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Course Description

Summary

In this low-intermediate course, students will learn and examine Japan’s drastic social changes during the Edo period and the Meiji period to investigate what equality and equity meant to Japanese people.  During the Edo Period (1603-1868), Japan closed its doors to other countries for about two hundred fifty years, and this isolation helped Japan develop its own unique culture. It, however, ended in 1867 when Japanese culture was introduced to the Western world at an International Exposition in Paris. On the contrary to the Edo period, the next era, Meiji, brought rapid modernization to Japanese society.  What caused Japan to close its doors to other countries in the Edo Period?  Was there a social hierarchy that existed in Japan? If so, how was it organized?  What was happening in Japan during the isolation period? What caused Japanese leaders to change their minds to reopen the country?  How were the ideas of equality and equality perceived by Japanese society during those periods?  What can modern Japanese and US societies learn from Japan’s social changes during the Edo and the Meiji periods?

In this course, students will not only practice linguistic skills but also gain a deeper understanding of equality and equity by examining Japanese history and society. They will seek answers to the questions above by studying historical events of the Edo Period (1603-1868) and the Meiji Period (1868-1912) through an analysis of various Japanese arts, including paintings, images, and VR video clips.