Essence of Humanities and Social Sciences24:History of Social Thought 2

Academic unit or major

Humanities and social science courses

Instructor(s)

Kenji Hatanaka

Class Format

Lecture (HyFlex)

Media-enhanced courses

-

Day of week/Period
(Classrooms)

5-6 Wed

Class

2

Course Code

LAH.S502

Number of credits

100

Course offered

2024

Offered quarter

4Q

Syllabus updated

Mar 14, 2025

Language

Japanese

Syllabus

Course overview and goals

We discuss and examine important topics on the history of social thought.
This course focuses on utopianism in the early modern age in Japan. Students will be able to understand the utopian imagination in the era, and its social and cultural backgrounds.

Course description and aims

At the end of this course, students will be able to:
1) Explain social and cultural characteristics of each era that produced various utopian works.
2) Obtain practical skills required in studying on cultural and intellectual history.

Keywords

utopia, intellectual history

Competencies

• Specialist skills
• Intercultural skills
• Communication skills
• Critical thinking skills
• Practical and/or problem-solving skills

Class flow

This class is delivered as a HyFlex lecture using slides and PDF materials. Small group discussions on related topics will be required.

Please note that 'Essence of Humanities and Social Sciences24: History of Social Thought 1' will be offered in the 2nd quarter as an alternative option.

Course schedule/Objectives

Study advice (preparation and review)

To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.

Textbook(s)

Hand out lecture materials

Reference books, course materials, etc.

Course materials are provided during class.

Evaluation methods and criteria

paper 1: 40%, paper 2(final paper): 60%
Details will be explained in the first class.

Related courses

• LAH.H307 ： Special Lecture: Intellectual History in Japan
• LAH.S420 ： Essence of Humanities and Social Sciences20:Western Thought

Prerequisites

Basic and general knowledge for writing argumentative essays
(or willingness to learn it during the course)

Contact information (e-mail and phone) Notice : Please replace from ”[at]” to ”@”(half-width character).

hatter[at]ila.titech.ac.jp

Office hours

As needed

Other

This course is 500-level course.
Tokyo Tech’s “wedge-shaped style education” enables students to pursue liberal arts education in a phased manner throughout undergraduate and graduate programs.
Students are encouraged to take 100-level to 600-level courses in order. As such, master’s students must begin Humanities and Social Science courses at the 400 level (in 1Q/2Q of the first year for those entering in April, and 3Q/4Q for those entering in September), then proceed to 500-level courses (in 3Q/4Q or later for those entering in April, and 1Q/2Q of the following year or later for those entering in September).
This syllabus is subject to change based on the needs of the class.