History

This course introduces the history of medicine in Western society from the Ancient Greeks to the present. It examines some of the different ways that doctors have thought about health and illness over the past two and a half thousand years and raises questions about the historical origins of modern scientific medicine. The course introduces the changing role of experts in society, historical shifts in concepts of the body and of disease, and the changing understanding and impact of epidemics from antiquity to the present day.

The brutal struggle between free will of humanity and historical force has long been a controversial and intriguing subject in the discussions of literature. The point lies not in which side wins eventually, but in exploring what happens in the process of struggle. Viewed from the perspective of literary development, it is quite clear that each different literary movement in postwar Taiwan provides its own unique understanding of the relationship between man and history, between social agency and historical transformation, and ultimately between history and fiction. This course is divided into four parts each dealing with specific historical issues or events. The first deals with how historical figures, such as Song Qingling and Chen Yi, are treaed in fiction. The second part looks at history and politics. The third part discusses how past experiences have been represented from different ideological points of view by different writers. Finally, the course takes a close look at how writers explain the failure (or success) of certain social movements after they have long perished. In short, all the four parts try to explore the complicated interactions among history, human experience, and literary mind.

This course explores the transformations of East-Central Europe after the fall of state socialism in 1989. Rather than providing a simple transition story of marketization and democratization, the course looks at multiple and ambiguous paths taken, understanding the history of neoliberalism and postsocialist transformation as global, intertwined phenomena. From the dominance of the markets and persisting inequalities to the rise of illiberal politics, racism, and nationalist tensions, these transformations have shaped the whole of Europe and the world. The course examines several issues of contemporary East-Central Europe and the world, including the region's position towards the West, the legacy of Communism, memory and decolonization, the formation of capitalism and its impacts, human rights, the links between nation and race, and the fate of liberal democracies.

From their very beginnings, cinema and then television have taken hold of French history. These productions for both the small and the big screen are the fruit of artistic and aesthetic choices, as well as the bearers of a certain historical perception. Sometimes taking a stand in debates about history and memory, they reflect the past as much as the context in which they were made. This course demonstrates how the history of France has been perceived in works of fiction broadcast on the big and small screens. It also looks at how these works contribute to social and memorial issues.

This course places modern Chinese history within the evolution of world history as well as the evolution of world history within modern Chinese history. The course discusses: the world capitalist system and its problems; the establishment of modern states; the characteristics of nationalism; the structure of agricultural society; the mentality of intellectuals; the problems of modernization and modernity; the modernization of China and Japan from a broadened historical perspective, and international hegemony.  Topics of discussion and research also include the influence of the national bourgeoisie; the fragility of the national bourgeoisie; the Chinese communist revolution; the tragic struggle between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and the particularity of the labor movement.

The course covers the history of Europe from the late 18th century through to 1991 – from the French Revolution to the fall of the Soviet Union. Attention is given to social, cultural, economic, and political history, and the way these components have interacted. Lectures and seminars approach European history from a variety of angles. In chronological terms, the course highlights key moments in European history (wars, revolutions) that had continent-side repercussions. In geographical terms, it explores the uses, as well as the limits, of dividing European history into histories of discrete nations and states. In thematic terms, it looks at the formation and evolution of various collective actors—religious communities, classes, sexes, professions, generations - and consider how these groups have shaped and been shaped by historical change.

This course examines the lives of women in the Roman period. Topics include: traditional roles of women in Roman culture; representations of Roman women in archaeological and iconographic sources; historical roots of conceptions and perceptions of the feminine in the contemporary world.