Course Syllabus
HI/POL 444
Modern Japan History, Politics & Culture
Chaminade University of Honolulu

Instructor:              

Terrence Monroe
2023 Coyne St.
Honolulu, HI  96826
(808) 356-0522

Experienced as an instructor of in-class courses (since 1974) and online courses (since 2000) in various disciplines of world history and contemporary Asian civilizations for colleges and universities throughout the United States. Educational background: Master of Arts Degree in Asian Studies, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1974; Bachelor of Arts Degree in Asian Studies, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1973.

Course Overview:	

This course examines those major events and issues in Japan’s modern history that shaped its politics, culture, and industrialization. It makes comparisons and describes linkages, historically and culturally, between Japan, its Asian neighbors, and the Western powers. Its addresses Japan’s conflicts in its modern history and surveys its unprecedented economic development and impact on the global community.

Learning Outcomes:

Gain an understanding of contemporary Japanese national developments with reference to past traditions; the causes of Japan’s post-WW II economic development; and Japanese behavior and national characteristics in business, international relations, and society.
Refine writing and cognitive skills through weekly essays and class discussion.
Become proficient in functioning in an on-line learning environment and in the use of on-line resources related to Japan.

Text:

Morton, W. Scott; Japan: Its History and Culture, Third Edition, McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1994
Johnson, Chalmers, Japan: Who Governs? The Rise of the Developmental State; W.W. Norton & Co., 1995

Course Requirements:

Successful completion of this course depends upon:

Completion of one essay each week on any topic of your choice having to do with modern Japan. Your essays should be 300 – 500 words in length, and should explain why your topic matters—in other words, how it affected the Big Picture of Japanese history, politics, or culture. Be sure to refer to the Orientation for further details on how to write these summaries.

A careful reading of the online lectures and the exercise of initiative in researching websites and other sources that relate to the topic that you’ll write about each week.

Participation in weekly discussion forums. You should try to make a total of at least five or six substantive postings (of 100 words or more each) in the course of responding to at least several of the discussion topics posted for that week and in responding to the responses posted by your classmates.

Completion of two exams; these exams will be open-book, and comprised of essay questions that will be provided to you in advance. You will write these essays on your own and email them to me.

In addition to the above-noted exams, completion of a proctored final examination comprised of a comprehensive essay of approximately 1,000 words discussing the main points of the course material.

Schedule and Grade Policy:
 
Each course week runs from Monday through Sunday of that week. Discussion postings should be posted throughout the week and must be posted before the week closes each Sunday night. Discussion postings may not be made up once the weekly discussions close; if you miss a particular week’s discussion, you may not go back in after the Sunday night deadline for that week and post. Similarly, the weekly essay is due by the Sunday that ends each week of instruction. I do accept late essays (not discussion postings), but I will assess a 2 percentage-point penalty for every day that your essay is late. So, if your essay is four days late, and your grade is otherwise a 90, your adjusted grade (including the “late fee”) would be an 82. 
 
Still, you are expected to complete all assignments on time. Please bear in mind that an Incomplete is generally not an option, since there is no way to make up the discussion forum participation element of your grade once the course is finished (after all, the group will have moved on, and there wouldn’t be anyone to discuss anything with). Please bear in mind also that participation in the discussion forums is what makes an online course work. 
 
Your essay, discussion, and exam grades will be posted in the Gradebook within ten days of their due dates. Each essay grade will have a maximum value of 100 points (for a total of 1000 points), and each week’s discussion forum will have a maximum value of 100 points (for a total of 1000 points). The first two exams will each have a maximum value of 200 points (for a total of 400 points), and the final exam will have a maximum value of 200 points. Total points for this course: 2600.

Grading Scale:                   
 
A:       90 - 100 (2340 - 2600 points)
B:       80 - 89 (2080 - 2339 points)
C:       70 - 79 (1820 - 2079 points)
D:       60 - 69 (1560 - 1819 points)
F:       less than 60 (less than 1560 points)

Assignment Schedule:
	 
Week 1 (Jul. 2 – Jul. 8): 	

Reading: Week 1 online lecture

Week 2 (Jul. 9 – Jul. 15):	

Reading: Week 2 online lecture
 
Week 3 (Jul. 16 – Jul. 22):	

Reading: Week 3 online lecture
 
Week 4 (Jul. 23 – Jul. 29):	

Reading: Week 4 online lecture
		
Week 5 (Jul. 30 – Aug. 5):	

Reading: Week 5 online lecture
Quiz 1 on online readings for Weeks 1 – 5
 
Week 6 (Aug. 6 – Aug. 12): 	

Reading: Week 6 online lecture
 
Week 7 (Aug. 13 – Aug. 19):	

Reading: Week 7 online lecture
 
Week 8 (Aug. 20 – Aug. 26):	

Reading: Week 8 online lecture
 
Week 9 (Aug. 27 – Sep. 2):	

Reading: Week 9 online lecture
 
Week 10 (Sep. 3 – Sep. 9):	

No online lecture
Quiz 2 on online readings from Weeks 6 - 9

Final Exam date, time, and locations to be announced

TO:  Military Students and DOD Employees

In an effort to service our students on the island of Oahu better we are offering a limited number of seats for finals off campus.  Additional locations for the online finals will be available at Pearl Harbor, Tripler, and Schofield Barracks.  

***If you are a civilian and have a MWR student pass you can take your exam at the Main campus or Schofield. You must already have your pass; the Army will not make civilian passes for exam purposes only.  Civilians are not able to take exams at Pearl Harbor.

Instructions to reserve a seat at one of the military installations:

1.	Some instructors prefer students test at the main campus. Please discuss your testing options with your instructor prior to registering for a seat. 

2.	You must have access to the military base you will be attending.

3.	This reservation must be made no earlier than the 7th week of the course.  We do have a maximum seating, so reservations are first come first serve.

4.	You must email the following information to one site only:  Pearl Harbor - aup-pearl@chaminade.edu.,Tripler – aup-tripler@chaminade.edu, or Schofield Barracks – aup-schofield@chaminade.edu

•	Name, Social Security# (last 4 digits)
•	Contact phone #  & valid email address 
•	Type of access (Active duty, Military family member, DOD)
•	Time slot (1 per class) – 13:00 or 15:00
•	Course #, Course Title, & Instructor

5.	You will receive an email confirmation for the site requested, if you do not receive a confirmation email within 2 days, please contact the office you emailed or resend the reservation request. You must print out your confirmation and bring it with you to the exam (along with a valid picture ID).

6.	If you do not pre-register for a seat, no exam will be available for you at either of the sites.

Participation Policy:
 
One of the reasons why people take an online course is that other obligations make it difficult or impossible to attend traditional classes. When you work on your assignment is entirely up to you, but you should plan to spend at least ten hours a week on this course--in reading, researching websites, thinking, writing, and in discussion in online forums. You should log onto WebCT to attend the classroom at least several times a week, and when you do so and from where, of course, is up to you. It is best to log onto WebCT once a day, if just to check for announcements and to read through the discussions. If you procrastinate and fail to log in for more than a few days, you will begin to get lost. What’s more, if most students wait until the end of the week to make their discussion postings, then there won’t be much until then for others to respond to; therefore, a good discussion grade depends on the student making consistent postings from the beginning of each week on through the end of the week; students who wait until the end of the week to make their discussion postings will be penalized for their procrastination. Many people who drop out or fail online courses do so because they have not developed the habit of logging in often to stay in touch with things.
 
Academic Integrity (DO NOT FAIL TO READ THIS):
 
It is important for you to keep in mind that all of your work for this course must be in your words, however humble. Your website summaries and exam essays are not evaluated on compositional excellence, but on quality of insight. Please understand that after some thirty years of reading student writing—and of reading and researching the corpus of professionally produced writing on our subject--it is usually instantly recognizable to me when a submission is not a student’s own work.
 
My policy is to submit anything that arouses suspicion to Turnitin.com, an academic service to which I subscribe that utilizes an algorithm-based methodology to compare the suspect sample to all published material on the Internet. Keep in mind that the Internet these days includes many web-based counterparts of conventionally published materials (meaning that, if it’s been published anywhere in print—whether in an old encyclopedia, a magazine or newspaper, or in a brand-new best-seller—it’s probably on the Internet somewhere). If Turnitin indicates that there is a significant match between your work and a previously published source, some very pointed questions will be asked

Consultation: 
 
I’m always available via email, or you may call and leave a message at any time, day or night. My phone ringer is turned off, so don’t worry about calling in the middle of the night—it’s okay! I will try to return your call within 12-24 hours. For those of you who are outside Hawaii, calling Hawaii these days is cheap—free on most cell phone plans, several cents a minute with a prepaid phone card, 10-25 cents/minute with phone company long distance plans. If you just leave a quick message, you shouldn’t suffer much financially, and I’ll pay for the return call, of course. As far as email is concerned, I will try to respond to your message within 24-36 hours; however, please do not expect me to respond on weekends or holidays—I need to have a life of some kind!

Now, don’t forget to read the Orientation!