Asian Studies

This course examines some of the main themes and issues of Korean history and cultures since the late 1980s. We often use literature and media, including short stories, feature films, documentaries, TV, and popular music, as a vehicle for understanding contemporary Korean history, culture, and society. Among the major issues we are exploring are democratization, the legacy of national division, new generation, culture industries and hallyu, cinematic re-writing of history, IMF crisis and neoliberal culture, family and gender, narratives of women, multiculturalism, and hallyu in the digital, multi-platform era. Topics include Postwar Development of South Korea, Democratization, Minjung and Democratization Movement and New Wave Cinema, New Generation and Individualism, Sunshine Policy, The Development of Culture Industries and the Korean Wave, Discourses on the Korean Wave, Asian Financial Crisis and Its Impact on Korean Society Family and Gender Relations, Gender and Sexuality in Popular Culture, Narratives of Women, Re-writing Colonial History in Film, Multiculturalism, and Hallyu 2.0 and the Korean Wave in a Digital, Multiplatform Era.

This course examines multi-disciplinary perspectives to examine significant and complex issues of Northeast Asia in the past and present. It aims to help students understand how the historical legacy of Northeast Asia is reflected in today’s states and societies of these regions, and how political, economic, social, and cultural characteristics of Northeast Asia continue to evolve in a comprehensive way.

This course examines Korean society and culture through Korean Popular Culture in relation to media and cultural studies scholarship and its socio-cultural contexts. In particular, we will examine the meaning of media and culture and its social changes in contemporary Korea through exploring various emerging trends and cultural studies as methodological tool within modern and contemporary Korean issues. It covers cultural representation, meaning of hegemony, cultural industry/economy and globalism of media, post colonialism, audience of mass media and fandom culture, gender and queer issues, and then further focus on the specific context of Korean popular culture including the pivotal notions of colonial modernity, Japanese imperialism, cultural hegemony in colonial Korea, meaning of Americanization, issues of popular memory and decolonization discourses, nationalism and globalization and Korean Wave, body/gender/sexuality / LGBTQ issue in Korean Media and Popular culture, cyber culture and internet memes, transnationalism and diaspora issues and its aftermath. We actively discuss various audio-visual artifacts including Korean news, music video, films, TV dramas, and pop music in each class in order to understand better the texts and contexts within the historical and sociocultural paradigm of recent sociology, media/communication studies scholarship.

This course examines Chinese film history and criticism via an examination of selected films directed by several of Greater China’s most skilled directors. 

This course examines the history of East Asian civilization from earliest times to 1600, with emphasis on China and Japan, including social, intellectual, and economic developments as well as political history.

This course introduces students to various aspects of the socioeconomic, cultural, and political transformations that Japan has undergone since the end of the AsiaPacific War. It explores the historical trajectories of postwar Japan within the broader context of its transition from an imperial power to a post-imperial nation, as well as its involvement in the regional and global Cold War. Major topics to be discussed include: the Allied Occupation of Japan, political developments and social activism, “high-speed growth” and its shadows, national and transnational memory politics related to the Asia-Pacific War, and the impact and repercussions of “March 11.” While the primary focus of this course is on post-1945 Japan, we will examine how the remnants and aftermath of the Japanese Empire have influenced the complexities of the postwar period. In doing so, this course also considers the interactions between postwar Japan and other Asian countries, providing insights into Japan’s evolving role in East Asia. 

This course is an introduction to the pre-modern history of East Asia up until the early 1800s, specifically focusing on China and its relations with Korea. In the first half of the semester, the course covers the political and cultural development that initially emerged in China proper and later spread to its neighbors, shaping the common bonds that bring East Asia together as a whole. In the second half of the semester, the course examines important transnational events and connections, most notably wars and commerce, with an emphasis on the 17th and 18th centuries when the social conditions of modern East Asia were shaped. 

This is a special studies course involving an internship with a corporate, public, governmental, or private organization, arranged with the Study Center Director or Liaison Officer. Specific internships vary each term and are described on a special study project form for each student. A substantial paper or series of reports is required. Units vary depending on the contact hours and method of assessment. The internship may be taken during one or more terms but the units cannot exceed a total of 12.0 for the year.

This course examines the history and present-day attributes of the China in the macro-region of Northeast Asia. This approach emphasizes the importance of conceptualizing China as more than just a national entity and looking beyond the traits of major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou to understand what and who is Chinese. This course highlights patterns and exceptions in relations on various levels, including state-to-state and individual-to-individual, between China and other states and societies of Northeast Asia. Students will develop their understanding of China’s connections to its neighbors and how political, economic, and social interaction among disparate groups shapes the region of Northeast Asia.

This course examines the rise of China and its implications for regional and global security. It critically examines the theory and practice of China's international relations, as well as explores the ways in which China's historical legacy has shaped its worldview and foreign policy. Drawing on key concepts of power, legitimacy, national identity and international status, the course examines China's evolving global role, with a particular emphasis on key relationships and security challenges in the Asia-Pacific.