HIST 141 East Asian Survey

A survey of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean societies from the emergence of states to the present. Several themes explored include: the development of strong, centralized states; the emergence of a shared elite culture; the spread of popular religions; the continuing interaction between East Asian and other societies; contrasting roads taken by each society in order to meet the challenges of modernity; conflicts over imperialism, nationalism, and revolution; cultural debates over gender and generational issues. Finally, a review of the post-WWII era: opposing alignments in the Cold War; socialist state building and experimentations; military rule; democracy; mass culture; successive economic "miracles," and China's re-emergence as a global power.