Asia Pacific War

Catalog description

How did a seventeen year old Indonesian perceive the Japanese occupation? How did that experience differ from a Thai college student? This course will investigate the societies of occupied East and Southeast Asia from 1931-1945 from the perspective of those who experienced it directly. Memoirs, oral histories, visual material, and military reports will be used to understand the perceptions, motivations, and mentalities that drove collective and individual action, and situate that action within the framework of violence. Students will gain a deeper understanding of the cultures involved in the Asia Pacific War, and develop critical skills through analysis of specific issues in class discussion, written exercises and essays. Major course themes: the nature of violence; engaging opposing perspectives in debates about major issues; understanding prevailing theses about those debates.