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Course Description & Objectives: The aim of this course is to provide students with a
basic knowledge and understanding of the history of East Asia. We will do so by examining
cultural, socio-economic, and political foundations of East Asian states. Students will come to
understand and appreciate the fact that there are both similarities and differences between
China, Japan, and Korea, stemming from long historical interactions between the peoples
within the region. By the end of the course, students will have enough knowledge of East Asia
to be able to objectively analyze why and how history is influential in contemporary intraregional interactions and in East Asian relations with the rest of the world.
Every week, classes will consist of lectures in the first half, while the latter half will focus on
in-class discussions. Pre-modern and modern history of East Asia will be covered equally, and
students will also get valuable insights from scheduled guest lectures.
IMPORTANT FACT TO CONSIDER BEFORE SIGNING UP: Students taking the course must
understand prior to signing up that they will be solely evaluated based on their understanding
of the course materials (particularly the textbook reading) and NOT necessarily based on
their personal familiarity with the region, or their background knowledge of East Asian
history from a particular national viewpoint. Moreover, although the course is titled East
Asian Culture, the classes will be geared toward providing a broad socio-political and
economic historical overview of the region from ancient to modern times, and thus it is not
for students primarily interested in contemporary popular culture of East Asia.
Text: Holcombe, Charles. A History of East Asia: From the Origins of Civilization to the
Twenty-first Century, Cambridge University Press, 2010. (NOTE THAT THE TEXTBOOK
WHICH HAS BEEN IN USE FOR THIS COURSE UNTIL WINTER 2012 WILL NO LONGER BE
ADOPTED FROM THIS SEMESTER)
Course Requirements: Students will be expected to attend all classes, participate in inclass discussions, complete the quiz,and sit for both term tests.
Grading:
Attendance & Participation
Short Quiz (In-class: Week 5)
Term Test 1 (In-class: Week 7)
Term Test 2 (In-class: Week 12)
15%
15%
35%
35%
S YLLAB U S
WEEK 1:
Introduction: What is East Asia?
Reading: Holcombe, Introduction
WEEK 2:
The Origins & the Formative Era of Civilization in East Asia
Reading: Holcombe, Chs.1,2
WEEK 3:
The Age of Cosmopolitanism
Reading: Holcombe, Ch.3
WEEK 4:
The Creation of a Community: China, Korea, and Japan
Reading: Holcombe, Ch.4
WEEK 5:
First Half of the Class: Short Quiz
Mature Independent Trajectories
Reading: Holcombe, Ch.5
WEEK 6:
Early Modern East Asia
Reading: Holcombe, Ch.6
WEEK 7:
Term Test 1
WEEK 8:
WEEK 9:
The Age of Westernization & the Dark Alley
Reading: Holcombe, Chs.8,9
WEEK 10:
WEEK 11:
East Asia since 1945 (2) & Concluding Discussions: Legacy of history on intra-regional interactions
in contemporary East Asia
Reading: Same as WEEK 10
WEEK 12:
Term Test 2