AQS00501 Topics in History of Science

Hiroshima University Syllabus

Japanese

Academic Year 2026Year School/Graduate School School of Integrated Arts and Sciences

Lecture Code AQS00501 Subject Classification Specialized Education

Subject Name Topics in History of Science (科学史の諸問題)

Subject Name
（Katakana）カガクシノショモンダイ

Subject Name in
English Topics in History of Science

Instructor NAKAO MAIKA

Instructor
(Katakana) ナカオ　マイカ

Campus Higashi-Hiroshima Semester/Term 2nd-Year, Second Semester, 3Term

Days, Periods, and Classrooms (3T) Weds3-4：IAS K204

Lesson Style Lecture Lesson Style
(More Details) Face-to-face

Lecture

Credits 1.0 Class Hours/Week 2 Language of Instruction E : English

Course Level 2 : Undergraduate Low-Intermediate

Course Area（Area） 23 : Arts and Humanities

Course Area（Discipline） 08 : History of Science and Technology

Eligible Students

Keywords Atomic bomb, Radiation exposure, compensation, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Fukushima

Special Subject for Teacher Education 　 Special Subject 　

Class Status
within Educational
Program
(Applicable only to targeted subjects for undergraduate students)
Criterion referenced
Evaluation
(Applicable only to targeted subjects for undergraduate students) Integrated Arts and Sciences
（Knowledge and Understanding）
・Knowledge and understanding of the importance and characteristics of each discipline and basic theoretical framework.

Integrated Global Studies
（Knowledge and Understanding）
・The knowledge and understanding of the important characteristics and basic theoretical framework of individual academic disciplines.

Class Objectives
/Class Outline In the wake of nuclear disasters, lines are often drawn between perpetrators and victims. While those responsible have at times attempted to conceal or downplay the health effects of radiation exposure, affected communities have struggled to make those effects visible and to seek recognition and compensation.
This course examines the scientific research conducted on radiation-related health effects, focusing on the methodological and ethical challenges of studying human subjects under conditions of uncertainty and political pressure. At the same time, we will explore the cultural dimensions of nuclear disasters: how suffering is narrated, remembered, and contested; how scientific knowledge is shaped by social values and power structures; and how victims’ movements mobilize science, law, and public discourse to claim justice.
By analyzing case studies from different historical and national contexts, the course highlights the complex entanglement of science, politics, ethics, and culture in the ongoing debates over responsibility and compensation. Students will be encouraged to critically reflect on how knowledge about risk and harm is produced, whose voices are heard or marginalized, and how societies come to terms with technological catastrophe.

Class Schedule lesson1: Introduction
lesson2: Scientists in Hiroshima and Nagasaki
lesson3: Hibakusha
lesson4: Anti Nuclear Movement
lesson5: Global Hibakusha
lesson6: Black Rain
lesson7: Summary

Quizzes and reports are scheduled.

Video materials will be used as necessary to deepen understanding.

Text/Reference
Books,etc. Susan Lindee, Suffering Made Real: American Science and the Survivors at Hiroshima (University of Chicago Press, 1994); Ran Zwigenberg, Nuclear Minds: Cold War Psychological Science and the Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (University of Chicago Press, 2023); Akiko Naono, "The Origins of ‘Hibakusha’ as a Scientific and Political Classification of the Survivor," Japanese Studies, 39:3 (2019), 333-352. Akiko Naono, "'Ban the Bomb! Redress the Damage!': The History of the Contentious Politics of Atomic Bomb Sufferers in Japan," Asian Journal of Peacebuilding, 6 -2 (2018): 223-246. Robert Jacobs, Nuclear Bodies: The Global Hibakusha (Yale University Press, 2022).

PC or AV used in
Class,etc. Text, Handouts, Visual Materials, moodle

(More Details)

Learning techniques to be incorporated Discussions, Quizzes/ Quiz format

Suggestions on
Preparation and
Review Advices will be given in each class.

Requirements

Grading Method Evaluate with class participation and report.

Practical Experience

Summary of Practical Experience and Class Contents based on it

Message

Other

Please fill in the class improvement questionnaire which is carried out on all classes.
Instructors will reflect on your feedback and utilize the information for improving their teaching.

Academic Year	2026Year	School/Graduate School	School of Integrated Arts and Sciences
Lecture Code	AQS00501	Subject Classification	Specialized Education
Subject Name	Topics in History of Science (科学史の諸問題)
Subject Name （Katakana）	カガクシノショモンダイ
Subject Name in English	Topics in History of Science
Instructor	NAKAO MAIKA
Instructor (Katakana)	ナカオ　マイカ
Campus	Higashi-Hiroshima	Semester/Term	2nd-Year, Second Semester, 3Term
Days, Periods, and Classrooms	(3T) Weds3-4：IAS K204
Lesson Style	Lecture	Lesson Style (More Details)	Face-to-face
Lecture
Credits	1.0	Class Hours/Week	2	Language of Instruction	E : English
Course Level	2 : Undergraduate Low-Intermediate
Course Area（Area）	23 : Arts and Humanities
Course Area（Discipline）	08 : History of Science and Technology
Eligible Students
Keywords	Atomic bomb, Radiation exposure, compensation, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Fukushima
Special Subject for Teacher Education		Special Subject
Class Status within Educational Program (Applicable only to targeted subjects for undergraduate students)
Criterion referenced Evaluation (Applicable only to targeted subjects for undergraduate students)	Integrated Arts and Sciences （Knowledge and Understanding）・Knowledge and understanding of the importance and characteristics of each discipline and basic theoretical framework. Integrated Global Studies （Knowledge and Understanding）・The knowledge and understanding of the important characteristics and basic theoretical framework of individual academic disciplines.
Class Objectives /Class Outline	In the wake of nuclear disasters, lines are often drawn between perpetrators and victims. While those responsible have at times attempted to conceal or downplay the health effects of radiation exposure, affected communities have struggled to make those effects visible and to seek recognition and compensation. This course examines the scientific research conducted on radiation-related health effects, focusing on the methodological and ethical challenges of studying human subjects under conditions of uncertainty and political pressure. At the same time, we will explore the cultural dimensions of nuclear disasters: how suffering is narrated, remembered, and contested; how scientific knowledge is shaped by social values and power structures; and how victims’ movements mobilize science, law, and public discourse to claim justice. By analyzing case studies from different historical and national contexts, the course highlights the complex entanglement of science, politics, ethics, and culture in the ongoing debates over responsibility and compensation. Students will be encouraged to critically reflect on how knowledge about risk and harm is produced, whose voices are heard or marginalized, and how societies come to terms with technological catastrophe.
Class Schedule	lesson1: Introduction lesson2: Scientists in Hiroshima and Nagasaki lesson3: Hibakusha lesson4: Anti Nuclear Movement lesson5: Global Hibakusha lesson6: Black Rain lesson7: Summary Quizzes and reports are scheduled. Video materials will be used as necessary to deepen understanding.
Text/Reference Books,etc.	Susan Lindee, Suffering Made Real: American Science and the Survivors at Hiroshima (University of Chicago Press, 1994); Ran Zwigenberg, Nuclear Minds: Cold War Psychological Science and the Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (University of Chicago Press, 2023); Akiko Naono, "The Origins of ‘Hibakusha’ as a Scientific and Political Classification of the Survivor," Japanese Studies, 39:3 (2019), 333-352. Akiko Naono, "'Ban the Bomb! Redress the Damage!': The History of the Contentious Politics of Atomic Bomb Sufferers in Japan," Asian Journal of Peacebuilding, 6 -2 (2018): 223-246. Robert Jacobs, Nuclear Bodies: The Global Hibakusha (Yale University Press, 2022).
PC or AV used in Class,etc.	Text, Handouts, Visual Materials, moodle
(More Details)
Learning techniques to be incorporated	Discussions, Quizzes/ Quiz format
Suggestions on Preparation and Review	Advices will be given in each class.
Requirements
Grading Method	Evaluate with class participation and report.
Practical Experience
Summary of Practical Experience and Class Contents based on it
Message
Other
Please fill in the class improvement questionnaire which is carried out on all classes. Instructors will reflect on your feedback and utilize the information for improving their teaching.

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