Empire and Modernity in Japan, 1850–1945
Your Instructor
PhD in History
University of California, Berkeley
Jonathan Andrew Lear is a historian of modern Japan and Germany whose research focuses on the intellectual, cultural, and environmental history of energy. He is an independent scholar and advisor in UC Berkeley’s Political Economy program; he has taught history at UC Berkeley, Stanford University's Continuing Studies Program, and Santa Clara University. His current book project, Making and Breaking the Atomic Age in Japan and Germany, 1920–2000, examines the history of Japan and West Germany’s commercial atomic energy programs.
$252
What you'll learn
Students will develop a critical vocabulary for engaging with and narrating modern Japanese history. The learning objectives for each of the six class sessions are as follows.
Students will be able to describe the significance and features of warrior rule in early modern Japan and understand how and why this system came to an end in the late 1860s.
Students will be able to describe how Meiji leaders crafted a modern state as various social groups responded to and tried to influence their reforms.
Students will learn how Japan’s overseas empire came into being and understand the related emergence of Japan’s industrial economy.
Students will be able to discuss the roles that individualism, liberalism, socialism, and feminism played in prewar Japan.
Students will be able to discuss how domestic economic and political concerns pushed the country toward aggressive, overseas military solutions during the 1930s.
Students will learn how Japan's defeat and surrender in the Second World War transpired and how the subsequent America occupation sought to remake Japanese society.
Course Schedule
What You Get
Live interactive sessions
Engage in real-time discussions with expert instructors
Small discussion groups
Maximum 15 students for personalized attention
Session recordings
Review and revisit class content anytime
Dedicated platform
Track progress and organize your schedule
Your Instructor
PhD in History
University of California, Berkeley
Jonathan Andrew Lear is a historian of modern Japan and Germany whose research focuses on the intellectual, cultural, and environmental history of energy. He is an independent scholar and advisor in UC Berkeley’s Political Economy program; he has taught history at UC Berkeley, Stanford University's Continuing Studies Program, and Santa Clara University. His current book project, Making and Breaking the Atomic Age in Japan and Germany, 1920–2000, examines the history of Japan and West Germany’s commercial atomic energy programs.
$252