Independence struggles of the post-World War II era.

In the first semester, the course covered how events at the end of World War I created the conflicts of the mid-20th century and the subsequent post-WWII world order in which the United States became the dominant global power. In the second semester we concentrate more on the various ways this world order has been resisted by emerging powers (Russia, China, and others), individuals, citizen groups, indigenous peoples, and large-scale independence movements in formerly colonized countries.

The daily cycle of reporting in the mass media tells citizens about many urgent problems in the world: environmental destruction, financial crises, and conflicts over religion, ethnic identity and resources. However, for young people this news can be a flood of meaningless information because it is usually presented in short reports without historical context. In this course we will attempt to overcome this problem by uncovering how our contemporary world order has developed since the end of World War I.

During the fifteen sessions of the course we will take a regional approach to the subject, discussing case studies of independence movements, histories of aboriginal peoples, and protest movements that envision a different sort of world order based on different economic and political systems.
Students will note that this topic is extremely broad. The choice to do general coverage of a broad topic will give students many options to study the specific aspects of the course that they want to cover in their final projects due at the end of the semester.
The final project consists of a research report presented to the class toward the end of the semester. Ideally, there should be many voices heard in the classroom, but for this to happen, students must do background readings and come to each class with informed opinions and questions.

In recent years, it has been necessary to conduct some lessons online or by assigning on-demand materials to study. The use of such methods will probably not be necessary in 2024,but for emergencies or infection response, students will be informed about revised methods, content, and evaluation criteria. Two of the fifteen classes may be taught as on-demand lessons that require students to read an article or view a documentary. The schedule for these on-demand lessons will be announced as the term progresses. Students will be notified of the schedule at least two weeks in advance through WebClass.

The teacher will give spoken feedback during class discussions, and written feedback for homework and the final presentation project. Students will submit a first draft of the final project so that the teacher can suggest corrections and improvements before it is presented to fellow students.

Students should do assigned readings or film viewings each week and find research materials related to the course on their own initiative.

In order to receive a good participation score, students will have to do weekly review and readings in order to participate the the next class. There will be some homework assignments that require students to write a comment on the materials studied, and these assignments will be used as the basis of discussion during the next lesson.

＜No textbook required.＞

Students do not need to buy "The Untold History of the United States," but it is recommended as a useful resource. This book has been translated into Japanese and there are also abridged versions of the book and a video documentary series based on the book.

A very high proficiency in English is not required, but students should have some ability to discuss the challenging topics covered in this course. Students will need more than the ability to do "daily conversation" and they will need to be seriously motivated to use and improve their English. Some of the students in this class may be native speakers of English, so non-native speakers of English should understand that this is not an English language training course. However, it is a good way to prepare for studying at a university overseas where English is the language of instruction.
If students have good attendance, complete assignments on time, do background reading, participate in class, and make thoughtful contributions to discussions, and complete the final project, they will succeed.