CSP 4 The Game of Go and Society

The course will introduce students to the cultures around the game of Go (Japanese: Igo; Chinese: Weiqi; Korean: Baduk)—an ancient strategy board game played in East Asia for more than 2,000 years. Currently, there are more than 40 million Go players in the world. We will use the game as a window to looking to a variety of topics, including East Asian arts and cultures, international relations, sports and gender, artificial intelligence, etc. We will survey broadly the literature, anime, films, and documentaries related to Go. The other essential part of the course is to learn to play the game. The game of Go is both intellectually rigorous and creative. We will devote plenty of time in game practices and reviews. The course will culminate in a class tournament.