HIST562A

Modern life is filled with stuff. We buy stuff and throw it away, make it and invest it with meaning, and at times desire it, appreciate it, or dispense with it. Whether precious or disposable, artistic or ordinary, durable or ephemeral, the objects that surround us cannot help but shape our lives. This course explores the history of Japan as told through the objects, artisans, and consumers that help to define our experience of the world around us. Each week explores a different key theme in the material and consumer culture of Japan from the seventeenth century to the present to help students investigate how interactions with art, craft, technology, and consumerism mediated Japan's modern experience. Along the way, students will learn foundational theories and frameworks for thinking about material and consumer cultures as driving forces in everyday life, as well as politically potent symbols with the potential to reflect and inform social norms in both capitalist and pre-capitalist societies.

CE - CL (Cross Listed)