History 334 - High Growth Japan as History

(Offered as ASLC 334 and HIST 334.) Japan’s rise from the ashes of total defeat to become one of the largest and most prosperous economies in the world was once celebrated as the “Japanese miracle.” Focusing on the so-called high-growth period between the mid-1950s and mid-1990s, this course explores shifting historiographic approaches to postwar Japanese history, with a particular focus on the intersection of economic growth and democratic politics. Topics will include the place of Japan within the Cold War, the effects of economic growth on society and the environment, including social movements and intellectual responses to the changes wrought by high-growth. We will conclude by considering the legacy of high growth on Japan during the so-called “lost decades” that followed the bursting of the economic bubble. The course will entail short writing assignments and a historiographic research paper.  Two class meetings per week.  

Fall semester. Professor Maxey.

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Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: Close analysis of historical evidence, which may include written documents, images, music, films, or statistics from the historical period under study. Exploration of scholarly, methodological, and theoretical debates about historical topics. Extensive reading, varying forms of written work, and intensive in-class discussions.