International Culture in East Asia

Catalog description

Study of the role of culture in East Asian regional and East-West international relations. ASIA 400 (PL SC 486/HIST 489) International Culture in East Asia (3) (IL)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. This course will examine the place of culture in international history through a comparative look at the role of cultural circulation and exchange in relations among China, Korea, and Japan (and between East Asia and the West) from the propagation of Buddhism in the first century A.D. to present-day circulation of popular music, movies, and comics. We will explore the international politics of culture and the politics of international culture, considering questions of what constitutes culture, whether it is ever entirely separate from politics, and how that separation has evolved over time. These larger themes of the course will be tackled by following the historical movement of concrete objects and people throughout the region. This is a course in international history, but it also seeks to explore aspects of international relations. The goals of the class are not only to gain an understanding of the uses and impact of culture in international relations, but also to develop the skill of building such an understanding through primary and secondary sources, both written and visual. Students in this class will think critically about assigned texts to develop their own interpretations of their meanings. Through readings, discussions, presentations, and the final project, students will enhance their ability to think critically and to express their ideas clearly in both speech and writing. Class work includes some lecture but emphasizes guided discussions, group work, writing exercises, and some student presentations. This participatory approach is intended to deepen students' appreciation of the assigned readings, to help them understand value systems that may differ from those predominant in western cultures, and to assist students in developing both analytic and expressive abilities.