The seeds of Japan’s emergence to global prominence were planted during the Edo period, which spanned from 1600 to 1868. This seminar traces Japan’s transformation during this remarkable rule of the Tokugawa shoguns, also known as the Edo period. Our course will explore the numerous aspects of this time including: the end of the warring states period and unification under the last shogunate rule; urban and village life; art and religion; economic policies and the Imperial House; the state’s foreign policy and the U.S. role in bringing Edo Japan to an end.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6jyfckjqUg
Details
Participants were expected to watch (at their convenience) and send in comments on a series of online lectures each week beginning Monday, January 26, 2027 through Monday, March 1, 2027. The lectures consisted of fifteen YouTube presentations (30 to 35 minute each). There were also two Q&A Zoom sessions with Dr. Shelton Woods:
February 8, 2026, 5:00-6:00 pm MT (5:00-6:00 pm PT)
February 22, 2026, 5:00-6:00 pm MT (5:00-6:00 pm PT)
Program Leader
Dr. Shelton Woods will lead this program. Dr. Woods is a dean and distinguished professor of East/Southeast Asian history at Boise State University.
Programs Benefits
- Numerous books and classroom materials.
- Access to online lectures.
- 20 free WA OSPI clock hours.
- Two continued professional education credits from Boise State University.
The seminar is offered to K-12 educators free of charge thanks to a generous grant from the Freeman Foundation to the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA), and it is sponsored by the University of Washington’s East Asia Resource Center in partnership with Boise State University.