Asia in World History

Catalog description

Asia as the largest continent of the world comprises of 30 percent of world's land surface and 60 percent of the world's population. But what are the parameters for understanding Asia as a unified, identifiable place? Was there ever an Asian identity in history? Is this identity cultural, economic, political or a mix of all three? Since, all identities are formed in relation to other identities, was an Asian identity formed in reaction to other forms of existing identities in the world? Taking the period between 500 CE and 1950CE as the point of reference, this course exams the above questions in reaching an understanding of what are the various ways and the various historical moments in which we can think of Asia as a shared space amongst an extremely diverse population. Moreover, the course will discuss whether the historical processes that went into the creation of Asian identities were world historical in nature, or in other words, whether these processes had any effect in shaping the histories of societies both within Asia and outside of Asia. This course will aim at developing skills to evaluate to what extent we are 'Asian,' 'global' or otherwise and provide a foundational knowledge to interact with people and institutions within Asia and then the world. 001236