Course Description

In order to conduct research beyond the master's level, you need to have knowledge about your area of study and another area of specialization. You cannot discuss your specialty without having a comparative perspective. This is also an important requirement for graduate students majoring in Japanese history and cultural heritage studies. In this class, we will read Yasushi Watanabe's "White Nationalism: The Cultural Backlash that Shakes America" (Chuko Shinsho, 2020), which discusses the historically deep-rooted issues that have quietly swept contemporary America, and gain a perspective on contemporary American political culture and racial issues. The aim of this exercise is to raise the level of students' knowledge of history from the perspective of how political thought originating in the United States has influenced the world today. Graduate students of Japanese history and cultural heritage studies will also find many useful insights.