HISTORY 3143 - Perspectives of War:The Pacific War through Japanese and American Eyes

Institution:

Bard College

Subject:

Description:

Human Rights This course considers the same historical period through Japanese as well as U.S. eyes. Source materials include histories, eyewitness accounts, novels, and films made during the war itself and afterwards. Various types of propaganda, as well as national and political biases, are analyzed. Controversial events, such as the Nanjing Massacre and the bombings of Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki are studied from different national and political perspectives. The course reviews U.S. debates on the first atomic bombing and the continuing controversies in Japan over school textbooks and memorials. Books include John Dower'sWarWithout Mercy, Ian Buruma's Inventing Japan, and novels by Shusaku Endo and Kenzaburo Oe. Wartime Japanese films, such as Sea Battle in Hawaii and Malaya ( about Pearl Harbor), are analyzed, as are postwar anime films, such as Grave of the Fireflies, and others.

Credits:

4.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.bard.edu

Phone Number:

(845) 758-6822

Regional Accreditation:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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