Institutions and Political Process in Asia

The course will introduce the contemporary history history of Japan, China and South East Asia in a comparative analysis. Special attention will be paid to the a relevant actor of Japan and China at a regional and global level.
The course aims at providing the critical tools needed to understand the political system of contemporary Japan and China, with a special focus on structural developments since the cold war.
The students will be required to work in groups and discuss on selected topics, in order to train their critical abilities and their communicative skills.

The course will allow the students to develop their learning skills through the reading of complex texts and their communication abilities thorough presentations and discussions of papers and multimedia documents. A critical approach will be encouraged and stimulated by means of discussions, panel presentations, and debates.