Descriptions Archive

HIST 2512A:
Britain & Empire, 1914-present
Winter 2027
Instructor: Danielle Kinsey
 

This image is taken from the Empire Marketing Board campaign to promote British consumption of products from the empire during the 1930s.

Description: This lecture-and-discussion course surveys the history of the United Kingdom and its empire after 1914. Material in the course will be organized chronologically (ie/ we’ll start just before the First World War and slowly make our way to the present), discussing key political, social, cultural, military, and economic transformations that occurred along the way. We’ll examine all things “modern Britain”: what, when, where, and why was it, who was thought to be included and excluded from British national belonging, and how imperial and colonial development was mutually constitutive with British “domestic” development. Themes in the course will be: the rise of modern consumerism; the centrality of empire and colonialism to Britain in the twentieth century; experiences and transformations in the two World Wars; economic depression and deindustrialization; social justice movements; decolonization; tensions between England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales; British party politics; neo-liberalism and fascism; the “special relationship” with the United States; the Commonwealth; and the European Union and Brexit. The course will foreground cultural and identarian issues and as such we’ll often discuss the histories of class, race, gender, sexuality, ethnic, and religious difference. While this course is meant to continue from where HIST 2502 (Britain & Empire in the 19^th Century) leaves off, you do not need to have completed HIST 2502 to take this course.
 
Format: This is a 0.5 credit course that will meet twice weekly for face-to-face lectures and large group discussion.
 
Evaluation: Each lecture will contain keywords that students should take notes on. At times the instructor will use lecture time for large group discussions. Exams will be based on information from these lecture sessions. Weekly discussion sections will be used to discuss assignments, weekly readings, and/or short and feature length films. Discussions sections will be evaluated on attendance and participation, short worksheet assignments, and one summative written assignment that will be no more than 10 pages (double-spaced) of writing.
 
The weekly reading load in the course will not exceed 30 pages. Readings and other primary sources for the course will be made available online; if a textbook is required, it will be no more than $50.  

Professor Pamela J. Walker

FYSM 1405A: Playing History
Fall 2026-Winter 2027

Playing History

Do you like board games, theatre, video games, improv, historical fiction, costumes,  and having fun? Are you tired of sitting quietly while a teacher talks?
 
Do you want to play historical games, meet other students, ask big historical questions, and figure out university life?
 
This course uses Reacting to the Past (RTTP) games to draw students into the past. Students will take on historical roles like a journalist, the King of France or a peasant protesting unjust laws. Games are set in times of historical change and upheaval like the French Revolution or the beginning of World War One. There is no fixed script or outcome. You will be obliged to adhere to the philosophical and intellectual beliefs of the historical figures you play and you must devise your own means of expressing those ideas persuasively, in papers, speeches, or other public presentations.
 
Everyone must figure out how to win the game. That might mean overthrowing the King and establishing a republic or making the King’s hold on power even more secure. Players will collaborate and compete with others. Your character might get killed in the game and you will reenter the game in a new role. You will work to understand historical documents and to develop your ,,response to the central problems of the game. You will debate, deceive your enemies, engage in skullduggery, or plot to sabotage your opponents. After the game, we will look at how the historical events differed from the way the game unfolded and reflect on the big historical questions we asked.
 
As one student said, “Because of Reacting, I don’t just know the facts, I know the history. And that’s pretty epic.”
 
This seminar will introduce you to historical thinking and help you to develop skills in persuasive speech, research, critical analytical thought and academic writing. These key skills are not only fundamental to success in university but are also essential to a successful professional career.
 
Class Format: This seminar will be taught in person with a maximum of thirty students.
 
Textbook: J. Popiel and M. Carnes, Rousseau, Burke, and the Revolution in France, 1791 2^nd. Edition, (University of North Carolina Press)
 
Assessment: Students will be graded on their participation in the historical games and class discussions. They will submit frequent short essays that will examine key historical questions. The papers will require independent research using techniques that will be taught in class. Students will also write longer essays on topics of their choice. There is no examination in this course.
 
Read about game-based history classes:
https://www.universityaffairs.ca/news/news-article/role-playing-games-are-breathing-new-life-into-the-history-classroom/

HIST 1301
Conflict or Change in Early Canadian History
Fall 2026
 
 

Source: Page of manuscript census of Canada West 1842, (can be enlarged and read in its entirety) Library and Archives Canada,  https://data2.collectionscanada.gc.ca/1842/uc/jpg/004569584_00268.jpg
Caption: To know more about all censuses, how they were collected, how to make sense of the data, and to see the aggregated results, see the guides and introductions on the website of Library and Archives Canada, https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1851/Pages/about-census.aspx.
 
 
Instructor: Professor Dominique Marshall
 
Introduction: An exploration of the various peoples and groups who have inhabited the Canadian territory from its earliest times to the 1860s. A chronological survey, with special attention to major transformations in imperial relations, the environment, the population, public life, social relations, and culture. An introduction to the many, and changing, ways used by historians to discover and explain this past. A discussion of conflicting understandings, received ideas, prejudices, assumptions and misconceptions. An opportunity to engage personally with written, visual and oral documents, as well as objects. A chance to participate in hands on virtual and collaborative laboratories to make and exhibit elements of the history of Canada.
 
Class Format: No participation in real time required.  Within each week, there will be three hours of engagement with the class (watching, exchanging with the whole class, or one small discussion group, or the instructor, or the Teaching Assistant, as well as posting materials in common exhibits) with a flexible schedule. Besides, the course will require a weekly investment of an average of 4 hours of individual work, half of them to read the textbook & watch related materials, half of them to prepare an individual project on a topic of your choosing, following well defined steps. Each week, you will learn by simultaneously reading, explaining, writing, researching, making, revising, and reflecting.
 
Aims and Goals: To be familiar with the basic and recent knowledge and methods in the early history of Canada. To be prepared to perform confidently, and at short notice, basic investigations in the early history Canada. To be able to present the results of this research effectively, by using the basic tools of oral, written, and digital communication in history. To be able to understand and navigate of the basic ethical dimensions of historical research.
 
Assessment: Students will work on a series of projects: one individual term project divided in a series of steps, several group, and class-wide activities (collaborative research around regions; virtual and asynchronous group discussions; small class virtual exhibits, etc). Approximately 35% of the final mark will be for the various steps of the individual project assignments; 40% for engagement activities; 5% for individual tutorials with the teaching team; 20 % for a final take home examination and reflection.
 
Free Textbooks: 
Belshaw, John Douglas. Canadian History: Pre-Confederation – 2nd Edition. Victoria, BC: BCcampus, 2020. https://opentextbc.ca/preconfederation2e/
Kheraj, Sean and Thomas Peace. Open History Seminar: Canadian History. Toronto: eCampusOntario, 2018. https://openhistoryseminar.com/canadianhistory
Occasionally, other readings will be available through the library course reserve system.
 
Questions? Please email me at: Dominique_marshall@carleton.ca

HIST 1302A:

Rethinking Modern Canadian History
Winter 2027

Instructor: Professor Laura Madokoro

Introduction: Featuring a variety of topics and themes, this course explores the history of Canada from multiple perspectives. Lectures will be provided by different faculty from the Department of History, each focusing on a different thematic and subject area to give students a broad sense of the people, events, relationships, debates, and structures that have shaped the history of Canada. As a result, students will explore the making of Canada both within and beyond its national borders in different forms and will be encouraged to interrogate received narratives and ask new questions about the past.  

Class Format: The class meets once a week in a three-hour block that will be divided into two parts (lecture and activity groups where the focus will be on applying historical knowledge and methods). With this mix of activities, students will explore the ways in which the history of Canada has been made and the way it is being remade in the present. 

Assessments: There will be a mix of assignments for this course, including reading questions, short essays, and a final written exam. The intention of each of the assignments is to further student knowledge about specific aspects of the history of Canada and develop foundational skills to help students successfully navigate their university careers.

Course Materials: 

J.D. Belshaw, Canadian History: Post-Confederation (Victoria, B.C.: BCampus, 2021), Second Edition, https://opentextbc.ca/postconfederation2e/     

Other readings will be available through the library course reserve system (ARES) at MacOdrum Library and Brightspace.

Questions? Please email laura.madokoro@carleton.ca

HIST 2204A:

Early Modern Europe 1350–1650

Fall 2026

This course surveys the major social, religious, cultural, and social developments of early modern Europe between 1350 and 1650. It covers the Black Death, the Renaissance, the Reformation, the Scientific Revolution, overseas expansion, and early globalisation. We will see that though the early modern period witnessed fundamental changes in society, religion, ideas and everyday life, there were also strong continuities with the medieval past. Overall, the course seeks to understand how Europe – somewhat of a backwater on the global stage during the Middle Ages – emerged from the crises of the fourteenth century to become a powerful force in world history.

HIST 2506:

Introduction to Women’s and Gender History

Winter 2027

This course asks how did women make history and how does history make gender?

We will revisit major historical events including the transatlantic slave trade, the French Revolution, the Industrial revolution and the Reformation. What did women do, how did women’s lives change, and how did ideas about gender change in the course of that history? We will look at enslaved women who toiled and created cultures of resistance. We will look at the women who enslaved other women. How does understanding the profound differences among those women reshape our understanding of history?  And what of the women who broke social conventions — the women who loved and had sex with women, the women who took to the streets to demand the vote, who escaped slavery, who resisted the Shoah, and who participated in riots and revolutions? How can we understand the past by closely attending to their actions and their words?

This course will offer a broad perspective on how people have negotiated their gendered subjectivity from the early modern period to the twentieth century. We will consider how gender has been constructed and deployed in relation to other categories including class, race, and sexuality.  The course will primarily focus on Europe and North America with attention to a wider, transnational perspective. Themes will include women’s work; transatlantic slavery; women and religious change; the struggle for political representation in transnational contexts; the role of women in war; and feminist organizing in comparative perspective.  

Class will meet twice weekly for one and a half hours and include lectures, discussions and in class writing. Students are expected to read an assigned article before class, to attend the lecture, participate in class discussions, submit short writing assignments in class, and complete a research essay. Readings will include scholarly articles, book chapters, and primary sources. There are no course materials for purchase. All required readings are on Brightspace.

Graded work includes a short answer submitted at the end of every class to an assigned question, an essay due during the semester, a presentation on a topic of choice and a final assessment that examines the course reading and lectures.

Questions: email pamela.walker@carleton.ca

HIST 2806A

 Introduction to the History of the Civilization of Japan   

日本文明史入門

[Nihon Bunmeishi Nyūmon]  

Fall 2026 / Winter 2027

                                                                                                                                                                                          Instructor: Prof. Jacob Kovalio                                          

Dear Students,

ELEVEN fundamental elements inform Japan’s historical evolution: location in the northwestern corner of the Ring of Fire; intense tectonic/volcanic environment; dearth of natural resources; being an island-nation; a complex written language; non-monotheistic religious duality of Shintō & Buddhism; subservience of religion to political leadership; bureaucratic domination of state and society; existence of one – the world’s oldest- imperial dynasty; readiness to adopt and adapt foreign (Chinese, then Western) institutions/traditions ; relative racial homogeneity. This fascinating, full-year lecture course – taught in two weekly classes – blends comprehensive factual information with topical analysis of the political, social, cultural (religion, mythology and art) and economic components of Japan’s history between the 6^th century and 1941.

Participants are strongly urged to attend classes regularly. Questions and debates are STRONGLY ENCOURAGED. However, Social Networking and Eating are allowed ONLY during breaks,which usually include a musical interlude.

GRADING has three components: I – One in-class FALL-Term (late November) identification and definition exam, worth 25% of the final grade. – II– One in-class WINTER-Term (late March) identification and definition exam (covering only materials taught in that term) and worth 25% of the final grade. III- One typewritten research essay due at the end of the year, worth 50% of the final grade and following this format: 1 – A cover page. 2 – A brief opening summary. 3 – Footnotes as citation style. 4 – Up to ten sources. There is NO mandatory length and NO email submission. AI may be used only as a research and preparatory tool. DEADLINES WILL BE STRICTLY OBSERVED.  STUDENTS MUST COMPLETE ALL ASSIGNMENTS to be in GOOD STANDING. Professor Kovalio’s HIST 2806A Learning Handbook – avaluable study tool- will be in our bookstore by August 2026.The traditional textbook for the course is the classic J.W. Hall, Japan: from Prehistory to Modern Times. University of Michigan Press,1991 is available in the bookstore and online.

PA 411

jacobkovalio@cunet.carleton.ca

HIST 3109A:
Social History of Alcohol                               
 
Winter Term 2027
 
Professor Rod Phillips

Scope of the course
 
This course examines the long background to our complicated relationship with alcoholic beverages. Understanding the history of alcohol is especially important these days, as alcohol consumption has fallen to levels not seen in decades. We will examine this trend and put it into historical context.
 
As we do, we’ll see that alcohol embodies many paradoxes. For thousands of years, alcohol has been portrayed as socially beneficial and part of a healthy diet, yet socially disruptive and deadly. It contributes to the deaths of thousands of people every year and costs national economies billions of dollars, yet alcohol was defined as ‘essential’ almost everywhere during the Covid-19 restrictions, and alcohol stores remained open when many businesses were forced to close.
 
                                               
                                               
 
In this course, we will look at the social and cultural attributes of alcohol in Europe and North America (and elsewhere, to a lesser extent) over the long term, with an emphasis on the period from 1500 to the present. This period saw the transformation of alcoholic beverages (especially beer and wine) from intrinsic and valued elements of the daily diet of many (mainly male) adults to commodities of discretionary and leisure consumption. This radical shift, which took place in the 19th and 20th centuries, was fundamental to the social and cultural meanings of alcohol in our time, and it had important consequences for regulation and consumption.
 
The key questions we discuss in relation to the history of alcohol are: Who drank what? Why did they drink it? Where and when did they drink it? Did they drink alone or in company? How much did they drink? Was their drinking regulated? How did they understand, and how do we interpret, their patterns of alcohol consumption? How did (and does) alcohol relate to other potentially addictive commodities, such as drugs and tobacco?
 
 
                                   
 
These questions direct us to look at the kinds of alcohol that were available (and thus engage with questions of production, distribution, marketing, and exchange) and the differences among them. Why was there a cultural hierarchy of alcoholic beverages, with wine ranked most highly almost everywhere, and why were some alcohols more widely consumed in some places and at some times than others? Why has alcohol generally been tolerated more than cocaine, opium, heroin, and marijuana?
 
We also examine issues of power, race, gender, and class. How and why was the North American image of the ‘drunk Indian’ constructed?  Why have men been so anxious and negative about women’s drinking?  Why did many colonial administrations try to ban drinking among indigenous populations? Why did the middle and upper classes find working-class drinking so threatening? Questions such as these force us to examine the ways alcohol was integrated into broader social and cultural processes and the relationships of alcohol to power.
 
Here we encounter the overarching dichotomous attitudes toward alcohol that were mentioned earlier. At the extremes, alcohol was variously considered ‘a gift from God’ and ‘the Devil’s brew’. Alcohol encouraged sociability but could lead to social disruption. Alcohol consumption was widely regarded as necessary and beneficial – it provided hydration and was believed to have health benefits – but it was also associated with drunkenness, illness, death, crime, and sexual promiscuity.
 
 
                                               
 
 
These attitudes, particularly anxiety about ‘excessive’ consumption and (by the mid-1800s) the construction of ‘alcoholism’, led to a search for ways to define acceptable levels of alcohol consumption. They draw our attention to the regulation of alcohol by various social organizations and structures, including communities, churches, and states. These regulations included laws governing the production, sale, and consumption of alcohol, and extended to attempts to ban the production of alcohol (or certain alcohols).
 
The targets of these policies included gin in eighteenth-century England, absinthe in early-twentieth century Europe, and all alcohol in the Muslim world and during Prohibition in Russia and the United States. Regulations also covered sites of drinking, such as pubs and taverns, which were often represented as locales of disorder, but that we can also see as spaces of (often gendered) sociability. Yet in most places, age-based regulations, such as minimum legal drinking ages, date back little more than a hundred years.
 
In short, this course examines the relationships of alcohol to a wide range of issues – diet, health, the body, race, sexuality, religion, social control, gender, class, childhood, among them – and places them within the broader sweep of history.
 
Course format
 
This is a lecture course that meets in person for three hours, once a week.
 
Coursework
 
There are three components to the coursework: a reading response, an essay, and a final (take-home) exam.  The reading response is a reading of one chapter of the textbook. All the material needed for the other assignments is available on-line.
 
Textbook
 
Rod Phillips, Alcohol: A History (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2014; paperback edition, 2019). Hardback, paperback, and e-book editions are available from on-line sellers, and an audiobook is available from audible.com. (All editions have the same text.)  The book is also available in French, Chinese, and Turkish.
 
Questions?
 
Please feel free to contact me at: roderick.phillips@carleton.ca
 

Antisemitism, Then and Now

RELI 3142A/HIST3122A

Fall 2026

Course Description:

This course is offered for credit by both History and Religion and is taught by one professor from each discipline.

What is antisemitism? It is sometimes called the world’s oldest hatred but is it one long, continuous history or it does it change over time and place? There are many contemporary arguments about how to define antisemitism. Why is it so hard to agree on a definition? If it is directed at Jews why does it use the term Semite? The Semites include people who are not Jewish so what does that mean? Why is it so persistent, present in ancient times and in the 21^st century, in places where there are no Jewish people and in places where Jews lived for a thousand years? How is it different from or related to other forms of racism or prejudice? Why is antisemitism so frequently missing from wider discussions of racism? Some argue antizionism is the new manifestation of antisemitism but others say antizionism is not antisemitism. What does any of that mean? Jews suffer 70% of all police verified, religiously motived hate crimes in Canada but they are less than 2% of the population. Jewish Canadians are 25 times more likely to experience a hate crime than other Canadians. Why? How will understanding antisemitism help us to understand racism more broadly? Will studying history and religion help us to understand all these questions? Yes!

This course looks at both historical and contemporary antisemitism. We examine the long history of antisemitism to understand the significance of antisemitism in historical contexts and to understand how it continues into the present.  We look at continuity and change and the consequences of antisemitism, both in the past and present. We draw on religious texts, historical documents, legislation, political propaganda, oral histories, and film.  Our work is shaped by the insights of critical race studies, particularly critical antisemitism studies.

This third-year course moves through the earliest expressions of antisemitism in religious and social contexts from the ancient world through the medieval period.  We begin to trace modern forms of antisemitism through the 19^th and early 20^th centuries in Europe, North America and the Middle East and Africa to provide a context for the genocidal antisemitism of the Holocaust and the antisemitism of post-1948.  The second half of the course focuses on contemporary expressions of antisemitism with attention to politics and popular culture, including films, social media, and the press. 

There are no prerequisites for the course. Second year standing or above is required. This course will include disturbing material that is difficult.  Course materials include examples of hate speech, antisemitic propaganda, detailed descriptions of antisemitic violence and gendered violence. It is crucial for us to work together build a supportive classroom environment and forge collective knowledge. This process requires active engagement and listening intently to one another. Many issues we explore will be challenging, personal, and potentially painful. Therefore, we must work together to create a space in which we can learn together.

Graded Work

Graded work will include in class presentations on assigned texts, in class writing on course material, essays that draw on both class materials and research on a chosen topic and other evaluations that assess your understanding of the course content.

HIST 3205 / BUSI 4608:

Canadian Business History: The Brewing Industry, 1670–2026

Fall 2026

Instructor: Matthew J. Bellamy

Introduction: Why study business history?

Businesses do far more than sell products and generate profits. They shape how people work, consume, socialize, relax, and even imagine themselves. Corporations build brands, influence politics, transform landscapes, create consumer desires, and help define national identities. To study business history, therefore, is not simply to study firms or entrepreneurs; it is to examine the evolution of capitalism itself and its relationship to everyday life.

Business history asks big questions about capitalism, culture, and social change. Why do some firms succeed while others collapse? How do businesses adapt to technological change, globalization, regulation, and shifting consumer tastes? How are brands created and maintained? Why do certain products become cultural symbols? And how do corporations acquire legitimacy and public trust during moments of social change?

This course explores these larger themes through the prism of one of the oldest and most influential industries in Canada: brewing.

Beer provides an ideal lens through which to examine Canadian capitalism because brewing has long existed at the intersection of business, politics, technology, culture, and identity. Molson dates to 1786. Labatt was founded in 1847. These firms survived wars, depressions, prohibition, industrial consolidation, and globalization while helping shape patterns of consumption and leisure across the country. At the same time, beer is not merely a commodity. Brewing history opens onto larger questions about class, masculinity, nationalism, sport, advertising, morality, and consumer culture.

Over the course of the term, we will trace the evolution of the Canadian brewing industry from 1670 to the present while exploring major themes in business history including entrepreneurship, branding, globalization, regulation, technology, consumer culture, and corporate legitimacy

Class Format

We meet once per week in a three-hour block. Particular emphasis will be placed on interpreting advertising, branding campaigns, and archival evidence in order to understand the evolution of business and consumer culture.

Aims and Goals

By the end of the course, students will have gained both a substantive understanding of the Canadian brewing industry and a broader appreciation of the major themes and approaches of business history.

Topics explored throughout the course include:

• entrepreneurship and innovation
• branding and advertising
• technology and industrialization
• globalization and corporate consolidation
• regulation and state intervention
• consumer culture and identity
• sport and mass marketing
• corporate legitimacy and public relations
• craft brewing and authenticity

The course also emphasizes the development of critical thinking, research, analytical writing, and communication skills applicable across a wide range of professional and academic settings.

Assessment

Your mark in the course will be based on two short quizzes, an essay outline, an 8–10 page research essay, and a 2-hour final examination. The course is designed to encourage steady progress throughout the term and to provide students with multiple opportunities to develop and demonstrate their historical thinking, research, and writing skills.

Questions?

I very much look forward to exploring this subject with you over the term. If you have any questions about the course, the readings, assignments, or the study of business history more generally, please do not hesitate to contact me at Matthew_Bellamy@Carleton.ca. I am always happy to meet with students and discuss ideas, interests, or any aspect of the course material.

HIST 3805A

                                                                                                                                                                                           China since the Twentieth Century  

From Republicanism and Maoism to Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for the New Era

Fall 2026                                                                                                                                                                                                     Instructor: Prof. Jacob Kovalio                                                                                                                                        

 Dear Students,                                                                                                   

China – the second most populous nation on earth and the third largest in territory is also a civilization with a documented history of about 3000 years. This intensive, informative and most timely course, although focused on the period since the 1911 [Xinhai] Revolution, starts with a brief introduction of China’s premodern political and socio-cultural institutions and their legacy. The course subtitle refers to China’s three political regimes since the 20^th century. Today’s People’s Republic of China [PRC] is a totalitarian, anti-democratic politico-social and cultural entity, driven by a unique and overall successful State-capitalist economy – all dominated by the Chinese Communist (in name only) Party [CCP] under ruler Xi Jin-ping’s “socialism with Chinese characteristics for the new era.” In 2026, this intriguing system, reminiscent of prewar Corporatist Italy and Germany is considered a viable alternative to democracy by many African and Asian nations.

Participants are strongly urged to attend classes regularly. Each twice-weekly class starts with a brief review of the latest Chinese news as covered by the People’s Daily or Global Times or China Daily. Questions and debates are STRONGLY ENCOURAGED. However, Social Networking and Texting in ANY form, as well as Eating are allowed only during breaks which usually include a musical interlude.     

GRADING contains two elements: 1 – One in-class identification and definition exam-worth 50% of the grade. 2-One TYPEWRITTEN research essay, worth 50% of the grade, due at term’s end, and which should include : a – A cover page. b – A summary page. c – Footnotes as citation style. d – Up to five sources. There is NO mandatory length and NO email submission. AI may only be used as a research and preparatory tool. PARTICIPANTS MUST COMPLETE ALL ASSIGNMENTS IN ORDER TO BE IN GOOD STANDING.  

The main knowledge-promoting instrument for the class is HIST 3805A : China since the Twentieth Century Learning Handbook [2026 edition] by Jacob Kovalio which will be in the our bookstore in early August. The traditional text for the course is Jonathan D. Spence’s classic The Search for Modern China [New York: W.W.Norton and Co., 2010] available in the bookstore and online.

 411 Paterson Hall

jacobkovalio@cunet.carleton.ca                                                      

HIST 3806A

Shōwa 昭和 Heisei 平成 Reiwa  令和,

The Postwar History of  Japan / 戦後日本史[Sengo Nihonshi]

From the Yoshida Doctrine to the Abe Doctrine

                                                                                                                                                                                     Winter 2027

 Instructor: Prof. J. Kovalio                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

 Dear Students,                                                                                  

This intensive, informative and interesting twice-weekly class will give you solid knowledge on the most salient elements in the evolution of Japan, internally and in the international arena, since 1945. As the subtitle indicates, prime ministers Yoshida Shigeru and Abe Shinzō were most instrumental in directing Japan’s national policies in the early 1950s and 2012, respectively.

In order to give all participants an equal starting point, a brief review commencing with the Tokugawa era [1603-1868] opens the class. Domestically, the course covers Japan’s most important political institutions: the 1947 Constitution, the constitutional monarchy ( embodied in the world’s oldest dynasty – the line above the course title refers to the three postwar imperial eras– which , however is not reflected in the nation’s official name), the world’s longest ruling and most successful Liberal Democratic Party [LDP], the highly influential civil service and business elite as well as the labour movement.

The socio-cultural and economic topics include education, the changing role of women, the double challenge of low birth rates & highest longevity, religion, immigration, minorities, the otaku and hikikomori phenomena as well as [karaoke, anime/manga, pokémon] soft power and the most major stages in the nation’s “roller coaster” postwar economic and technological evolution. Japan’s foreign and security policy in 2026 combines postwar pacifism and the security alliance with the US with the rapid growth  in defense budgets in reaction to the aggressive policies of neighbourly, totalitarian China, Russia and North Korea.

Participants are strongly urged to attend classes regularly. Discussions in class are STRONGLY ENCOURAGED. However, Social Networking & Texting [thus the use of SMART PHONES and the EXTRACURRICULAR use of LAPTOPS] as well as Eating are allowed only during breaks which usually feature a musical interlude.

Grading includes two elements: 1 – One in-class identification and definition exam which constitutes 50% of the final grade. 2 – One TYPEWRITTEN research essay which makes up 50% of the grade and should include: a – A cover page. b – A brief opening summary. c  – Footnotes as citation style; d–Up to five sources. There is NO mandatory length and NO email submission. AI may only be used as a research and preparatory tool. PARTICIPANTS MUST COMPLETE ALL ASSIGNMENTS IN ORDER TO BE IN GOOD STANDING. The main knowledge-promoting tool is Japan since 1945 Learning Handbook – 2026 edition, byJacob Kovaliowhich will be in our bookstore by early August. In addition, the traditional text for the course is :Jeff, Kingston Japan in Transformation , 1945-2010, Pearson Education, 2010, 2^nd ed. available online.

Office: PA 411

jacobkovalio@cunet.carleton.ca