This course will discuss the governments and politics of Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and North Korea, with an emphasis on China and Japan. It is designed to provide students with an introductory understanding of governments, politics, economic development, political history and political culture of the above Asian regions in a comparative perspective.
This course is an introduction to the history and development of East Asia, primarily China and Japan. The time frame to be covered ranges from earliest times to approximately 1600 AD. The main focus of the course will be on the history and culture of China and Japan. The East Asian cultural realm was informed by certain common themes such as the Confucian ethical and governmental system and Buddhist religion, which will be examined in detail, but each of these national systems also developed independent and unique characteristics such as Daoism in China and Shinto in Japan, or the scholar of China and the samurai of Japan.
This course is designed to introduce students to major events and themes in East Asian history and culture since the seventeenth century, with a focus on China and Japan. No background knowledge is assumed. The course will be taught with a comparative perspective. During this period, the East Asian region experienced a number of political and social upheavals. The Chinese Empire, which had dominated much of East Asia for many centuries, weakened under the strain of internal revolt and pressure from Western powers. The Japanese government on the other hand, laid the foundations for an unprecedented empire of its own, which very quickly posed a challenge to the Western powers that claimed the right to involve themselves in East Asian affairs. The defeat of Japan in 1945 did not, however, lead to political stability in East Asia: Communist revolutionaries achieved victory in China and American occupation forces attempted to reform Japan's political and economic institutions. This course will survey these developments, including basic social structures, political patterns, imperialism, nationalism, reforms and revolutions, economic growth, and cultural changes. The course will also explore interstate relations in East Asia and the reasons for the recent dynamism of East Asia.
This course is designed as an introduction to the history of Modern China. The course will examine important social, political, economic, and cultural events from the reign of the first Qing emperor to that of the current Chinese communist government. No prior knowledge of Chinese history is assumed. The course format will be lectures interspersed with occasional brief in-class discussions.
This course is designed to familiarize students with an historical and theoretical approach to International Communication, with a focus on Asia. We will cover the issues that normally are considered under that rubric, including international information flows, global media systems, and the role of culture and communication in globalization. We will look in depth at a few case studies of international communication issues in an attempt to better understand the way in which global media and international communication shape global politics.