HIST 131 - Modern East Asia

This course is an introduction to East Asian history from 1600 to the present. It surveys the integrated developments of China, Japan, and Korea from imperial states to modern nations. Thematically, the course covers changes in political regimes, the search for modernity, wars, imperialism and colonialism, nationalism and socialism, and socio-economic transformations. Attention is also given to everyday experiences, gender relations, philosophies and religions, and popular cultures. Throughout the course, we will discuss how these countries each differentiated themselves from the premodern East Asian world order according to their different yet overlapping experiences of empire, colonization, and semi-colonization. We will then trace how these new identities have been subsequently reformulated within the global framework of the Cold War, specifically through these countries’ differing experiences of communism, the rise of American hegemony, and even national partition.

Credits 4

Compass Attributes
Global Honors, Humanities