Overview

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:

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 will read Amitav Ghosh’s work of ethnographic history, 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

· Cultivate teamwork skills to productively engage in group work

· 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

Materials

REQUIRED READING: