From Round to Square (and back)

For The Emperor's Teacher, scroll down (↓) to "Topics." It's the management book that will rock the world (and break the vase, as you will see). Click or paste the following link for a recent profile of the project: http://magazine.beloit.edu/?story_id=240813&issue_id=240610

A new post appears every day at 12:05* (CDT). There's more, though. Take a look at the right-hand side of the page for over four years of material (2,000 posts and growing) from Seinfeld and country music to every single day of the Chinese lunar calendar...translated. Look here ↓ and explore a little. It will take you all the way down the page...from round to square (and back again).
*Occasionally I will leave a long post up for thirty-six hours, and post a shorter entry at noon the next day.

Friday, January 15, 2016

Japan, East Asia, and the Pacific World Syllabus 2016 (b)

Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Syllabic Cycles"
***  *** 
On this date in Round and Square History
15 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
[a] Golden RF
Japan, East Asia, and the Pacific World
History 210
Spring 2016
Tuesday and Thursday 8:00-10:00 a.m.

Robert André LaFleur                                                             Office Hours:
Morse Ingersoll 111                                                                 Tuesday           12:00-1:30
363-2005                                                                                   Thursday         12:00-1:30 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
McCullough, Helen. Classical Japanese Prose: An Anthology
Ohnuki-Tierney, Emiko. Rice as Self: Japanese Identities Through Time
Rupp, Katherine. Gift-Giving in Japan
Varley, Paul. Japanese Culture
Hacker, Diana. A Pocket Style Manual.
All books are on library reserve

On Library Reserve—Required Reading
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 linguistic context.

Evaluation 
Quizzes/attendance                   15%
Source Essay I                           20%       
Midterm assignment                   20%
Source Essay II                          20%
Final Exam                                 25%                       
Daily attendance and class participation are expected; absences during the semester will affect your grade. Late assignments will be penalized.  
Click here for either half of the Japanese History and Culture Syllabus
Weeks 1-8        Weeks 9-16
History 210
Japan, East Asia, and the Pacific World
Spring 2016
Week IX          
Contemporary Japanese Culture II
Rice, Self, and Samurai
Tuesday, March 15 (Film in Class)
Kurosawa, The Seven Samurai (七人の侍)
       Part One
         Part Two
Thursday, March 17
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 Nationalism
LaFleur, Mythologies of the Pacific 
                        Gods, Rice, and the Japanese State*
*Although you saw this lecture in class during the first week, it is important that you "study" them in sequence.
Midterm Essays Due by noon on Monday, March 21

Week X           
Late Tokugawa and Early Meiji Japan (c. 1800- c. 1900)
Tuesday, March 22
New York Review of Books (click for NYRB syllabus)
Round and Square Syllabus (click for RSQ syllabus) 
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                 

Thursday, March 24
Keene, Emperor of Japan: 210-415
LaFleur, Mythologies of the Pacific 
                        Nature Gods and Tricksters of Polynesia

Week XI          
The Late Meiji, Taisho, and Showa Eras (c. 1900-1945)
Tuesday, March 29
New York Review of Books (click for NYRB syllabus)
Round and Square Syllabus (click for RSQ syllabus) 
Bix, Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan: 21-232
            Part I: The Prince’s Education, 1901-1921
            The Boy, the Family, and the Meiji Legacies
            Cultivating an Emperor                                       
            Confronting the Real World                                 
            Part II: The Politics of Good Intentions
            The Regency and the Crisis of Taisho Democracy    
            The New Monarchy and the New Nationalism         
            A Political Monarch Emerges                               
Lu, Japan: A Documentary History, 345-458
Read section headers and source titles (this should take twenty minutes)
                       Social and Economic Development in the Meiji Era
                       Taisho Democracy
                       Rise of Ultranationalism and the Pacific War           
Thursday, March 31
Bix, Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan: 233-530
            Part III: His Majesty’s Wars, 1931-1945
            The Manchurian Transformation
            Restoration and Repression
            Holy War
            Stalemate and Escalation
            Prologue to Pearl Harbor
            The Ordeal of Supreme Command
            Delayed Surrender     
LaFleur, Mythologies of the Pacific 
                        Creation and Misbehavior in Micronesia
Week XII
The Postwar Era
Tuesday, April 5
New York Review of Books (click for NYRB syllabus)
Round and Square Syllabus (click for RSQ syllabus) 

Dower, Embracing Defeat: 19-275
              Part I: Victor and Vanquished
                       Shattered Lives                                                  
                       Gifts from Heaven                                               
              Part II: Transcending Despair
                       Kyodatsu: Exhaustion and Despair                         
                      Cultures of Defeat                                               
                      Bridges of Language                                            
             Part III: Revolutions
                      Neocolonial Revolution
                      Embracing Revolution
                      Making Revolution
Lu, Japan: A Documentary History, 459-524
Read section headers and source titles (this should take twenty minutes)
                       Japan Under Occupation  
                       Politics and Problems of Security                 
Thursday, April 7
Dower, Embracing Defeat: 277-564
                 Part IV: Democracies
                        Imperial Democracy: Driving the Wedge
                        Imperial Democracy: Descending Partway from Heaven
                        Imperial Democracy: Evading Responsibility
                        Constitutional Democracy: GHQ Writes a New National Charter
                        Constitutional Democracy: Japanizing the American Draft
                        Censoring Democracy: Policing the New Taboos
                 Part V: Guilts
                         Victor’s Justice, Loser’s Justice                            
                         What Do You Tell the Dead When You Lose?        
                 Part VI: Reconstructions
                          Engineering Growth                                            
                          Epilogue: Legacies/Fantasies/Dreams      
LaFleur, Mythologies of the Pacific 
                        Melanesian Myths of Life and Cannibalism

Week XIII       
Contemporary Japanese Culture III—Early Postwar Reflections from America
Tuesday, April 12
New York Review of Books (click for NYRB syllabus)
Round and Square Syllabus (click for RSQ syllabus) 
Benedict, The Chrysanthemum and the Sword
            Assignment: Japan
            The Japanese in the War
            Taking One’s Proper Station
            The Meiji Reform
            Debtor to the Ages and the World
            Repaying One-Ten-Thousandth
            The Repayment ‘Hardest to Bear’
            Clearing One’s Name
            The Circle of Human Feelings
            The Dilemma of Virtue
            Self-Discipline
            The Child Learns
            The Japanese Since VJ-Day
 Lu, Japan: A Documentary History, 525-562
Read section headers and source titles (this should take twenty minutes)
                       Emergence of an Economic Superpower             

Week XIV       
Contemporary Japanese Culture IV— Urban Anthropology
Tuesday, April 19
New York Review of Books (click for NYRB syllabus)
Round and Square Syllabus (click for RSQ syllabus)
Bestor, Neighborhood Tokyo: 1-161
            Introduction                                           
            Miyamoto-cho, a Portrait                         
            The Development of a Neighborhood                     
            Local Politics and Administration             
            Community Services and Neighborhood Events                   
 Lu, Japan: A Documentary History, 563-604
Read section headers and source titles (this should take twenty minutes)
                       Bridging the Past and Present               

Thursday, April 21
Bestor, Neighborhood Tokyo: 162-268
            Formal Hierarchies of Participation and Power         
            Friends and Neighbors
            The Festival and the Local Social Order
            Conclusion
LaFleur, Mythologies of the Pacific 
                        Origins in Indonesia and the Philippines

Week XV        
Contemporary Japanese Culture V—Market, Nation, World
Tuesday, April 26
Bestor, Tsukiji: 1-176
            Tokyo’s Pantry                                      
            Grooved Channels                                  
            From Landfill to Marketplace        
            The Raw and the Cooked
 Lu, Japan: A Documentary History, 605-618
                      Read section headers and source titles (this should take twenty minutes)
 Thursday, April 28
Bestor, Tsukiji: 177-313
            Visible Hands                                                    
            Family/Firm                                                      
            Trading Places                                                   
            Full Circle                                                        
LaFleur, Mythologies of the Pacific 
                        Aboriginal and Colonial Myths of Australia
 Make sure that you read the final paper assignment (Due May 2)
Paper Due by noon on Monday, May 2 (in my office—MI 111)  
Please Review My Late Assignment Policy 

Week XVI       
Contemporary Japanese Culture VI—Review
Tuesday, May 3
Test Preparation
Final Exam During Finals Week!

All Late Work Due by Wednesday, May 4 

Click here for either half of the Japanese History and Culture Syllabus
Weeks 1-8        Weeks 9-16
[e] Centered RF
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