Teaching Nuclear Issues Through Popular Culture Texts

Hiroshi Kitamura and Jeremy Stoddard

America’s atomic attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki—on August 6 and 9, 1945, of ways, but often revolves around an respectively—instantly killed some 200,000 Japanese and precipitated the end of effort to understand how and why the World War II. They also helped usher in the Cold War, a new era of global tension Truman administration unleashed a that pushed the world towards the brink of destruction. In this menacing climate, in pair of destructive weapons on a mass which the United States and the then-Soviet Union pursued a fierce international of civilians. Often a debate or delibera- rivalry, nuclear issues became central to top-level diplomacy and policymaking. tion model is used to engage students in Citizens around the world experienced a full spectrum of emotions—fear, paranoia, exploring the motives and implications rage, and hope—as they lived in this “nuclear world.” of official U.S. decision making—such as to save American lives, check Soviet Presently, nearly three decades after classroom, including films, TV shows, expansionism, or justify the two-billion- the fall of the Berlin Wall, the original video games, photography, and online dollar cost of the Manhattan Project. But nuclear arms race has subsided, but databases. These cultural texts illustrate this intellectual exercise also carries the nuclear issues remain seminal. Continued diverse societal views from different risk of reducing the experience to strate- challenges related to the development points in time. As we describe below, gic considerations, while neglecting the and proliferation of nuclear weapons, these texts can be explored through a thoughts and emotions of people outside and the risks posed to the environment Socratic-style seminar discussion, as the U.S. policymaking community. and resident populations from an aging evidence for a historical inquiry lesson As a way of filling this void, we encour- nuclear power infrastructure are among that aligns with the C3 Inquiry Arc, or age a greater focus on the perspectives the top concerns in the United States as sources for deliberation of a contro- of two vital groups through discus- and worldwide. Nuclear related issues versial historical or contemporary issue.1 sions of texts that focus on the creation will continue to affect nations, humanity, Overall, we seek to demonstrate new of the bomb and the legacy of its use and the environment for decades, and ways of thinking about how to teach the on Japanese citizens. Through seminar perhaps centuries, to come. ideas, actions, consequences, and lega- discussions, teachers can provide stu- We present three strategies, appropri- cies of nuclear developments on an inter- dents with the opportunity to explore ate for history or public issues classes, national scale (NCSS STANDARDS and the issues, ideas, and values of the texts for engaging students in nuclear themes ) while also developing student critical and their authors—these discussions ask through popular culture texts. We do literacy skills in analyzing and interpret- students to explore a text in common to this in part by looking at the legacy of ing popular culture artifacts. gain an understanding of the issues and the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings the perspective of the author of that text.2 beyond the typical strategic and policy- Teaching about the Bomb through The first perspective is of those sci- making perspectives. We also provide Seminar Discussions entists who made the bomb. Those who teaching activities for other nuclear In almost every U.S. and world his- joined the Manhattan Project—includ- issues—namely the arms race and nuclear tory course, one of the most challeng- ing a number of Jewish exiles from power—that developed in the decades ing lessons involves the use of atomic Europe—were initially determined to that followed. We specifically encour- weapons on Japan at the end of World build the “winning weapon” against the age the use of popular culture in the War II. This topic is taught in a myriad Nazis, but many of them soon decided

May/June 2018 149 Supplement to Social Education, The oﬃcial journal of National Council for the Social Studies

to oppose its use, for moral and ethi- groups discuss their assigned text and popular culture texts hold in under- cal reasons. Studying their voices could observe their classmates discuss diver- standing social, cultural, and political Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People lead students to re-evaluate the bomb gent or complementary texts. Further, perspectives from the periods and places decision from outside strategic think- teachers could ask the class to compare of production. ing. The scientists’ views can be drawn the power of different narrative formats, from the Atomic Heritage Foundation’s from anime, graphic novel, to conven- Inquiry into the “Voices of the Manhattan Project,” a web tional written narratives. Which do they Nuclear Arms Race resource that contains a welter of biog- find most powerful? Which do they find Gojira’s allusion to the Cold War is 2018 raphies, interviews, and oral histories more trustworthy? And why? worth probing further. Indeed, during (www.atomicheritage.org). Films can be powerful seminar texts, the 45 years after Japan’s unconditional The other group perspective often but should be accompanied by discus- surrender, the United States and the missing is that of the Japanese. Given sion in the seminar of film as a source.4 Soviet Union participated in an intense the devastation that unraveled on the For example, a powerful text for under- arms race that gave rise to nearly 70,000 ground, it is important to explore how nuclear warheads at its peak. Other states, the hibakusha—the victims of nuclear such as Great Britain, France, and China, attacks—have grappled with the bomb built their own bombs to boost their experience. A commonly used book that military power and diplomatic lever- introduces the victims’ perspective and age. The era gave rise to the first Soviet explores the decision behind dropping atomic test, the thermonuclear bomb, the bombs is John Hersey’s Hiroshima the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Reagan’s (1946), a best-selling account of six Strategic Defense Initiative—all of which individuals who survived the nuclear elevated the prospects of global annihi- attack. There are also powerful visual lation. In light of these developments, it texts that will engage students. One is vital to think of the atomic bombings is Pikadon (1978), an award-winning not as the end of an era, but the begin- Japanese anime that dramatizes the fate ning of an “atomic age” that would soon of citizens in Hiroshima on August 6, envelop the globe. In addition to look- 1945. Produced by Renzo and Sayoko ing at the key events of the Cold War, Kinoshita, the 10-minute film shows we encourage teachers to use popular how the bomb instantly transformed an culture texts as evidence in attempting to otherwise ordinary morning into a hell- answer a unit-long inquiry question such ish nightmare. (See the Pikadon Seminar as “What drove policy decisions during Activity on p. 151.) One could also turn the Nuclear Arms Race?” or “How did to a selection from Barefoot Gen (1973- Americans view the Cold War?” The 85), a 10-volume graphic novel that tells standing the legacy of the bomb in Japan following are a number of film clips and the story of the Hiroshima bombing is Gojira (Godzilla, 1954). A silly mon- other popular culture sources that could through a young boy who survived the ster movie at first glance, this Japanese be used as part of this C3-style inquiry deadly explosion.3 Its second volume, film offers a serious commentary on the to potentially get at Dimension 2 (per- “The Day After,” offers the author (and 1954 U.S. BRAVO nuclear test—con- spectives, in particular) and Dimension bomb survivor) Keiji Nakazawa’s sober- ducted a few months before the film 3 (use of evidence) while answering these ing depiction of ground zero. was released—and its contamination of questions. a Japanese fishing boat. It portrays the To set the context for the inquiry, it Popular Culture as Seminar Texts monster as being awakened by hydrogen would be helpful to introduce some sta- These texts are useful because they bomb testing in the Pacific. Therefore, tistics and figures on nuclear weapons help to establish the conflicted views asking students for a “thick” analysis of production. Equally important is to tease of nuclear scientists along with Japan’s the iconic creature might lead to fruit- apart the idea of Mutually Assured collective memory of the bomb expe- ful conversations about the traumas of Destruction (MAD). A clip from the rience and can present a comparative Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the horrors of Hollywood film Fail Safe (1964) may be viewpoint for our students to the com- U.S. incendiary bombings, and nuclear of use, as it suggests how human error, monly taught debate over Truman’s deci- anxieties of the Cold War era. By focus- technological advancement, and com- sion to use the bomb. Teachers could ing on the mythic Godzilla as symbolic munication glitches—all of which did break up their classes into two or more of a particular view on the past, students occur in real life—could have led to a groups for a fishbowl seminar in which will begin to understand the role that fatal nuclear standoff between the United continued on page 151 Social Education 150 THE BOMB AND BEYOND by showing the bizarre hoopla surround- Armageddon soared high as President from page 150 ing the tests as well as stunning images of Ronald Reagan exalted pressure against the actual blasts. The film invokes ethical the Soviet “evil empire.” The larger States and the Soviet Union. Students questions on these experiments, as we political culture of the 1980s can be should be engaged in analyzing the per- learn that some U.S. soldiers suffered explored by prominent texts aimed at spective, evidence, and context of each from serious radiation damage and many adolescent audiences. A book that is source in an attempt to identify war- Marshall Islanders were forced to aban- particularly appropriate for young stu- ranted answers to the inquiry question. don their home islands for the sake of dents is The Butter Battle Book (1984). The satirical comedy Dr. Strangelove or: U.S. strategy. Another scene from a docu- Authored by Dr. Seuss, this pictorial How I Learned to Stop Worrying and mentary is one from The Atomic Café volume chronicles a clash between the Love the Bomb (1964) addresses similar (1982), which presents the detonation of fictional Yooks and Zooks as an arms issues to Fail Safe by depicting national tactical (small-scale) nuclear weapons in race between the two groups escalates leaders as childlike individuals obsessed Nevada. Following the explosion, front- in their efforts to protect the border that with the possession of militarized “gad- line soldiers, who had already received a divides them. The book ends with the gets”—from bombers and bombs, to full dose of the blast in their faces, crawl two sides nervously posing to drop a mine shafts. This film also provides an out from the trenches and march toward powerful egg-shaped weapon to blow opportunity to teach about the concept the growing mushroom cloud. Here, too, up the opponent “into pork and wee of satire and how satire is used as a form one could debate the validity of this mili- beans.” When the Wind Blows (1986), of social criticism. tary exercise. These sources ask students a feature-length British animation, fol- In addition to fictional narratives, to wrestle with the policy decisions made lows an aging couple who build a make- teachers could turn to documentary films, to push forward with atomic weapons shift bomb shelter before facing a Soviet of which portions can be used to engage tests despite the danger to human life— missile attack. This bleak film reflects the students in evidence to examine the com- including one’s own soldiers. revived clash between the two superpow- peting issues and perspectives on nuclear Fast-forward to the 1980s era and ers and critiques Margaret Thatcher’s testing. Radio Bikini (1988), for example, we encounter another treasure trove of hardline policies. revisits Operation Crossroads—the first teaching material. This of course was a A somewhat more light-hearted text U.S. tests conducted in the Pacific atolls— time in which the prospects of nuclear is War Games (1983), a film in which a

Socratic Seminar: Pikadon (1978) ACTIVITY

Preparation for the seminar (for more on seminars see end of the film after the bomb is dropped? Why? Walter Parker, Teaching Democracy: Unity and Diversity in Public Life, 2003) Opening Question: Have students view the film more than once if possible. Provide How does the filmmaker view the dropping of the atomic a warning that while it is an animation it does present a bomb? traumatic and violent event (and would be more appropriate for high school over middle school). Follow-up/Closing Questions: During the film, have them record how the film makes them 1. How are sound effects (e.g., bugs, clock, baby crying) feel, what it makes them think about, and what questions it and music used in the film to get you to consider the raises (they can record this on a graphic organizer). You may Japanese view? Life in Hiroshima? want to stop the film at the 4:00 minute mark before the bomb 2. What other elements of the film foreshadow the disaster drops to have them record their impressions. about to fall on Hiroshima? An entry ticket for the discussion of Pikadon might ask 3. How are the people of Hiroshima portrayed? students to answer the following questions: 4. What is the purpose of the ending sequence with the paper airplane? What might the paper airplane signify? 1. Who is the intended audience for the film? 2. What kind of scenes does the filmmaker focus on in the Assessment: beginning of the film before the bomb is dropped? Why? Write a short reflection on what the experience of the victims of 3. What kind of scenes does the filmmaker focus on at the Hiroshima (as portrayed in Pikadon) means in our lives?

May/June 2018 151 Table 1: Cultural Texts for Teaching Nuclear Issues Title / Year / Media Type Author / Publisher / Source

The Beginning or the End 1947, Mock Documentary (DVD) Director: Norman Taurog • Writers: Robert Considine, Frank Wead

Barefoot Gen 1973–85, (Original Graphic Novel) 2004–2010 Author: Keiji Nakazawa (English Translation) Barefoot Gen: Volume 2 “The Day After” 2004, Graphic Novel Author: Keiji Nakazawa (English Translation)

Pikadon 1978, Anime Film Available on YouTube www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEOZ1sBppWs

Children of the Atomic Bomb, UCLA Website www.aasc.ucla.edu/cab/index.html

Director: Ishirô Honda • Writer: Shigeru Kayama • Production manager: Teruo Maki Gojira (Godzilla) 1954, Film (DVD) Toho Film Co. Ltd. Director: Sidney Lumet • Writer: Walter Bernstein • Producer: Max E. Youngstein Fail-Safe 1964, Film (DVD) Columbia Pictures Corporation Director: Stanley Kubrick • Writers: Stanley Kubrick, Terry Southern, and Peter George • Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Producer: Stanley Kubrick the Bomb 1964, Film (DVD) Columbia Pictures Corporation The American Experience: Radio Bikini (Season 1, Episode 2) Director: Robert Stone • Producer: Robert Stone 1988, Documentary (DVD) Crossroads Productions Directors: Jayne Loader, Kevin Rafferty & Pierce Rafferty The Atomic Café 1982, Documentary Film The Archives Project Productions www.atomictheater.com/civildefensefilms.htm Civil Defense Films Sites (website) www.conelrad.com Director: Nicholas Meyer • Writer: Edward Hume The Day After 1983, TV Movie (DVD) ABC Circle Films Director: John Badham • Writers: Lawrence Lasker, Walter F. Parkes WarGames 1983, Film (DVD) Sherwood Productions Atari, Inc. Missile Command 1980, (Video Game) Available online: www.mindjolt.com/atari-missile-command.html Director: Ralph Bakshi • Writer: Theodor Geisel (Dr. Suess) The Butter Battle Book 1984, (Book) 1989, (TV) (DVD) Turner Network Television Director: Jimmy T. Murakami • Writer: Raymond Briggs When the Wind Blows 1986, Animation (DVD) British Screen Productions Available on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B8R-umE0s0 Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace” Speech Transcript available online: http://voicesofdemocracy.umd.edu/eisenhower-atoms-for- peace-speech-text/ Director: Mark Kirkland • Writers: Matt Groening (creator), Howard Gewirtz The Simpsons “Homer Defined” 1991, Television Show (DVD) 20th Century Fox Television Director: Carl Urbano • Writer: True Boardman John Sutherland Productions A is for Atom 1953, Animation (video) Available online: http://archive.org/details/isforAto1953 Also available on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi-ItrJISQE Director: Thomas Johnson • Play Films Production The Battle of Chernobyl 2006, Documentary (DVD) Available on DVD through this website: http://icarusfilms.com/new2007/batt.html Available on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKKz45ORPQQ Director: James Bridges • Writers: Mike Gray, T.S. Cook, and James Bridges The China Syndrome 1979, Film (DVD) IPC Films

Harvard University’s “Japan 2011, Disaster Archive” http://beta.jdarchive.org/en/home

Director: Edward Bernds • Writers: Bert Lawrence, Elwood Ullman Dig That Uranium, 1956, Film (DVD) Production Company: Allied Artists Pictures Director: Eric Gueret Waste: A Nuclear Nightmare 2009, Documentary (DVD) Production Company: Bonne Pioche Director: Justin Pemberton The Nuclear Comeback 2007, Documentary (DVD) Production Company: Docufactory

Social Education 152 high school computer wizard taps into deliberation model of discussion and the (http://chernobylgallery.com) and Dutch the U.S. government’s defense system and use of sources to inform the deliberation. photographer Robert Knoth’s works. For nearly ignites a global thermonuclear war. One way to do this is to launch a Fukushima, students may engage in pri- The film associates nuclear strategy with deliberation on the pros and cons of mary research at Harvard University’s video games like Missile Command nuclear power by showing video clips. “Japan 2011 Disaster Archive,” an online (1980), in which players shoot defense Teachers could use a framework similar repository of e-mails, tweets, blogs, and missiles to protect their cities against to a Structured Academic Controversy news reports (www.jdarchive.org/en/ ballistic air attacks. This game, currently model, with the students gathering evi- home). available for free online, may be a useful dence for both sides on nuclear power Students will also benefit from look- tool to revisit the 1980s, as it challenges from the different popular texts through- ing at the vast infrastructure beyond the players with standard warheads as well out a unit.5 For starters, instructors could power plant. Documentaries such as as Reagan-era weapons like the Multiple assign pro-nuclear newsreels such as A is Waste: The Nuclear Nightmare (2009), Independent Reentry Vehicle (MIRV), for Atom (1953), a GE-sponsored ani- for example, could expose the daunting which forks off in mid-air to strike mul- mation that introduces an atom-headed task of securely storing radioactive waste tiple targets. The game usually ends with professor, “Dr. Atom,” and boasts of the for generations to come. The Nuclear the total destruction of the cities. It might promises of nuclear energy in the fields Comeback (2007), another provocative be worth examining the reasons why its of medicine, agriculture, and indus- film, introduces an environmentalist who algorithm (or “narrative”) is designed try. Less sanguine texts are available advocates nuclear energy as a “clean” in this particular way and what that tells as well. Episodes from The Simpsons alternative to fossil fuels. Another com- us about how Americans viewed the may come in handy here, such as one mentator argues against nuclear power inevitability of nuclear conflict during entitled “Homer Defined” (1991), in not just because he sees it as a “dirty” this heightened Cold War era. In this which Homer Simpson miraculously source, but also because it could lead to way, portions of these texts can provide saves a nuclear power plant from a core the development of nuclear weapons. If evidence on the popular culture view meltdown by using a counting rhyme one advocates the use of nuclear energy and critique what drove policymakers to decide on a button to push. A more in the United States, shouldn’t he or she during the Cold War era nuclear arms serious example is The China Syndrome support other countries’ efforts to build race while also helping develop students’ (1979). Coincidentally released 12 days nuclear plants? If so, what should one media literacy. before the Three Mile Island crisis make of the possible military threat that began, this suspenseful drama follows it can yield? The answers may point to Deliberating Nuclear Power a female journalist who tries to expose the fact that nuclear power and weapons The bombings of Japan and the nuclear the cover-up of a nuclear accident in are inseparable. For this reason, too, the arms race are “spectacular” develop- Southern California. These texts can future of atomic energy is also worthy of ments that tend to occupy the bulk of be used to provide evidence for delib- deliberation and an attempt to gain some our attention. However, we should erations on the promises and pitfalls of kind of consensus among students. also encourage students to probe into nuclear energy in relation to politics, issues concerning nuclear power. Since business, health, and the environment. Conclusion President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s For government or environmental William Faulkner once famously wrote: famous “Atoms for Peace” speech (1953), studies courses, more recent cases could “The past isn’t dead. It isn’t even past.” the United States and the world have be used to deliberate the potential versus This adage applies to nuclear issues. grown increasingly dependent on atomic the risks of nuclear power and the threat Even though the bombing of Hiroshima energy. As evidence, some 100 nuclear of nuclear waste. Cases from the USSR and Nagasaki took place some 70 years reactors exist in the United States and and Japan could be used to answer the ago, we continued to grapple with the over 440 currently operate across the question: Do the costs of nuclear power— effects of the two mushroom clouds to globe. While touted as a “clean” and economic, environmental, and human— this day. In the meantime, the Cold War “promising” power source, nuclear energy outweigh the benefits? Evidence can triggered the development of new issues, can yield serious damage on the welfare be gained from viewing documentaries namely the nuclear arms race and the of citizens as well as the surrounding that explore different dimensions of the rise of nuclear power. Throughout the environment. It can also exacerbate the disaster, such as The Battle for Chernobyl years after the Soviet collapse, atomic threat of terrorism. For such reasons, (2006), Forbidden Ground, Fukushima weapons continue to wield significant teachers should not avoid discussing (2011), and A2-B-C (2013), just to name influence in our world, while govern- nuclear power in the classroom. Students a few. Online archives may prove as use- ments and industries increasingly rely will benefit from a chance to develop ful. For Chernobyl, images are available on nuclear energy to fulfill their political their opinions on this vital issue using a if one looks into the Chernobyl Gallery and economic objectives.

May/June 2018 153 York: Routledge, 2017), 247–274; Walter Parker, Nuclear issues demand greater atten- Teaching Democracy: Unity and Diversity in Public LESSONS ON THE LAW from page 13 1 tion in the classroom. We need to inspire Life (New York: Teachers College Press, 2003), students to explore diverse questions and 125–149. only emerged because of their ability 3. Another graphic novel to use to get at the perspec- problems so as to understand the past tives of the scientists in the Manhattan project is to overcome their own very profound and address issues in the present. Using Jonathan Fetter-Vorm’s Trinity: A Graphic History differences. If Constitute can encourage of the First Atomic Bomb (Macmillan, 2012), which seminars, inquiry, and deliberation mod- introduces the views of scientists such as J. Robert deliberation in the same spirit among els, students can engage with a wide array Oppenheimer and Leo Szilard, and provides an students, we will consider it a great suc- explanation of the science used to create the world’s of cultural texts to enhance their skills first fission bombs. cess. and understandings. Engaging students 4. Jeremy Stoddard, “Teaching Thoughtfully with and in them actively and thoughtfully will About Film,” Social Education 78, no. 5 (2014), Notes enrich our understanding of the vast and 220–224. 1. Twenty-seven constitutions around the world come 5. Larson and Keiper; Parker. up in a key word search on constituteproject.org for complex nuclear world. “counter corruption commission”; ninety-one constitutions come up with a search for “establish- ment of constitutional court”; eighty constitutions Notes have ombudsmen, according to a search on 1. National Council for the Social Studies, The College, constituteproject.org. Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Hiroshi Kitamura is a Professor in the 2. One hundred and fifty-six constitutions refer to Studies State Standards: Guidance for Enhancing Department of History at William & Mary in Wil- protection of the environment. the Rigor of K–12 Civics, Economics, Geography, liamsburg, Virginia. He can be reached at hxkita@ and History (Silver Spring, Md.: NCSS), www. 3. “Equality regardless of gender” appears in 166 socialstudies.org/system/files/c3/C3-Framework-for- wm.edu. Jeremy Stoddard is a Professor in the constitutions; “equality for persons with disabilities” Social-Studies.pdf Department of Curriculum & Instruction at Wil- appears in 42 constitutions; “equality regardless of age” is addressed in 27 constitutions. 2. See Bruce Larson, Instructional Strategies for liam & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. He can be Middle and High School Social Studies: Methods, reached at [email protected]. 4. Ecuador, 2008 (rev. 2015), www.constituteproject. Assessment, and Classroom Management (New org/constitution/Ecuador_2015?lang=en#589. 5. Egypt, 2014, www.constituteproject.org/constitution/ Egypt_2014?lang=en#218. 6. China (People’s Republic of), 1982 (rev. 2004), www.constituteproject.org/constitution/ China_2004?lang=en#1. 7. Bolivia (Plurinational State of), 2009, www. constituteproject.org/constitution/Bolivia_2009#89. 8. Matt Largey, “He Got a Bad Grade. So, He Got the Constitution Amended. Now He’s Getting the Credit He Deserves,” KUT 90.5, Austin’s NPR The Social Studies Professional e-newsletter (March 21, 2017) http://kut.org/post/he-got-bad- grade-so-he-got-constitution-amended-now-hes- now arrives in your inbox two times a month! getting-credit-he-deserves. 9. Ecuador, 2008 (rev. 2015), www.constituteproject. org/constitution/Ecuador_2015?lang=en#589. That’s double the updates on social studies content you can use 10. Media is addressed in 102 constitutions. in your classroom and career. Staying current is also easier with TSSP’s new mobile-friendly design for smartphone or tablet. Lessons on the Law is a contribution of the American Bar Association, through its Division Share your social studies professional news with us! If you for Public Education. The mission of the Division is to promote public understanding of law and its have recently experienced an achievement, job promotion, role in society. The content in this article does or have content ideas not necessarily represent the official policies of the American Bar Association, its Board of to share with your Governors, or the ABA Standing Committee on colleagues, please Public Education. email us at tssp@ncss. org. Your achievement may be highlighted in an Jessie Baugher is the Project Manager for the Comparative Constitutions Project; Co-Director upcoming edition! Zachary Elkins is an Associate Professor in the Department of Government, University of Texas at Austin; Co-Director Tom Ginsburg is the Leo Spitz Professor of International Law, University of Chicago Law School and a Research Professor at the American Bar Foundation.

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