The Second World War

Catalog description

The course examines the military, political, and social history of World War II, as well as the conflict’s origins and the causes of Allied victory. Students will consider ethical questions such as those related to the rise of fascist dictatorships in Germany and Japan; targeting civilian populations during a “total war”; the Holocaust; Japanese war-crimes in Asia; Japanese internment in the United States; racism in the Pacific War; the fire-bombing of German and Japanese cities and the use of atomic bombs; and the Nuremberg trials. (Interdisciplinary social science course)