Asian Studies

This course is designed to introduce and analyze the political and economic developments in East Asian countries and areas in order to help students better understand the rise of East Asia and its impact on the world. The course will begin with the analysis of the emergence of East Asia, exploring the so-called East Asian political and economic development model, its strengths and shortcomings. Then we will analyze the political developments and their characteristics of the main East Asian countries and areas, focusing on China, Japan, and Korea. Finally we will discuss the regional cooperation and its future.

This course offers a multidisciplinary approach to the study of the politics, economics, and foreign policy of major nations in East Asia. It explores how their prewar historical legacies continue to affect East Asian foreign relations. The course also analyzes the ways in which China, Japan, the two Koreas and Russia have attempted to meet the challenges of a globalized world economy and politics as well as the challenges of past history and security threats. The course also attaches great importance to the study of U.S. relations with these major countries in East Asia.

Images are as important as ideas in defining and transmitting cultural patterns, and neither can be understood without exploring the other. This course looks into the core of Japanese culture to understand the ideas that have been used to define Japanese culture and the connections these ideas have with images. Topics include Japanese aesthetic ideals, ethical paradigms, festivals, and visual arts. 

A general survey of the historical development of various aspects of Korean civilization, including politics, society and economy, thought and religion, and the arts. Half of the course covers the main themes in Korean history and their historical interpretations, from prehistoric times to the modern period. It also pays special attention to social systems, religion and culture, as well as the changing geopolitics of the region. The discussions take a comparative approach by examining contemporaneous China, Japan, and northeast Asia, identifying similarities and differences between the regions. Through this course, students have a better understanding of the challenges Korea faced in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and the historical processes through which Korea, China, and Japan developed. 

This course explores archaeological cultural heritage in East and Southeast Asia and how material remains of past human behavior in this broad region play an active role in shaping human perceptions of self and others in the present day. Archaeological cultural heritage as an academic field and as a profession is rapidly evolving in East and Southeast Asia, with governmental policy making, political motivations such as nation-building and nationalistic agendas, globalization, economic expansion and development, and many other factors shaping choices for how and why archaeological sites, objects, architecture, and landscapes are preserved, protected, and presented. This course focuses on these political roles of archaeological cultural heritage and examines them in conceptual and theoretical terms using a necessarily anthropological, interdisciplinary approach with models and methods from archaeology, critical museology, material cultural theory, postcolonial theory, and memory studies, among others. Case studies from around East and Southeast Asia, including Taiwan, mainland China, Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, and Malaysia serve to provide insight into the relationship between archaeological heritage and nationalism to explore such related issues as the domination of Eurocentrism in heritage practice and theory (and see new alternatives arising); heritage's role in identity and ideology; contested ownership; commodification and value; memorialization and "dark heritage" (e.g., post-conflict or post-trauma sites); indigenous and minority rights and stakeholding; the impact of looting and the illicit antiquities trade; and heritage tourism.

This course outlines the East Asian regional development in terms of the political economy, cultural, demographic, and social aspects. Each week focuses on one of the aforementioned aspects. Relevant readings are assigned for class discussion and students are required to actively participate in the discussion. 

This course examines Korean culture and its current societal issues. It looks at Korea’s path to its recent success and developments from the historical, socioeconomic, and cultural perspectives. Topics covered include the top-down economic development until the 1980s, transfer from authoritarian to democratic governments, post-industrial innovative strategies including technology, entertainment, and tourism, and continuing geopolitical tensions with North Korea and neighboring superpowers.

This course introduces the field of history, focusing on East, Southeast, and South Asia. Topics covered include Asia's interaction with the West, the various forms of nationalism, and the impact of globalization.