State and Society in East Asia

Catalog description

By focusing on both China and Japan during the medieval and Early Modern periods of world history, this course will require students to learn about the existence and subsistence of peasants and commoners during the period known as the “Little Ice Age.” It also focuses on some of the critical issues facing ruling elites during this same period; namely how to govern and provision the state and its subjects, as well as the role of ritual and the function of military life.