Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Fall 2025 - HIST 464 D100

Problems in Modern Asian History (4)

Homes and Diasporas in Mod. Asia

Class Number: 3930

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Thu, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

    45 units including nine units of lower division history.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Concepts and methodology of modern Asian history. Selected themes may include revolution, inequality, mass violence, ideology, imperialism, leadership, and the Cold War. Content may vary from offering to offering; see course outline for further information. HIST 464 may be repeated for credit only when a different topic is taught.

COURSE DETAILS:

Homes and Diasporas in Modern Asia

What is Asia? A continent? An idea? A collection of countries? Some people have referred to the Middle East as “West Asia.” Why might this make sense?

In this course, we will think about Asia as a historically interconnected, dynamic space by looking at mobile diasporas. A classic understanding of diaspora points to one, central home as the place of origin and potential return. But does home need to be located in a single place? How does Asia look differently from the perspective of diasporas and their homes? Can diasporic connections be politicized?

To explore these questions, we start by reading Amitav Ghosh’s historical fiction In An Antique Land, which exposes us to the fascinating 12th-century world traveled by a North African Jewish merchant, juxtaposed with the post-Cold War moment. We will read cases closer to the present: ranging from Cantonese Chinese diasporas across the Pacific, twentieth-century Jewish and Palestinian diasporas, to the twenty-first-century Korean Chinese caretakers between northeastern China and South Korea. Through them, we will look at the ideas of homes, diasporas, the state, and Asia in new ways. Other concepts discussed in the course will highlight the contradictory sides of mobility: trade, labor, wars and exiles, and nation-state and citizenship.

Students will have an opportunity to interview an emigrant or a child of an emigrant to narrate their stories in interaction with historical and structural forces.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

  • Define and critique “Asia” as a space and a concept, from the perspectives of historically mobile communities
  • Extrapolate key concepts of diasporas and homes, and related concepts (state, kinship, place/geography, memory, trade, labor) by reading a set of interdisciplinary texts in history, anthropology, literary studies, and political science
  • Develop abilities to analytically situate an individual’s migratory experiences in broader historical contexts using primary sources and oral histories
  • Design a research or creative project by applying concepts of diasporas and homes, and methods of primary source analysis or oral histories (or a combination)
  • Effectively present the analysis and research in written and oral forms
  • Reflect on the relationships between past and present subjects and historical and structural forces to develop a sense of empathy within and beyond one’s immediate surroundings

Grading

  • Short informal in-class reflections 10%
  • In-class group writing and drawing exercises 15%
  • Primary source analysis (500-700 words) 13%
  • Oral history project: (TCPS2 5%, Proposal 5%, Essay of approximately 2,000 words: 20%) 30%
  • Final research or creative project proposal on inter-Asian mobility (Approximately 2,000 words excluding bibliography) 20%
  • Oral Presentation 12%

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Amitav Ghosh, In An Antique Land: History in the Guise of a Traveler’s Tale (To purchase)

Rochelle Davis, Palestinian Village Histories: Geographies of Displacement (2011, Stanford University Press) – Online Copy Available via SFU Library

Elizabeth Sinn, Pacific Crossings: California Gold, Chinese Migration, and the Making of Hong Kong (2012, University of Chicago Press) – Online Copy Available via SFU Library

Vazira Fazila-Yacoobali Zamindar, The Long Partition and the Making of Modern South Asia (2007, Columbia University Press) – Online Copy Available via SFU Library

Junehee Kwon, Borderland Dreams: the Transnational Lives of Korean Chinese Workers (2023, Duke University Press) – Online Copy Available via SFU Library

All other readings will be available on Canvas.

 


REQUIRED READING NOTES:

Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.

Department Undergraduate Notes:

Learn more about studying History at SFU:

History areas of study


Why study History?

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

At SFU, you are expected to act honestly and responsibly in all your academic work. Cheating, plagiarism, or any other form of academic dishonesty harms your own learning, undermines the efforts of your classmates who pursue their studies honestly, and goes against the core values of the university.

To learn more about the academic disciplinary process and relevant academic supports, visit: 


RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION

Students with a faith background who may need accommodations during the term are encouraged to assess their needs as soon as possible and review the Multifaith religious accommodations website. The page outlines ways they begin working toward an accommodation and ensure solutions can be reached in a timely fashion.