Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996
Synopsis The subject focuses on the role of science, technology and education in Japan's modernisation. It begins by asking a number of historiographical questions which are examined by looking at Japanese history from the Tokugawa period to the present day. The subject considers how Western imperialist powers were able to enter Japan through the use of science, technology and education and how Western learning provided the means by which the Japanese could resist the West and eventually `modernise'. Scientific knowledge and education were seen as ways of obtaining national power. The view that knowledge is power still holds today.
Assessment Written (6000 words): 50% + Examination (2 hours): 35% + Seminar participation (1000 words): 15%