History

This course employs two perspectives to understand the histories of modern Japan in the context of East Asia and globalization from the early 20th century to the present. It examines how modern boundaries, identities, and cultures are shaped in a rapidly emerging modern world order. The course also looks at how individuals respond to and are shaped by the variety of modernity(ies).

This course explores contemporary Korean history at the introductory level. After its liberation from Japan in 1945, Korea sought to build a new modern state, but suffered from division and the Korean War. North and South Korea were at odds with each other even as they sought reunification, and South Korea sought economic growth and modernization but struggled with democratization. This course analyzes the historical development of a post-colonial underdeveloped country that made South Korea what it is today. 

This course deepens understanding of Singapore history through an examination of different representations of history: academic scholarship, social memory and oral history, heritage. Each section incorporates fundamental concepts and debates behind the production of history, together with the application of these ideas to specific Singapore case studies. At the end of the course, students will be able to critically analyze Singapore history as a whole in terms of historiography and heritage studies, whilst gaining familiarity with the treatment of key issues in Singapore's past.

This course traces certain aspects of the postwar Japan, focusing on the planning and reconstruction of cities damaged during the Second World War in comparison with Great Britain. 

This course examines migration to New Zealand from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales between 1800 and 1945, situating it within the broader context of British and Irish migration and New Zealand’s role in the Age of Mass Migration. It covers factors in Britain and Ireland that encouraged emigration, conditions in New Zealand that attracted immigrants, and the migration and settler experiences of specific groups.

This seminar explores China's place within the larger maritime world, beginning with the voyages of Ming dynasty eunuch Zheng He and culminating in the South China Sea dispute. The course focuses partly on states and societies that claimed China’s coastal regions and the oceanic spaces surrounding it, and partly on the networks, institutions, and economies linking China to a wider maritime sphere. Readings will be drawn from both primary sources and scholarship on topics such as the Zheng organization on Taiwan, steamships, overseas migration, fishing, smuggling, and reform and opening in the late 20th century.

This course, via an emphasis on analytical thinking rather than memorization, introduces the major developments in ancient Chinese history from early human settlements to the fall of the Han dynasty (ca. 2000 BCE–220 CE). We explore the rise of early states, the growth of bronze-age cultures, the formation of imperial government, and the spread of classical philosophies.  

The course also examines the role of nomadic societies, especially the Xiongnu and their early predecessors, in shaping the political and cultural landscape of early China. 

 Students learn to analyze both archaeological evidence and historical texts to better understand how ancient Chinese and steppe civilizations interacted and co-evolved.  

Students are encouraged to engage critically with historical sources and debates, and to focus on interpretation, context, and historical reasoning rather than factual recall. The goal is to understand the formation and structure of ancient Chinese civilization. Students gain a comprehensive understanding of the political, social, and ideological development of ancient China from the Neolithic period to the Han empire. Emphasis is placed on the formation of centralized states, classical philosophical traditions, and the institutional foundations of early empires. Students also analyze interactions between sedentary and nomadic societies. Through the case of the Xiongnu and their predecessors, students explore the dynamics between the Chinese states and the steppe world. The course emphasizes frontier politics, military confrontation, cultural exchange, and the construction of regional order in early East Asia. 

This course explores the common ground between the discipline of history and art history by considering images as historical evidence, exploring both Western and Asian art from 5th century BC to the 20th century. Students acquire the conceptual tools to understand the meaning of images and read visual narratives as historical texts. Topics include art and democracy; art and empire; art and world religions; art and the modern world; art and absolutism; art and Imperialism; art and industrialization; art and dictatorship; and art and consumer society. 

This course aims to trace certain aspects of postwar Japan. It focuses on the quest for urban policy to tackle urban problems after World War II, particularly in the 1960s, an aspect of the underside of rapid economic growth.

This course explores cultural, economic, political, intellectual and religious movements in continental Europe from an urban perspective. Students examine patterns and ideas which have shaped the European cultural and historical inheritance that remain relevant today. Course topics include the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Church, the Monarchies, and Europe in the 1700s.