Dear Students,
I would like to welcome you to HIST 361-80. Modern Japan, for which you are registered. My name is Ted Cook, Professor of History and Director of the Asian Studies Program at William Paterson, and I will be your guide on this exploration of the Making of Modern Japan.
Introduction: Together we will study the history of Japan since roughly 1800. We will be examining Japan during the final days of the Tokugawa Shoguns and samurai rule, the tumultuous upheaval known as the Meiji Restoration, the emergence of Japan as a Great Power, the birth of party democracy after the First World War, the plunge into the "Dark Valley" of War and Occupation, and the growth of Japan as a leading economic super power and global citizen by the end of the twentieth century, We will be looking at the political, social, economic, and intellectual transformation of Japan in these two dynamic centuries. This is an online course, as you no doubt know, so our activities, assignments, discussions, and examinations will be conducted entirely via our Blackboard (Bb) page.
How to Access Blackboard: To log on to Bb point your web browser to http://bb.wpunj.edu and click the Login button in the upper left. Then enter your username and password in the spaces provided and click login again -- you'll find your course Bb sites listed on the left.
Some things to be aware of as you work with Blackboard:
a. You probably won't find all your courses listed; the only ones that will appear are those that have been activated by the professor teaching the course. Professors who don't use Blackboard will not activate their courses.
b. Your username is comprised of your lastname and firstinitial, usually appended with a numeral. If you don't know your WPUNJ system username password you can use the Username lookup link at http://bb.wpunj.edu , or go to it directly at: http://ww2.wpunj.edu/directories/stud_email.cfm
c. If you are already logged in to the WPUNJ system through WPConnect you won't have to re-enter your username and password -- just click the first login button.
d. Extensive Bb help, including a number of dynamic animations, can be found at http://www.wpunj.edu/irt/teambb/student/
e. You can always obtain Bb help by using the Problem Report form at http://bb.wpunj.edu , or by going to it directly at: http://euphrates.wpunj.edu/bb/hd/ .
Getting Started:
Once you have logged on to Blackboard, found our course, 20062-HIST361-80, you are ready to start exploring.
You should be able to access the online "virtual" classroom. On your first visit to the classroom, take your time to navigate around and familiarize yourselves with the various parts and functions of the classroom.
Once you have done this, go to the "Syllabus" area to review the course outline. Also, don't forget to visit the "Cyber Cafe" and suggest an appropriate name. You will also want to introduce yourself in the first Conference.
I have divided our short summer session into several Modules, each more or less a Week in length. The readings are assigned by "conference"—addressing a given topic and come up every day or so
I recommend the following routine:
(1) go to the Module for that week (which can be accessed from the "Course Content" section of the classroom) and read the Commentary.
(2) read the assigned chapters in the textbooks for that Conference.
(3) go to the "Conferences" section of the classroom and begin the various discussions topics, activities, and assignments for that day or so. I may also Post an Announcement at the beginning of each Conference describing the theme of that conference and the assignment.
(4) participate in the classroom activities and discussions as often as possible during each. The only way we meet and the only way I can evaluate your participation in the course is to see your postings (except for the Final Exam and the 4 brief essays). In the summer we meet every day, and baring exceptional difficulties, you need to run fast to keep up. Yet I am aware of how much you have to master, and I have chosen our activities to allow you to pick and choose from among several threads and activities each Conference. . Post your thoughts and comments and ideas; respond to those of your classmates and instructor. Let's make this as interactive as possible.
(5) You will be reacting to readings on your own, but you must also allocate sufficient time to contribute to class discussion, which will be conducted via Blackboard using threaded discussion boards. These discussions will be the primary means by which we interact with one another, and are central to the course. Threaded discussion posts should be substantial, thoughtful, and polite. Please employ good “netiquette” (if you are not familiar with netiquette, look online). . These discussions are monitored and will form a major part of your participation score
(6) Always check the "Class Announcements" section for any updates.
(7) You may communicate with me via email, but I request that all email posts include H361 at the start of the Subject line: for example: SUBJECT "H361: my first essay" so I can pick these important communications out of the torrent of emails that run through my box.
(8) All Essays, the Final Exam, and your course evaluation will be submitted through Blackboard's Digital Drop Box which is fully explained on the Blackboard log in page for anyone not familiar with online procedures.
Technology:
I am prepared to strongly recommend that you use your student.wpunj.edu email for this course. I will be communicating with you as a class through that account and you all have one (or do if you have activated it). If you wish to use another account for your private life, that is fine with me, but you can and should access that wpunj account via the web when not on campus for school work. In any event, that is where your messages will appear. I would also recommend that anyone engaged in online learning should be using an up-to-date web browser that interacts well with Blackboard. I claim no real expertise in this area, butI suggest if possible, that you use a new version of Internet Explorer (IE 5.0 or higher). Netscape and Mozilla will probably work; I do not recommend AOL’s browser. Those using Macintosh computers can access Blackboard with Safari 1.2.3, but probably will benefit from using Internet Explorer.
For this course, it is expected that you know how to use MS Word, Adobe Acrobat Reader, email, and the web. Technological difficulties (lost documents, crashed computers, failure to use Blackboard correctly, etc.) cannot be accepted as excuses for late or incomplete assignments. There are many opportunities run by IRT staff for you to acquire these skills; a few moments spent with one of the staff members or student assistants on campus (right in the Atrium building) will likely get you squared away.
I will only accept documents in MS Word format as attachments, NOT because I am a Microsoft fanatic, but simply because any other format is often unopenable.
If possible, use a new version of IE (5.0 or higher). Netscape and Mozilla/Firefox will probably work; I do not recommend AOL’s browser. Safari for Mac Users is possible.
If you are having difficulty accessing Blackboard or other technology related problems, please contact one of the IRT experts at WPUNJ devoted to making your technological experience a good one. As noted above, you can always obtain Bb help by using the Problem Report form at http://bb.wpunj.edu, or by going to it directly at: http://euphrates.wpunj.edu/bb/hd/. You can expect to hear back from the Blackboard team within 24 hours during the week and 48 hours on the weekends.
Questions:
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Remember that there are two kinds of questions:
1) Questions that relate to the readings, assignments, and subject matter should be posted in the classroom (as you would ask in a face-to-face classroom situation). There is an "Any Questions?" section in each conference for this purpose.
2) Questions concerning personal matters and your own personal situation should be asked off-line via email addressed to me at cookt@wpunj.edu. again using H361 in the subject line or I may easily miss your plea.
Online though the class may be, I am still an actual human and not yet entirely virtual and I assume you all are too. I am not able to hold regular office hours on campus at WPUNJ, but I will be in on some occasions. Arrangements may be made to meet. Email or our Discussion threads are the way to contact me. I will try to reply and counsel as I can. Phone messages are not likely to be answered during the summer.
The following books are required for this course. All are available in our bookstore:
James L McClain, Japan. A Modern History (W.W.Norton, 2002) ISBN 0-393-97720-x
David J. Lu, Japan. A Documentary History. Volume II: The Late Tokugawa Period to the Present (M. E. Sharpe, 1997) ISBN 0-7656-0036-6.
Haruko Taya Cook and Theodore Cook Japan at War: An Oral History (New Press, 1992). ISBN 1-56584-039-9. 2nd edition 978-1-56584-039-3
For that first class, looking ahead to our Summer I session, please begin by reading McClain's first three chapters surveying Japan in what he calls "Traditional" times. We will want to have that period and information as a foundation for our discussion of the changes that will sweep across East Asia and Japan in the first decades of the 19th Century. The course moves amazingly quickly, I know, but I am teaching this so you will come to enjoy modern Japanese history as much as I do. Dig into the things that you find interesting and share your thoughts with your classmates. I am not going to demand total recall, but hope that you will devote yourself to trying to understand the experience of Japanese in their interaction with the rest of the world in the past two centuries.
You will also want to get a head start on the final book in the course, Japan at War: An Oral History which you can read one person at a time, but which will all be due near the end.
Good Luck! Look forward to seeing you in our online classroom!
Ted Cook
Theodore F. Cook, PhD
Professor of History
Asian Studies Program Director
William Paterson University of New Jersey
Wayne, New Jersey
Office phone: (973) 720-2243 (I am offline this summer)
Office: Atrium 206 (I am offline this summer).