Document Type

Syllabus

Publication Date

Spring 2024

Course Description

This is a survey of the history of East Asia, c. 1300 BCE to 900 CE, focusing on China with additional consideration of Japan and Inner Asia. The course starts with the beginning of the region's written past in the 2nd millennium BCE and concludes with a consideration of the emergence of a multipolar region after the collapse of the Tang empire in China in the 10th century. Some of the topics explored: the creation of a continental empire; the spread and indigenization of religious traditions; the world of aristocrats and the peasant society they ruled; the values of this aristocratic milieu, especially in so far as they have shaped many of the cultural touchstones of East Asia today.

Student Outcomes

  • Analytical skills: students will be able to locate and critically analyze historical argumentation
  • Writing skills: students will be able to effectively communicate historical analysis in written form
  • Problem-solving skills: Students will be able to evaluate historical problems and debates
  • Breadth of historical knowledge: Students will be able to conceptualize and articulate a broad understanding of the past with respect to diversities of culture, geography, and chronology

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