The Atomic Bombs as History, Experience, and Culture:

Washington, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki

Registration Information and Syllabus

Group Interview Information:

There are three Group Interview times for this course during First Round Registration:

Monday (22 August): 1100 - 1130am

Tuesday (23 August): 200 - 230pm
Wednesday (24 August): 1130am - 1200pm

The Zoom Link for ALL group interviews is:

https://zoom.us/j/94947728707?pwd=UlgrWVptY1p3Z2FmcDZhV0JGdlFmQT09

If, AFTER ATTENDING A GROUP INTERVIEW, you have further questions and want
an individual consultation with me, please go to my Calendly link (below) and sign up
for a time to meet with me:

Professor Landdeck’s Calendly:

https://calendly.com/k-landdeck/registration-interviewing-and-donning

The official course syllabus begins on the next page, though it is always possible it will change
(slightly) either before or during the semester.

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 The Atomic Bombs as History, Experience, and Culture:
Washington, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki

Professor: Kevin Landdeck

office: 202 Swinford
office phone: x2309 (on campus); 914-395-2309 (off campus)
email: klanddeck@sarahlawrence.edu
lecture location: SC (Science Center) 103
lecture time: Monday 335pm - 530pm (lecture)

group conferences (you must choose ONE of these to attend every week):
Group Conference 1: Tuesday 1105am - 1230pm (HEIM 211)
Group Conference 2: Tuesday 335pm - 500pm (BATES 015)
Group Conference 3: Wednesday 1105am - 1230pm (HEIM 211)

Related Resources: Atomic Bombs Resources Padlet (password: Fall2022)

You are encouraged to add online resources that you find during the
semester to this padlet. Do try to fit your finds into the pre-existing
organizational scheme; if you feel a new category should be added to
the padlet or if you have questions about which category a new resource
should be filed under, just email me and we’ll figure it out together.

Course Description
In January 2018, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists set the hands of the Doomsday Clock (yes, it’s
a thing) at two minutes to midnight, the nearest it has been to catastrophe since 1953. Donald
Trump goads Kim Jong-un with tweets about the size of his nuclear “button” and the North Ko-
rean pushes ahead with missile tests. In late 2019, Putin announced that Russia has developed
“invincible” hypersonic nuclear missiles capable of hitting virtually anywhere on the globe.
With world leaders flirting with the prospect of nuclear holocaust, an understanding of the only
instance of nuclear warfare is again relevant, even crucial. Through a rich variety of sources
(textual, visual, and cinematic), this lecture-seminar hybrid course will examine the atomic
bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 from three major perspectives.

First, reading scholarship and primary documents, we will look at the decision to drop the bombs
as well as the postwar claims justifying them. We will challenge the American narrative that the
bombings were militarily necessary, while also putting them into the historical context of World
War Two, specifically strategic bombing of non-military targets, prospects of Japanese surrender
in the final months of the conflict, and the looming Cold War with Russia.

Second, we will confront the effects of the bombs on Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and their popula-
tions. Technical descriptions and firsthand accounts will help us grasp the unique destructive-
ness of the atomic bombs, on both bodies and buildings, as well as how people coped with that

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destructiveness. The diary of HACHIYA Michihiko, for example, will reveal a medical doctor’s
observations on the breakdown of society and how ordinary Japanese dealt with the aftermath of
the bombing of Hiroshima.

And finally, the course examines the impact of the bombs on Japan’s postwar culture, including
the profound sense of victimization they imparted, which has complicated Japanese narratives
about WW2 and inspired an abiding pacifism in Japanese society. In a different vein, serious lit-
erature written by survivors will open up the relevance of atomic narratives by exploring the so-
cial alienation endured by the hibakusha (bomb survivors) in postwar Japan. TOMATSU
Shomei’s photography of Nagasaki and its hibakusha will provide a visual window on the
bombs’ legacy as well. And finally, we will examine some popular culture -- the original (1954)
Godzilla (Gojirō) movie and some anime or manga -- for the ways the bombs were appropriated
and invoked in apocalyptic imagery, imagery that expressed a distinctive understanding of the
dark side of science and technology and made a lasting contribution to wider global culture.

This course will consist of weekly lectures paired with a weekly seminar meeting for close dis-
cussion of our syllabus readings. Each student thus must not only attend the lecture, but also
choose one of the three seminar section times.

No prerequisite required; open to any interested student.

Course Goals:

The goals of this course are twofold.

First, to explore area of human experience using a range of historical studies and primary sources
(in translation). We are embarking on an extended exercise in historical imagination and analy-
sis. Our inquiries look at both aspects of both the American and Japanese pasts. Thus, like all at-
tempts at historical understanding, it involves a temporal and cross-cultural leap on our parts.

Second, to help you hone your critical reading and analytical thinking skills. This course is an
intensive reading and discussion class, peppered with paper assignments for a strong emphasis
on critical thinking in class discussions and individual writings. You will be expected to have
read the weekly selections and be prepared to discuss the readings and your fellow classmates’
observations during class.

Many sessions have more than one reading -- often multiple articles. Sometimes those readings
conflict with or contradict each other, sometimes they reinforce each other. Grouping and pair-
ing readings not only gives us a taste of what academic historical dialogue is like but also pro-
vides us the chance to do things that are not possible with a single reading, like: a) map out the
terrain of an academic debate; b) construct synthetic views by finding ways to link readings that
may seem to be contradictory; and c) evaluate how different scholars use evidence to construct

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their arguments by locating the strengths and weaknesses of different perspectives on the past
through asking ourselves which interpretation we find more convincing and why.

Requirements and Assignments:

For Group Conference sessions, you must come prepared to discuss all the reading assignments.
My role is not to lecture, but to guide and help shape our discussions.

Every student will be responsible for: two short papers (5-6 pages) and two other internet based
assignments. The papers cannot be simple summaries, but must be tightly focused on a specific
topic with a clear thesis; this means it must analyze the sources and it must make an argument --
it cannot merely regurgitate the content of the book(s). These assignments are all mini-versions
of scholarly papers: they need to make an original point and pursue that point ruthlessly. There
will be more specific guidelines as we get closer to the due date.

Basic Policies

Technology in the Classroom

I put stringent limits on devices in the classroom. There is a strict no-cellphone policy in
both lecture and seminar (group conference) sessions. Please turn your phones off and put them
away before logging into to class; I do not want to see or hear them at all.

While I allow laptops in the lecture portion of the course, during group conferences you
are expected to put your laptops away and take notes the old fashioned way (pen and
paper).

Attendance
Attendance in both lecture and seminar is essential and required. The lectures are critical
for understanding the materials and their context, while the group conferences are devoted to
close textual reading and discussion of primary sources and secondary scholarship. iscussion, by
its very nature, is a collective enterprise. Thus, it is impossible to “make up” missed classes.
You are, however, responsible for the work you missed. More than three absences (in any
combination classes and conferences) will result in serious (up to catastrophic!) reduction
of your grade (unless there is some extenuating and fairly extreme circumstance that you have
cleared with me in advance). In case that delicately worded phrasing is not clear enough:
“catastrophic” consequences can, indeed, mean a D or even F grade.

Please note: I do not make a distinction between “excused” and “unexcused” absences. A
missed class -- for any reason -- is a missed class. (There are only a few exceptions, like serious

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injury or hospitalization.) If you have to miss a class, please email me as soon as possible with
your reasons, not to be “excused” but as a courtesy.

Class Participation and Ground Rules for Seminar Discussion

In group conference sessions, everyone is expected to have done the readings, and to
contribute to our conversation. My role in those periods is not to lecture, but only to guide and
shape our collective inquiry. Contributing to our dialogues does not necessarily mean having
answers; you are encouraged (and expected!) to engage with each other, actively listening to
what your classmates are saying and responding to their comments and observations. Often a
well posed question about something that puzzles or intrigues you is more valuable than a pat
answer. Interesting and seriously considered questions stimulate discussion and demonstrate a
genuine engagement with the texts/issues at hand.
Our meetings should be a lively, comfortable forum in which we can exchange and
discuss ideas, questions, and perceptions about the course readings. This process depends on
differences (only things that are not identical can be usefully exchanged) and thus it is natural
(and essential) that there be some level of disagreement in our conversations. Yet, it is absolutely
vital that our discussions remain civil and respectful to each other. All of us are encouraged to
challenge others’ viewpoints, but we must do so in ways that carefully articulate our own
arguments and ideas. Aggressiveness, and particularly ad hominem attacks, are out of bounds.
The key to a really good discussion is listening—the better you listen to what everyone
has to say, the more fluid and probing our conversations can be. I’ll be paying special attention
to how each of you listens to and picks up on the ideas of other students in the discussion—
learning how to listen to others and discuss ideas with your peers is an important skill (for any
work environment).
It is also important that our conversations stay on topic. We must remain focused on
issues of historical importance, rather than on contemporary politics or personal feelings
/anecdotes. Because for many of us Asian history is relatively unknown and because the
significance of historical issues is often highlighted in contemporary situations, there is some
degree of flexibility in this need to stay focused on the past and our class materials. Thus, we
will stray a bit at times, but I take special note of students who bring the discussion back to the
texts or the main themes of the texts at hand.

Reading Responses
If I deem that discussion during group conferences is not productive, I reserve the right to
require reading responses for each group conference session. If this becomes necessary, I want
you to follow a particular format, with three parts: a quotation from the reading(s), your own
analytical response to that reading, and a thoughtful question you would like the class to discuss.
The quotation should be the foundation or jumping off point for your own thoughts about the text
and the question should push those thoughts to ask about significance. These reading responses
are not free associations (“I liked this because it reminded me of the Cinderella story ...”), but
must offer some thoughtful analysis or interpretation of the readings. You are encouraged to

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relate the texts to each other, if there are more than one, and to other (earlier) readings or class
themes. In sessions that have two or more readings, you may choose to respond to just one of
them, but there should be a good reason for doing so (as opposed to “that’s the only one of the
three that I read”). The discussion question should not be of the simple types (“do you guys
agree with me?” or “how many Chinese students were studying in Japan in 1920?”). Instead,
these can be wide ranging: things that puzzle you, something you thought was missing or
mistaken in the readings, or something that you noticed but are not sure about.
If these reading responses become necessary, every student will be granted one or two
“pass” sessions -- classes when you choose not to hand in a response -- depending on how much
of the semester remains. Being absent is not a reason not to do the reading or send me a
response.

Due Dates for Assignments

I recognize that people’s schedules can be hectic. But given that this is a lecture course
with a substantial grading load on my part, I cannot allow extensions. (The bookkeeping for that
with 45 students is daunting, let alone sending out reminders and nudges to submit overdue
work.) Don’t even bother asking. The syllabus is very clear on when things are due, so you
simply must plan ahead to have the work done on time. The consequences are also clear: if you
don’t submit required assignments on time, your grade will be reduced in a distinctly non-trivial
manner (see below: Grading).

Grading
Your grade in this seminar course will reflect your attendance (in both lecture and group
conference), participation (especially in group conference), and the various assignments of
written work. Participation in group conference discussion is important not because it shows me
whether you are “right” or “wrong” about something, but because it discloses your preparation
and engagement. I will be evaluating your attendance, preparation for class, participation in
class discussion, your reading responses (if required), and your class papers and shorter writing
assignments.

I DO NOT put numerical or letter grades on assignments, instead I provide qualitative

feedback. My experience (and sophisticated educational research) shows definitively that grades
are a distraction from, and hindrance to, real learning and improvement. Thus, in order to keep
your attention focused on building on the qualitative assessments of your work (especially
papers), I only provide narrative feedback. I do this to help you forget about, or ignore, the
disruption of grades and encourage you to concentrate on improving the analytical, mechanical,
and stylistic qualities of your work. If you are uncertain about how you are doing in my course,
you are more than welcome to discuss your performance with me at any time during the
semester, though you should not expect to hear (even a tentative) a numerical or letter grade from
me during that conversation: I will (again) focus us on your qualitative performance.

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 As you might guess from the above, your success (grade) in this class depends on regular
attendance, regular and productive participation, and the regular and timely completion of
coursework. I reserve the right to significantly reduce the grade of, or even fail, any student
who:
1) misses more than four hours of class (lecture or conference) in any semester;
2) is consistently late for class; or
3) fails to turn in even a single formal written assignment.

Academic Integrity
Students are bound to uphold Sarah Lawrence College’s Undergraduate Policy on
Academic Integrity found in the Student Handbook.
http://www.slc.edu/studentlife/handbook.html

Plagiarism is an increasing problem at SLC. I take this issue very seriously --- I
regularly and actively check papers for unattributed borrowing. I have had and prosecuted
(through the Committee on Student Work) several major cases in recent years, and in each case
the students have faced serious consequences for their actions, such as credit loss, academic
suspension, and a notation in their permanent record. Do not risk it -- play by the rules.

The plagiarism “rules” are really very simple: give credit to other people. There are two
parts to that.
a) providing citations for ideas that are not your own.
b) putting quotation marks around any words that are not your own.
A safe standard for borrowing words (i.e., quotations) is: any three consecutive words taken from
the text must have quotation marks and a citation. Occasionally, even two words may qualify as
a direct quote depending on how significant they are in the text and your argument.

Course Schedule
Items that end with “(READER)” are provided (as a PDF file) in the Reader. Some of our
other texts are available online as e-books from SLC’s library (these are listed as “E-BOOK”). If
you would rather purchase these, they are available as cheap paperbacks, so I have provided a
list, with ISBNs for easy searching (e.g., on Amazon) for the proper editions, at the end of the
syllabus.
For some weeks there are readings listed under the BONUS heading. These are not re-
quired and will not be the basis of class discussion, but they are highly recommended as “further
reading” if you find the topic compelling and wish to pursue it in more depth. Most of these will
be available as pdf files in the READER.

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IMPORTANT NOTE:
THE READINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE: such changes will usually only affect items
in the READER and will be announced in class and in email as well.

JAPANESE NAMES: Japanese names are written in reverse order from Western practice. In
other words, surnames first, given names second. This cultural practice is usually (but not al-
ways) respected in academic and scholarly literature by referring to individuals using the Asian
name order. The exception to this rule is usually scholars / authors writing now and in English;
at times, they have their names written in the Western order. To make things clearer, anytime I
type or print a Japanese or Chinese person’s name I will capitalize the surname so that it is
unambiguous.

DISABILITY HELP:
Finally: If you have a disability that may interfere with your ability to participate in the activities,
coursework, or assessment of the objectives of this course, you may be entitled to accommoda-
tions. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilita-
tion Act of 1973, all students, with or without disabilities, are entitled to equal access to the pro-
grams and activities of Sarah Lawrence College.

Please contact Daniel (Dan) Chan, the Associate Dean of Studies and Disabilities Services, in
Westlands 207C or x2235 or ???@sarahlawrence.edu

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Week 1 - Sept 5 (set up week - NO CONFERENCES)

Course Introduction and The Orthodox (American) View

Mon - Sept 5 Lecture:

Introduction and the Orthodoxy-Revisionism Divide

REQUIRED READINGS:
Stimson, Henry. “The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb”, Harper’s Magazine, 1947.
READER: Stimson - Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb.pdf

Kort, The Columbia Guide to Hiroshima and the Bomb, selected documents (Cairo Declaration,
pp. 175-6 and Potsdam Declaration, pp. 226-7)
READER: Kort - Documents 1.pdf

Kort, The Columbia Guide to Hiroshima and the Bomb, selections (“Building the Atomic
Bomb”, pp. 14-27 and “The Pacific War”, pp. 28-45)
READER: Kort - part 1.pdf

GROUP CONFERENCES:

NONE - Setup (null) Week

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Week 2 - Sept 12 (A Week)

Key Questions and Interpretations - The Institutional Context of War

Mon - Sept 16 Lecture:

Context Matters: Bombing Campaigns and Scientific Dissent

REQUIRED READINGS:
Kort, The Columbia Guide to Hiroshima and the Bomb, selections: (“Key Questions and Inter-
pretations”, pp. 81-116)
READER: Kort - Key Questions and Interpretations.pdf
Franck Report, 11 June 1945
ONLINE: http://www.dannen.com/decision/franck.html
Scientific Panel’s Recommendation on the Immediate Use of Nuclear Weapons, 16 June 1945
ONLINE: http://www.dannen.com/decision/scipanel.html

GROUP CONFERENCES:
Kort, The Columbia Guide to Hiroshima and the Bomb, selections (“The Decision to Drop the
Bomb”, pp. 46-57; “The Japanese Government, Ketsu-Go, and Potsdam”, pp. 58-66; “Hiroshima,
Nagasaki and Japan’s Surrender”, pp. 67-74, and “Hiroshima and American Power”, pp. 75-78)
READER: Kort - part 2.pdf

Selected Documents (from Kort):

A15 - Interim Committee Minutes, 31 May 1945, pp. 181-4
A16 - Stimson Diary, 31 May 1945, pp. 184-5
A17 - Interim Committee Minutes, 1June 1945, p. 185
A19-1 - Hoover memo to Truman and responses, 15 May 1945, pp. 186-93
A19-2 - Hoover, Stimson, Marshall memos, pp. 193-6;
A27 - Minutes of White House Meeting, pp. 202-7;
A31 - Bard memo, pp. 209-10;
A32 - Stimson Diary 26-30 June, 1945 and memo to Truman, pp. 210-13
READER: Kort - Documents 2.pdf

Malloy, “‘A Very Pleasant Way to Die’: Radiation Effects and the Decision to Use the Atomic
Bomb against Japan”, Diplomatic History, 36:3 (June 2012), pp. 515-545
READER: Malloy - A Very Pleasant Way to Die - Radiation Effects.pdf

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BONUS (not required but included in READER)
Walker, “Recent Literature on Truman’s Atomic Bomb Decision: A Search for Middle Ground”,
Diplomatic History, 29:2 (2005), pp. 311-334.
READER: Walker - Atomic Bomb Decision - A Search for Middle Ground.pdf

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Week 3 - Sept 19 (B Week)

Japan’s Surrender: Legacies and Causes

Mon - Sept 19 Lecture:

Japan’s Surrender and the “Foundational Narrative”

REQUIRED READINGS:
E1 - Emperor Hirohito to the Imperial Conference, p. 323-4
E2 - Japanese Surrender Note, 10 August, 1945, p. 324-5
E3 - US (Byrnes) Reply to Japan, p. 325-6
(E4 - Japanese Protest on Use of Atomic Bomb, p. 326-7)
E5 - Hirohito’s Surrender Statement to Imperial Conference, p. 327-8
E6 - Japanese Surrender Note, 14 August 1945, p. 328-9
E7 - US (Byrnes) Reply to Japan, p. 329
E8 - Truman’s Announcement of Japan’s Surrender, p. 330
E9 - Imperial Rescript (Broadcast) on Surrender, p. 330-1
E12 - Imperial Rescript, 17 August 1945, p. 334
READER: Kort - Documents 4.pdf

GROUP CONFERENCES:

Japanese Documents on Last Days of the War:

D2 - Konoe memorial, pp 292-4;
D5 - Japan HQ estimate of war situation, pp. 297-8;
D9 - Japan Army instructions to troops (Aug 10), pp. 300-1;
D12 - Japan military report to emp, pp. 302-3;
READER: Kort - Documents 3.pdf

Hasegawa, Tsuyoshi, “The Atomic Bombs and the Soviet Invasion: Which Was More Important
in Japan’s Decision to Surrender?”, in Hasegawa, ed., The End of the Pacific War: Reappraisals,
SUP, 2007, pp. 113-144.
READER: Hasegawa - atomic bombs and soviet invasion.pdf

Hatano, “The Atomic Bomb and Soviet Entry into the War: Of Equal Importance”, in The End of
the Pacific War: Reappraisals, pp. 95-112
READER: Hatano - Atomic Bomb and Soviet Entry.pdf

Wilson, “The Winning Weapon?: Rethinking Nuclear Weapons in Light of Hiroshima”, Interna-
tional Security, 31:4 (Spring, 2007), pp. 162-179
READER: Wilson - winning weapon.pdf

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Week 4 - Sept 26 (A Week)

Atomic Myth-Busting: The Ordinariness of The Bomb and Its Creation

Mon - Sept 26 Lecture:

Putting the Ordinary back into The Manhattan Project

REQUIRED READINGS:
Documents (from Kort, The Columbia Guide):
A11, Stimson to Truman, pp. 178-9;
A16, Stimson diary, pp 184-5;
A37, Lawrence report of Trinity test, pp. 217.
READER: Kort - Documents 6.pdf

University of California Television documentary: A Moment in Time: The Manhattan Project

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwpgmEvlRpM

Hugh Bradner’s home movie footage of Los Alamos - Life inside Los Alamos
https://youtu.be/SLb1O_W5Oyw

GROUP CONFERENCES:
Gordin, Five Days in August, pp. XIII-XVI, 5-58, 85-140
(pages 59-84 are recommended, but not required)
E-BOOK (via SLC’s library)
OR:
READER: Gordin - Five Days in August - full.pdf

Documents (from Kort, The Columbia Guide):

B18-19, arrangements & orders to drop, pp. 258-9
READER: Kort - Documents 5.pdf

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Week 5 - Oct 3 (B Week)

Through a Physician’s Eyes

Mon - Oct 7 No Lecture

INTERNET ASSIGNMENT (submitted via MySLC):

Using one of the online repositories of documents concerning the atomic bombs (see the
Course Padlet password: Fall2022), you must locate and select one document that you find com-
pelling and write a brief (two pages, double spaced) analysis of it. You should be aware of the
historical basics of the document (who wrote it, why, who was the intended audience, relevant
context, etc.) and this may take some extra detective work on your part. Your own analysis
needs to push beyond that foundation to try to say something interesting about the bombs. I
won’t mandate that it cover aspects that we have covered in class (lecture or seminar), but that
may be a prudent method.

GROUP CONFERENCES:

Hachiya, Michihiko, Hiroshima diary; the journal of a Japanese physician, August 6-September
30, 1945, (Warner Wells, trans. and ed.), pp. 1-130
PAPERBACK // E-BOOK (via SLC’s library)

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Week 6 - Oct 10 (A Week)

Hibakusha: Their Testimonies and Their Silence(s)

Mon - Oct 12 Lecture:

The Silence of Survivors

REQUIRED READINGS:

selections from Hibakusha: Survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Gaynor Sekimori trans., 1986
(photographs between p. 56 and 57; Akira Nagasaka, “A Memorial for the Slaughtered”, pp.
73-77; Fumiko Nonaka, “The Face of Another”, pp. 89-92; Machiyo Kurokawa, “Fragile Lives”,
pp. 93-96; Katsuo Fukushima, “The Real Victims”, pp. 104-107; LEE Gi-sang, “The Unknown
Victims”, pp. 120, 129-135; Sachiko Masaki, “A Message to the Young”, pp. 146-152)
READER: Hibakusha - Survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.pdf

GROUP CONFERENCES:

Hachiya, Michihiko, Hiroshima diary; the journal of a Japanese physician, August 6-September
30, 1945, (Warner Wells, trans. and ed.), pp. 131-229
PAPERBACK // E-BOOK (via SLC’s library)

Todeschini, Maya. “Illegitimate Sufferers: A-Bomb Victims, Medical Science, and the Govern-
ment”, Daedalus, 128:2 (Spring, 1999), pp. 67-100
READER: Todeschini - Illegitimate Sufferers.pdf

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Week 7 - Oct 17 (no conference / null week)

Mon - Oct 17 Lecture: NO LECTURE (October Study Days)

GROUP CONFERENCES:

NO SEMINAR SESSIONS (October Study Days)

WED (Oct 19): FIRST PAPER DUE (no exceptions, no extensions)

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Week 8 - Oct 24 (B Week)

Mon - Oct 24 Lecture:

Hiroshima: The Politics of Peace and Victimhood, 1945-75

NO READING

GROUP CONFERENCES:

Oe, Kenzaburo. Hiroshima Notes, selections (Prologue; Chapter Three - The Moralists of Hi-
roshima,; Chapter Four - On Human Dignity; Chapter Five - The Unsurrendered People), pp.
17-27, 78-96, and 97-132
READER: OE - Hiroshima Notes.pdf

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Week 9 - Oct 31 (A Week)

Hiroshima, Auschwitz, and the Origins of PTSD

Mon - Oct 31 Lecture:

Hiroshima-Auschwitz: Surprising Connections and a New Epistemology

REQUIRED READINGS:
Lifton, “The Survivor” in Death in Life: Survivors of Hiroshima, 479-542.
READER: Lifton - The Survivor.pdf

Zwigenberg, “Introduction” and “Conclusion”, in Hiroshima: The Origins of Global Memory

Culture, pp. 1-22 and 297-305.
READER: Zwigenberg - Introduction and Conclusion.pdf

GROUP CONFERENCES:

Lifton, “A-Bomb Man” and “Formulation: Self and World”, in Death in Life: Survivors of Hi-
roshima, pp. 165-208 and 367-96.
READER: Lifton - A-Bomb Man and Formulation.pdf

Zwigenberg, “Wounds of the Heart”, in Hiroshima: The Origins of Global Memory Culture, pp.
94-133.
READER: Zwigenberg - C4 - Wounds of the Heart.pdf

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Week 10 - Nov 7 (B Week)

The Atomic Bomb as Art / Culture: Literature and Photography

Mon - Nov 7 Lecture:

HARA Tamiki and TOMATSU Shomei: Documentary as Art

REQUIRED READINGS:
HARA, Tamiki. “Summer Flowers”, in The Crazy Iris, pp. 37-54
READER: HARA - Summer Flowers and Land of Hearts Desire.pdf

TOMATSU Shomei - photographs of Nagasaki. (much of the Japanese text is translated into
English at the end of the file, so please do read that translation)
READER: Tomatsu - Nagasaki photographs.pdf

GROUP CONFERENCES

HAYASHI, Kyoko. “The Empty Can”, in The Crazy Iris, pp. 127-144
READER: HAYASHI - Empty Can.pdf

IBUSE, Masuji. “The Crazy Iris”, in The Crazy Iris, pp. 17-36
READER: IBUSE - Crazy Iris.pdf

ODA, Katsuzo. “Human Ashes”, in The Crazy Iris, pp. 63-84

READER: ODA - Human Ashes.pdf

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Week 11 - Nov 14 (A Week)

The Impossible Narrator: Writing the Bombs

Mon - Nov 14 Lecture:

OTA Yoka and the Problem of the Narrator

REQUIRED READINGS:
OTA Yoko, The City of Corpses. (excerpts)
READER: OTA - City of Corpses (excerpts).pdf

GROUP CONFERENCES:

OTA, Yoko. “Fireflies”, in The Crazy Iris, pp. 85-111

READER: OTA - Fireflies.pdf

TAKENISHI, Hiroko. “The Rite”, in The Crazy Iris, pp. 165-200

READER: TAKENISHI - The Rite.pdf

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Week 12 - Nov 21 (THANKSGIVING - no conference / null week)

Mon - Nov 21 Lecture:

IN CLASS FILM SHOWING:

Gojira, 1954 (dir. HONDA Ishirô)

TUESDAY Nov 22 -- SECOND PAPER DUE (no exceptions, no extensions)

GROUP CONFERENCES:
NO CLASS (Thanksgiving)

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Week 13 - Nov 28 (B Week)

The Bomb in Japanese Popular Culture and Visual Memory

Mon - Nov 28 Lecture:

Monster Mash: Godzilla and the Atomic Bomb in Popular Culture

NAKAZAWA, Keiji, Barefoot Gen, volume 1.

READER: NAKAZAWA - Barefoot Gen v1.pdf

GROUP CONFERENCES:
Unforgettable Fire: Pictures Drawn by Atomic Bomb Survivors, Pantheon Books, NY, 1977,
selections.
READER: Unforgettable Fire - selections.pdf

John Dower - “Ground Zero: Pictures by Atomic Bomb Survivors”, MIT Visualizing Cultures.
READER: Dower - Ground Zero.pdf

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Week 14 - Dec 7 (A Week)

When the Cold War Goes Hot: Kubrick’s Nuclear Satire

OR
Post-Apocalyptic Cyberpunk: Akira and the Generational Fears of 1980s Japan

Mon - Dec 5 Lecture

NO LECTURE or in class FILM showing (Dr. Strangelove)

INTERNET ASSIGNMENT - submitted via MySLC.

Using our library databases (I often recommend JSTOR) or Google Scholar, you must lo-
cate a scholarly article that we have not used for class. It can be on any aspect of the bombs that
you find compelling or worth knowing more about. Read the article and submit a brief (two
page, double spaced) evaluation of it. This evaluation must contain (1) a summary of the articles
main argument, (2) an assessment of its evidentiary basis, and (3) your evaluation of its persua-
siveness backed up with reasons why you find it compelling or not compelling. Please include a
full bibliographic entry for the article as well as a link to it (a direct / static link if at all possible).

NO journalism, blogs, or other non-scholarly articles. This assignment is to get you looking and
evaluating serious scholarship, not lay people’s random (and almost always ill-informed)
thoughts. I will add the articles that are of sufficient quality to the Course Padlet.

GROUP CONFERENCES:
We will discuss one of the following films:
Doctor Strangelove or: How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Bomb (dir. Stanley
Kubrick, 1964)
OR
Akira (dir. OTOMO Katsuhiro, 1988).
(I do not have a way to provide either of these movies to all of us free of charge, so you must
buy, rent, download, or stream whichever one we end out deciding on on your own time. My
apologies.)

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Week 15 - Dec 12 (B Week)

Commemoration and Global Memory

Mon - Dec 12 Lecture:

Commemoration: National Divergences and Public Memories

REQUIRED READINGS:
Hein and Takenaka, “Exhibiting World War II in Japan and the United States since 1995”,
Pacific Historical Review, 76:1 (February 2007), pp. 61-94
READER: Hein and Takenaka - exhibiting WW2 in Japan and US.pdf

Kohn, “History and the Culture Wars: The Case of the Smithsonian Institution's Enola Gay
Exhibition”, The Journal of American History, 82:3 (Dec., 1995), pp. 1036-1063
READER: Kohn - Smithsonian Enola Gay exhibit.pdf

Lee, Jooyoun, “Yaskuni and Hiroshima in Clash? War and Peace Museums in Contemporary
Japan”, Pacific Focus, 33:1 (April 2018), pp. 5-33.
READER: Lee - War and Peace Museums.pdf

GROUP CONFERENCES: Wrap Up

Stefanie Fishel, “Nuclear Memory”, in Reimagining Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Nuclear Humani-
ties in the Post-Cold War, pp. 71-86
READER: Fishel - Nuclear Memory.pdf

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 Books for Purchase

Gordin, Michael. Five Days in August: How World War II Became a Nuclear War. reprint ed.
Princeton UP, 2015.
ISBN-10: 0691168431
ISBN-13: 978-0691168432

HACHIYA, Michihiko. Hiroshima Diary: The Journal of a Japanese Physician, August 6-Sep-
tember 30, 1945. 2nd edition. University of North Carolina Press, 2011.
ISBN-13: 978-0807845479
ISBN-10: 0807845477

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