Class Schedule for Spring 2023

What is Asia? What makes Asia different from the West? What makes the different countries of Asia so different from each other, even when they seem to have so much in common? This course is a critical introduction to Asia, and to the cultures, countries and histories of Asia. During the first half of the term we will explore the history and formation of Asia’s shared cultural matrix. In the second half we will explore some of the ways that Asia’s contemporary national cultures and identities were formed, how they are being transformed by globalization and new transnational flows since the 1990s, and how people in Asia are understanding and talking about the new importance of Asia in the world. We will look at themes such as nature, gender, religion, philosophy, traditions, modernization, nationalism, globalization, food and popular culture.

We will meet in 220 Chapman during the regularly scheduled class times, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 2:00-3:20 p.m. There will be lectures and in-class activities, and time for open discussion and questions. In addition, the GE and I will host weekly office hours, simultaneously in-person and on Zoom (you can use either to drop in).

Our Canvas site is set up with a module for each week of the term. Start with the Instructions page at the top of each module for an overview of the week. It will tell you what topics we will be learning about, and include prompts guiding you toward what you should be learning from each reading (including reading questions and lists of key terms and concepts). You will also see links to all of the assigned materials you should study and the assignments you should do, in the order you should do them.

This course satisfies the Arts and Letters (Critical Thinking, Written Communication) requirement for Core Education Areas of Inquiry. It also fulfills the Global Perspectives category of the Cultural Literacy Core Education requirement. This course fulfills the core course requirement for Asian Studies majors and minors; Regional and Human requirements for Geography majors; and Global Context requirement for Business Administration and Accounting majors. There are no prerequisites for this course.