JAPN 410 - Quakes and Nukes: (Un)Natural Japanese Environments
Japan is richly diverse, from the tundra-like north to the subtropical south. Its islands are shaped by earthquakes, volcanoes, and man-made ecologies. We study the Japanese archipelago from multiple scientific and humanistic perspectives, including material from scientific journals, films, history, anthropology, and Japanese comics. We cover the basics of Japanese geology, Pacific seismology (the Ring of Fire), the causes and effects of nuclear radiation, and the changes to the land.