No single course can adequately address the richness and complexity of the cultures and societies of East Asia. However, this course will introduce students to important practices and concepts from a broadly humanistic perspective and offer a peek into what it might have been like to actually live in East Asia before widespread globalization. In order to do this, we will examine elements of the social, political, philosophical, artistic, and economic traditions that shaped both elite and popular culture in East Asia from the 1600s to the early 1800s.
Our sources will include cultural artifacts (e.g., poems, paintings, clothing, etc.) from this period, writings by East Asians on their own and their neighboring societies, observations on East Asia by contemporary outsiders, and secondary sources by modern scholars who explore particularly challenging topics in depth. By analyzing both the forging of shared beliefs and the development of distinct identities in this critical period, we can better understand the ties between historical and contemporary East Asia, as well as between East Asia and the rest of the world.
Though the primary goal of the course is to teach students about a time and place quite removed from our own, the course is also designed to strengthen each student’s ability to comprehend and critique his or her own culture. As a foundation for broader study at the university level, we will place significant emphasis on analytical skills, class participation, research methods, and writing. Since many aspects of East Asian culture will fall outside of the course curriculum, students will be expected to learn the critical skills of asking important and interesting questions and then figuring out how to produce informative and satisfying answers.
Course Credit Exclusion: None. Prior to Fall 2009: AS/HUMA 1400 9.0
