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

Media-enhanced courses

-

Day of week/Period
(Classrooms)

Class

2

Course Code

LAH.S502

Number of credits

100

Course offered

2025

Offered quarter

4Q

Syllabus updated

Mar 19, 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.
Science Tokyo (science and engineering fields) provides a wedge-shaped style education that allows students to continuously take liberal arts courses from a Bachelor’s Program to a Doctoral Program. Students are recommended to take liberal arts courses in ascending order of course level. In the semester right after enrollment in the Master’s Degree Program – i.e., 1Q and 2Q for students who enroll in spring, and 3Q or 4Q for students who enroll in fall – students may register only in 400-level Humanities and Social Science Courses.
Students may take 500-level Humanities and Social Science Courses after studying at least six months after enrollment, i.e., in 3Q and 4Q for students who enroll in spring, and in 1Q and 2Q of the following year for students who enroll in fall.

・This syllabus is subject to change based on the needs of the class.