History and Institutions of East Asia

In the last 150 years most of the Countries in East Asia rose from poverty and subjugation by foreign powers, to a prominent position in today's world economy and politics. This course traces the rise in the global context of China, Japan, and Vietnam, the most representative Countries of the region. The period taken into consideration starts from the wave of European and Japanese colonial enterprise in the XIX century, continues with the decolonization process in the XX century, to the present efforts to shape a China-centered new regional order. The course provides insights into the interactions between the East Asian Countries and Western powers, as well as on the interconnections among the Countries within the zone. Along with the discussion of shared patterns characterizing the whole region, a focus on the comparative perspective will reveal the heterogeneity of the area. To capture the multifaceted nature of change that characterized modern East Asia, both political, economic, and cultural aspects of the historical process will be the object of the course.

At the end of this course students will be able to:
1) Discuss critically the diverse historical evolution of East Asia in the last 200 years.
a. Use properly conceptual tools and lexicon to describe the area in the selected period.
b. Compare specific historical phenomena (for example, the encounter with the Western imperialism, the centralization of the national state etc.) in the context of the selected Countries, to explore different historical paths in East Asia.
c. Determine the relevance of different historical facts.
d. Establish the correlation among past events, exploring historical continuity and change in the selected area.
2) Apply the historical understanding of the area developed during the course to address contemporary issues concerning the area (for example, discuss the present role of the selected Countries in East Asia from a 200-years perspective).
3) Analyze critically historical sources.
a. Identify different types of historical source (direct, indirect, primary, secondary..).
b. Select and extract meaningful information from historical sources.
c. Detect and interpret the author's intent and the aim of the source.