| The Making of Modern Japan |
The Making of Modern Japan — Fall 2012
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History 382 — Fall 2012MP 211 Tue/Thur 10:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. Professor Shelton Woods 208-426-1368 swoods@boisestate.edu Office Hours: By Appointment Office: Education Building 707 |
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Links
BlackBoard
This course is also on BlackBoard. You can find similar information on that site as you do on this one. However, throughout the semester I’ll be posting announcements on the BlackBoard site and you will also be able to see your grades on that site.
About This Course
This course will introduce you to the Tokugawa (1600-1968) and Meiji (1868-1912) eras in Japanese history. We will study the economic, political, social, religious, and military changes during these eras that served to create a Modern Japan.
Learning Outcomes: After taking this class you will be able to identify the major themes of Tokugawa and Meiji Japan. You will also learn how that the transformations during Tokugawa and Meiji Japan actually prepared Japan for the shock of the modern world. In particular you will be able to identify how agriculture, Confucianism, Buddhism, education, militarism, urbanization, art, and economic development transformed Japanese society during the Tokugawa era.
I do not get my lecture notes from the assigned readings. The reading assignments are meant to compliment the lectures and thus your quizzes are based on both lectures and the assigned readings.
This will be a hybrid course. We will meet as a class only on Tuesdays. Thursday lectures will be posted on-line and you will need to watch the lecture before we meet the following Tuesday. We will have a quiz every Tuesday on the reading material due and on the past week’s lectures.
Using the ResponseCard
You must bring your TurningPoint ResponseCard to every class. To register your ResponseCard in Blackboard, go to the Blackboard site for this class. Go to Course Tools and there will be a TurningPoint Registration Tool. You will then simply need to input the Response Device ID found on the back of your ResponseCard (if you click the textbook tab above, there is a Powerpoint presentation that will help you register your ResponseCard and will help you know how to use your ResponseCard during quizzes).
During class you must only use your TurningPoint device for answering quizzes or when attendance is taken. Inputing quiz answers or attendance for someone else who is not in the class will be treated as academic dishonesty with the lightest penalty being failure of the class, and the most severe being expulsion from the university.
Grades: Class Quizzes: 40% + Response Papers 25% + Final Paper 35% = 100%
I won’t “give” you a grade at the end of the semester, you will earn the grade that you receive.
Your response papers are to be between 300-350 words. Please note when they are due on the syllabus. Late papers will not be accepted.
There is objective criteria that determines what grade you earn. These things include your quiz scores and your response paper scores. However, there will also be subjective elements when it comes time for me to record your grade. For example, attendance is absolutely key and will be noted. More than one unexcused absence will affect your final grade (each subsequent absence will reduce your final score by 75 points). The only excused absence is one where I have received notice from you before class that you will not be in class (unless there is an emergency and you cannot notify me until after class). If you are caught texting in class 100 points will be deducted from your final quiz score.