SOC 984 • American History
Japanese Internment Camps
Pearl Harbor – Post Release
Examine the experiences of Japanese Americans before, during, and after their forced wartime incarceration while exploring primary sources, personal narratives, art, military service, historic sites, and resources for thoughtful classroom instruction.
Explore the Human Story Behind the History
Move beyond dates and policies to understand how Pearl Harbor and wartime incarceration affected Japanese American individuals, families, communities, and generations.
SOC 984 examines the impact of the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and the forced removal and incarceration of approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans. Through personal narrative, primary sources, videos, oral histories, newspapers, historic sites, and digital archives, you will examine life before incarceration, conditions within the camps, military service, and the challenges people faced after release.
The course also emphasizes practical classroom applications. You will explore methods for teaching with primary sources, curate books and websites, consider art and historical newspapers as evidence, create a documentary-style introduction for students, and design a field-trip lesson connected to a historic site or museum.
What You'll Explore
Follow the history from Pearl Harbor through wartime incarceration and eventual release while examining both national policy and individual experience.
Pearl Harbor & Fear
Build historical context for Pearl Harbor and examine how wartime fear and prejudice shaped public policy.
Executive Order 9066
Examine forced removal, incarceration, primary sources, and the experiences of Japanese American families.
Life Behind Barbed Wire
Explore housing, food, privacy, art, baseball, newspapers, community life, and the concept of gaman.
Service & Release
Investigate loyalty questions, military service, the experience of leaving camp, and rebuilding lives after incarceration.
History Through Human Experience
Perspective Matters
The course uses personal stories and original historical evidence to help educators consider not only what happened, but what incarceration meant for the people who lived through it.
Personal Narrative
Follow Mary Matsuda Gruenewald's experience through Looking Like the Enemy.
Primary Sources
Examine photographs, newspapers, documents, oral histories, and archival collections.
Art & Culture
Consider how art, craft, recreation, and baseball helped people maintain community and dignity.
Historic Places
Explore Manzanar and other preserved sites as places of memory, learning, and reflection.
A Six-Module Historical Journey
Each module combines historical content, personal narrative, primary sources, multimedia, technology, reflection, and classroom application.
Module 1
Pearl Harbor
Build historical background, begin Looking Like the Enemy, investigate Library of Congress Pearl Harbor sources, and establish your course blog.
Module 2
Executive Order 9066
Examine forced incarceration, explore Denshō and Manzanar resources, create your first historical blog post, and curate books using LibraryThing.
Module 3
Life in the Camps
Investigate gaman, art, baseball, camp newspapers, and daily life, then write historically informed letters from the perspective of an incarcerated person.
Module 4
Going Off to War
Examine loyalty, military service, Japanese American veterans, George Takei's reflections, and curate websites and databases using Flipboard.
Module 5
Leaving Camp
Explore what happened when incarceration ended, examine the challenges of returning home, and create a documentary-style unit introduction using Adobe Express.
Module 6
Manzanar & Field Trips
Examine Manzanar's preservation and educational significance, investigate museums and historic sites, and create a standards-based field-trip lesson plan.
Build Resources While You Learn
SOC 984 combines historical understanding with practical projects designed to help you create meaningful resources for teaching this complex chapter of American history.
Historical Blog
Build a professional digital collection of historical information, reflection, resources, and classroom applications.
Book Curation
Create a LibraryThing collection of literature connected to Japanese American incarceration.
Letters Home
Apply historical content through narrative writing from the perspective of someone incarcerated during World War II.
Website Curation
Build a collection of useful Japanese American incarceration websites and databases using Flipboard.
Documentary Introduction
Create an Adobe Express video that can serve as an engaging introduction to a classroom unit.
Field-Trip Lesson
Design a standards-based educational field trip using a museum, National Park Service site, or historic incarceration location.
Experience History Through Personal Narrative
The course is anchored by the firsthand story of Mary Matsuda Gruenewald, whose memoir gives readers a personal perspective on forced removal, incarceration, family life, resilience, and the experience of rebuilding after release.
Her narrative is supplemented with primary sources, videos, documentaries, newspapers, archives, oral histories, museums, and National Park Service resources.
Required Course Text
Looking Like the Enemy:
My Story of Imprisonment in
Japanese-American Internment Camps
The required text must be acquired separately. Students may use a new, used, or ebook version. Additional online and multimedia resources are provided throughout the course.
Deepen your understanding of Pearl Harbor, Executive Order 9066, wartime incarceration, military service, and postwar life.
Engage with personal narratives, photographs, newspapers, art, oral histories, historic sites, primary sources, and archival collections.
Transform historical understanding into curated resources, multimedia, historical writing, and standards-based classroom experiences.
Ready to Begin?
Study the History. Preserve the Stories.
Enroll through Fresno Pacific University's Center for Professional Development and examine Japanese American incarceration through the people who experienced it, the evidence they left behind, and the historic places that preserve their stories.