HIST 3320: The History of Childhood

Week 12: Modern Childhood in Japan and China:

Tuesday, Nov. 12:

• Stearns, CWH, Ch. 7, “Japan Adapts the New Model: A Process of Change in Asia.” 
• Kathleen Uno, “Civil Society, State, and Institutions for Young Children in Modern Japan: The Initial Years.” History of Education Quarterly 49, no. 2 (2009): 170–81. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40648076.
• Bring new sources to the classroom: Mangas, Mims, Comics, Sudokus, etc. from or related to Japan. 

Thursday, Nov. 14: Childhood and Revolutions in China

• Stearns, Ch. 8, “Childhood and Communist Revolutions.” 
• Explore primary and secondary sources pertaining to children and revolutions in Russia, China, and other countries. 

Discussion Questions: 

• Did Japan’s conscious adoption of Western ways of child rearing indicate a break with its past? What evidence do you have to support your answer? 
• How have revolutions in the last century impacted on the lives of children? 
• Bring fresh primary sources in the class that inform our understanding about children and war.