use this week to reset things after break.
Monday, March 21
NO CLASS (check your email)
Readings for Wednesday
Who's Who of Japan (entire booklet)
Children's Atlas of Japan (look through it, no matter your level of Japanese, including "none").
Wednesday, March 23
Who's Who of Japan (finish the entire booklet)
Children's Atlas of Japan (look through it, no matter your level of Japanese, including "none").
Friday, March 25
No Clan Meeting This Week!
Week X
(March 28-April 1)
Monday, March 28
Great Mythologies of the World (on library reserve): Lectures 42-43
Recommended: unless you have very good notes, watch them again—you can use the detail
in your "Rice as Self" paper
42: Japanese Tales of Purity and Defilement
42: Japanese Tales of Purity and Defilement
43: Gods, Rice, and the Japanese State
Kurosawa, Seven Samurai 七人の侍) (Film in Class) VERY IMPORTANT
Ohnuki-Tierney, Rice as Self
Kurosawa, The Seven Samurai (七人の侍). (Film in Class) VERY IMPORTANT
Food as a Metaphor of Self: An Exercise in Historical Anthropology
Rice and Rice Agriculture Today
Rice as a Staple Food?
Rice in Cosmogony and Cosmology
Rice as Self, Rice Paddies as Our Land
Rice in the Discourse of Selves and Others
Foods as Selves and Others in Cross-cultural Perspective
Symbolic Practice through Time: Self, Ethnicity, and NationalismKurosawa, The Seven Samurai (七人の侍). (Film in Class) VERY IMPORTANT
Part One
Be in class by 8:00 so you can see the beginning of the film (very important)! (
Be in class by 8:00 so you can see the beginning of the film (very important)! (
No quiz today).
Wednesday, March 30
***No Class (check your email, which explains what to do)***
Finishi the book (of course)
Ohnuki-Tierney, Rice as Self Food as a Metaphor of Self: An Exercise in Historical Anthropology
Rice and Rice Agriculture Today
Rice as a Staple Food?
Rice in Cosmogony and Cosmology
Rice as Self, Rice Paddies as Our Land
Rice in the Discourse of Selves and Others
Foods as Selves and Others in Cross-cultural Perspective
Symbolic Practice through Time: Self, Ethnicity, and NationalismFriday, April 1
Tuttle, Hiragana and Katakana, 59-64 (.pdf file)
Combined Sounds
Review of Combined Sounds
Review through Place Names and Period Names
Clan Meetings
[1] Address the following matters:
(a) Make a list of 8-12 "rice ideas" (these can be brief) that stood out for you in the book (Rice as Self), the film (Seven Samurai), or even things that come to mind about your source readings in McCullough, Lu, or even the Japan lectures.
(b) Write a sentence or three about how some of them connect to each other.
(c) Describe how you are going to approach writing your essay on Sunday.
(d) Are you 100% correct with your Chicago-style citations (including journal citations)? Work with your clan group to make sure.
[2] Write a short version of your answers to the above prompts, and send it to me by noon on Friday 4/1 as an email attachment.
Week XI
(April 4-8)
Monday, April 4
Stalker, Japan: History and Culture,144-173
Maintaining Control: Tokugawa Official Culture
Berry, Japan in Print: 1-103
A Traveling Clerk Goes to the Bookstores
The Library of Public Information
Maps are Strange
Lu, Japan: A Documentary History, 203-272
Read section headers and source titles (this should take twenty minutes)
Tokugawa: Era of Peace
Intellectual Currents in Tokugawa Japan
Lu, Japan: A Documentary History, 203-272
Read section headers and source titles (this should take twenty minutes)
Tokugawa: Era of Peace
Intellectual Currents in Tokugawa Japan
Wednesday, March 23
Great Mythologies of the World (on library reserve): Lecture 44
44: Nature Gods and Tricksters of Polynesia
Berry, Japan in Print: 104-252
Blood Right and Merit
The Freedom and the City
Cultural Custody, Cultural Literacy
Nation
Friday, April 8
For students with no background in Japanese:
Read the following posts from RSQ to learn a bit about how Japanese renders "foreign" sounds into Japanese.Write a few sentences about katakana in Japanese life.
For students with any level of background in Japanese
Spend twenty minutes looking through the .pdf file I sent you from an approximately fourth-grade reader in Japanese history. Be an anthropologist of the text. What do you see? What stands out. What raises questions (even basic ones)? Write a few sentences about this
Clan Meetings
[1] Address the following matters:
(a) Discuss with your fellow clan members some of your approaches to reading a book for class rather than, say, a .pdf article. Have you been taught skills about how to do this in the past? Try not to be cynical (yes, it's easy to answer this by saying "I don't" or other ways). The fact is that it is a useful and even necessary skill. Take it seriously.
(b) Now, add a temporal dimension. Discuss your various approaches to reading "a book a week." This is very (very) common in graduate school, and yet (I speak from long experience) very few courses actually teach how to do it.
(c) Finally, put these thoughts together into perhaps a half-dozen items that you might "teach" to others who are faced with reading entire books of history.
[2] Write a short version of your answers to the above prompts (a few sentences per item), and send it to me by noon on Friday 4/8 as an email attachment.
Week XII
(April 11-15)
Stalker, Japan: History and Culture, 209-275
Facing and Embracing the West (1850s-1900s)
Modernity and its Discontents (1900s-1930s)
Facing and Embracing the West (1850s-1900s)
Modernity and its Discontents (1900s-1930s)
Keene, Emperor of Japan: 1-209
Lu, Japan: A Documentary History, 273-344
Read section headers and source titles (this should take twenty minutes)
The End of Tokugawa Rule
Early Meiji Political Developments
Read section headers and source titles (this should take twenty minutes)
The End of Tokugawa Rule
Early Meiji Political Developments
Wednesday, April 13
Great Mythologies of the World (on library reserve): Lecture 45
45: Creation and Misbehavior in Micronesia
Keene, Emperor of Japan: 210-415
Friday, April 15
For students with no background in Japanese:
Read the following posts from RSQ to learn a bit about how Japanese renders "foreign" sounds into Japanese.Write a few sentences about katakana in Japanese life.
xxx
For students with any level of background in Japanese
Spend twenty minutes looking through the .pdf file I sent you last week from an approximately fourth-grade reader in Japanese history. Be an anthropologist of the text. What do you see? What stands out? What raises questions (even basic ones)? Write a few sentences about this.
Clan Meetings
[1] Address the following matters:
(a) Even if you did this earlier, read carefully through the final assignment (the link is at the bottom of this week's syllabus entries, directly below). Take notes, and think about sources that you will need.
(b) Make a list of sources you are thinking of using I(this does not need to be your final choice, but you are only a week away from having to make that decision (by Sunday, April 24, when you need to send me your choices).
(c) Write a paragraph or so about how you are planning to proceed. In particular, address your thinking about the difference between a "research paper" and a "source paper" like this one.
(d) Discuss these matters with your clan group, and describe for your peers some of the insights you have into how the close (source) reading and writing process should work.
[2] Write a short version of your answers to the above prompts (a few sentences per item), and send it to me by noon on Friday 4/15 as an email attachment.
Week XIII
(April 18-22)
Stalker, Japan: History and Culture, 318-361
Defeat and Reconstruction
Dower, Embracing Defeat (get started; if you can, keep going with the readings listed for Wednesday)
Defeat and Reconstruction
Dower, Embracing Defeat (get started; if you can, keep going with the readings listed for Wednesday)
Part I: Victor and Vanquished
Shattered Lives
Gifts from Heaven
Lu, Japan: A Documentary History, 459-524
Read section headers and source titles (this should take twenty minutes)
Read section headers and source titles (this should take twenty minutes)
Japan Under Occupation
Wednesday, April 20
Wednesday, April 20
Great Mythologies of the World (on library reserve): Lecture 46
46: Melanesian Myths of Life and Cannibalism
Dower, Embracing Defeat
Part II: Transcending Despair
Kyodatsu: Exhaustion and Despair
Cultures of Defeat
Bridges of Language
Week XIV
(April 25-29)
Stalker, Japan: History and Culture, 362-400
"Cool" Japan as Cultural Superpower (1980s-2010s) Introduction
Miyamoto-cho, a Portrait
The Development of a Neighborhood
Local Politics and Administration
Community Services and Neighborhood Events
Formal Hierarchies of Participation and Power
Friends and Neighbors
The Festival and the Local Social Order
Conclusion Lu, Japan: A Documentary History, 563-618
Read section headers and source titles (this should take twenty minutes)
Bridging the Past and Present
Read section headers and source titles (this should take twenty minutes)
Bridging the Past and Present
Great Mythologies of the World (on library reserve): Lecture 47
47: Origins in Indonesia and the Philippines
Wednesday, April 27
Spring Day—No Classes
Friday, April 29
Final Clan Meeting
[1] Address the following matters:
(a) Think back over how you have read various sources this term (I am speaking of English here). Have you learned to "read like a historian" (various paces, with some things moving very fast, and others—especially sources you will be using for your papers—slowly and carefully. Write a few thoughts about what went well and what did not.
(b) Take a look at what you have done so far to prepare for your final assignment. If you have not done so (not ideal), read it carefully right now. Write down a sketch of your plan to do a good job (not a rushed job at the end) that will really round out your study in this class.
(c) Take a look through the syllabus, and try to assess any areas that could be weak points in the second exam. Make a list, and then make a (realistic) plan.
(d) Finally, review in your group the exact form for how to do all three items for Chicago-style citations for both single authors books and single-author articles. Many of you are still making serious errors.
Week XV
(May 2-4)
Monday, May 2
Great Mythologies of the World (on library reserve): Lecture 48
48: Aboriginal and Colonial Myths of Australia
Bestor, Tsukiji (Do your best with the book, and reflect upon all of our ethnographic works)
Tokyo’s Pantry
Grooved Channels
From Landfill to Marketplace
The Raw and the Cooked
Visible Hands
Family/Firm
Trading Places
Full Circle
Wednesday, May 4
Exam II
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Click here for either half of the Japan, East Asia, and the Pacific World Syllabus
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