2026 (Current Year) Faculty Courses Liberal arts and basic science courses Humanities and social science courses

Special Lecture: Western History, its Themes and Methods

Academic unit or major: Humanities and social science courses
Instructor(s): Takeo Suzuki
Class Format: Lecture
Media-enhanced courses: -
Day of week/Period (Classrooms)
Class: -
Course Code: LAH.H321
Number of credits: 200
Course offered: 2026
Offered quarter: 4Q
Syllabus updated: Mar 5, 2026
Language: Japanese

Syllabus

Course overview and goals

We live within social institutions and values that we often take for granted. But have these assumptions always been self-evident? From what perspectives can we approach and understand the past?

This course moves beyond the idea of history as something to be memorized. It presents history as a framework of thinking for interpreting society and lived experience.

Focusing on the development of modern historical scholarship since the nineteenth century, the course examines key themes and approaches such as global history, the history of emotions, and gender history. These perspectives are closely connected to contemporary issues, including the state and civil society, war, gender, globalization, and international relations.

In each class, students read short excerpts from academic texts and explore what perspectives they propose and what new insights they offer, through in-class dialogue and discussion. No prior knowledge of history is required, and discussion emphasizes insight rather than specialized expertise.

Through engagement with historical scholarship, students will experience how perspectives on society that once seemed self-evident can be reexamined.

Course description and aims

- Understand the fundamentals and progression of historiography and be able to explain its overview.
- Gain an understanding of the backgrounds, characteristics, and significance of the themes and methods covered in this course within recent Western historiography, and be able to explain their overview.
- Develop the ability to contemplate contemporary issues based on the historical knowledge acquired in this course.

Keywords

Western Historiography, Ordinary People, Global History, Gender History, History of Emotions, Ego Documents, Public History, Memory

Competencies

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

Class flow

In this course, each theme is explored through a combination of class devoted to learning and class devoted to thinking.

In the first, lecture-based class, the background and key ideas of the theme are introduced, with particular attention to why this perspective matters today.
Key points are explained clearly so that students can follow the discussion without specialized prior knowledge.

In the second, seminar-style class, students use selected excerpts from assigned readings as a starting point to share their impressions and questions in small groups.
Rather than arriving at a single correct answer, the emphasis is placed on differences in perspective and moments of insight.

Through this process, the course encourages students not only to acquire historical knowledge, but also to actively use it as a way of thinking.
Instructor guidance and clarification will be provided as needed during the seminar classes.

Course schedule/Objectives

	Course schedule	Objectives
Class 1	Guidance/Why do we learn history? Approaches to historical interpretation	Summarize and organize what you have learned through lectures and group work, and organize one's thoughts.
Class 2	Lecture - nation, language, culture, and identity as historical constructs	Summarize and organize what you have learned through lectures and group work, and organize one's thoughts.
Class 3	Lecture - focus on "ordinary people"	Read and summarize the copies of documents distributed, and organize one's thoughts.
Class 4	Exercise - Exploring literature on "ordinary people" (Theme: involvement with Nazi crimes)	Summarize and organize what you have learned through lectures and group work, and organize one's thoughts.
Class 5	Lecture - gender history	Read and summarize the copies of documents distributed, and organize one's thoughts.
Class 6	Exercise - What are ‘masculinity’ and ‘femininity’? What is the process of its construction?	Summarize and organize what you have learned through lectures and group work, and organize one's thoughts.
Class 7	Mid-term summary and report writing	Summarize and organize what you have learned through lectures and group work, and organize one's thoughts.
Class 8	Lecture - history of emotions	Read and summarize the copies of documents distributed, and organize one's thoughts.
Class 9	Exercise - How can we examine Emotions historically?	Summarize and organize what you have learned through lectures and group work, and organize one's thoughts.
Class 10	Lecture - Public history and history of memory	Read and summarize the copies of documents distributed, and organize one's thoughts.
Class 11	Exercise - dispute about memories	Summarize and organize what you have learned through lectures and group work, and organize one's thoughts.
Class 12	Lecture - global history	Read and summarize the copies of documents distributed, and organize one's thoughts.
Class 13	Exercise - global history/ Share your plan for the report	Summarize and organize what you have learned through lectures and group work, and organize one's thoughts.
Class 14	Summary and reflections: historiography as contemporaneous history, beyond Western-centredness?	Organize what you have learned throughout the course and organize one's thoughts.

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)

There is no designated textbook.

Reference books, course materials, etc.

Materials will be distributed.

Evaluation methods and criteria

Attendance in lectures: 70%
Report: 30%

Related courses

Prerequisites

Nothing in particular.

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

t.suzuki［at］ila.isct.ac.jp
Notice : Please replace "[at]" with "@".

Office hours

Please contact by mail in advance to make an appointment.