EAST4540 – East Asian Modernities
Course description
Course content
This course focuses on various facets of modernity, which are central to the study and understanding of modern and contemporary East Asia. This year we will especially focus on the issues of world order, regional inter-linkage, and the formation of national identities. Although we will deal with the central role of China in East Asia, like the all-pervasive influence of the Chinese world order in the early modern period, we will pay ample attention to countries in the periphery of the East Asian mainland such as Japan, Vietnam and Okinawa.
In doing so the students are encouraged to develop a comparative East Asian perspective, to analyze the historical interplay between (newly-created) tradition and modernity, and to look beyond the dominant concept of the nation-state.
Learning outcome
This course aims to develop the students’ knowledge and understanding of key issues in modern and contemporary East Asia.
The course also aims to provide an Asian intra-regional comparative perspective, with a strong component of views from the periphery. On the other hand, it will also emphasize the strong influence of shifts in world order on developments in East Asia.
You will be further trained in analyzing and comparing secondary sources, and in giving an academic presentation and writing an academic essay with theoretical and analytical components.
- Theoretical skills needed to understand the complicated issues of East Asia’s modern development.
- Methodological skills needed to analyse both texts and the historical developments or ethnographic realities.
- Techniques of academic writing dealing with complex theoretical and methodological concepts and issues.
Admission to the course
Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.
Students enrolled in other Master`s Degree Programmes can, on application, be admitted to the course if this is cleared by their own study programme.
If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.
Formal prerequisite knowledge
Please see the admission requirements defined by the programme options Chinese Culture and Society and Japanese Studies.
Knowledge of both English and at least one East or Asian language is required, as students are encouraged to engage with sources in both English and primary languages. The course will be conducted in English.
Overlapping courses
- 10 credits overlap with EAST4510 – Multiple Modernities in East Asia: Approaches to the Study of Culture and History (discontinued).
Teaching
The teaching is organized as 10 classes of 2 hours each throughout the semester. The classes will be a combination of lectures, seminars, and student presentations. Students are expected to prepare well and do the readings for each class and to participate actively in classroom discussions.
Compulsory activities
- Paper outline and list of sources for the final paper
- Presentation(s)
An approved outline is only valid for one semester.
All compulsory activities must be approved in order to qualify for the exam. It is the student’s responsibility to check whether or not the compulsory activities are approved.
This is how you apply for valid absence from compulsory activities/compulsory attendance.
Examination
The exam consists of an essay (10 pages, 2300 characters per page) on a topic of your own choice, that is within the framework of this year’s content of the course, and that ideally is based on your presentation. The topic is subject to prior approval by the instructor.
The obligatory activities must be approved by the teacher in order to take the exam. Please see "Teaching" for more information.
The paper should be partly based on sources in the original languages (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and/or Vietnamese).
Language of examination
You may write your examination paper in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.
More about examinations at UiO
- Use of sources and citations
- Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
- Withdrawal from an exam
- Illness at exams / postponed exams
- Explanation of grades and appeals
- Resitting an exam
- Cheating/attempted cheating
You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.