A broad-ranging, chronologically-arranged introduction to Chinese civilisation from prehistory to recent times. Readings will include representative philosophical, literary and religious works in English translation. Social science perspectives will be introduced through lectures/tutorial readings on social history, kinship structure, modern change, etc. This unit of study will provide a foundation for more advanced work in Chinese studies.

This introductory unit explores the histories and cultures of Asia across time, up to the modern era. The curriculum aims to provide both the essential knowledge and intellectual skills necessary for more advanced study of Asia, and to lay the groundwork for comparative investigation of trans-Asian phenomena. Topics and themes may include: religion, ritual, and philosophical thought; sacred kings and capitals; hierarchy and social order; family, kinship and gender systems; art, architecture, and archaeology.

Asia has undergone dramatic and rapid modernisation since the eighteenth century. Religious change, state-formation, political and social movements, gender and family, consumer culture, rural development, urban culture, and modern class structure are some of the cultural, social, economic and political aspects of Asia's social transformation. Through the study of selected Asian societies, this unit will examine some of these aspects in the contexts of colonialism, nationalism, postcolonial economic development, and globalisation.

This unit offers students the opportunity to explore China's major traditions of philosophy and practice through English translations of key texts as well as authoritative secondary studies. The main foci of the unit include the following major areas: diversity and polemics in early Chinese thought, developments in Daoism, Buddhist thought and influence, and Neo-Confucian (Daoxue) thought.

The history of the People's Republic of China comprises two periods. In the Maoist era (1949-1978), the Communist-led government attempted to build a centrally planned, socialist society in which politics dominated people's daily lives. In the post-Mao era (since 1978), by contrast, the socialist institutions have largely been dismantled in pursuit of a market-based alternative. This unit of study explores key social, political, cultural and economic features of both periods and analyses the problems and paradoxes of transition.

This unit explores assumptions underpinning Indian thought and culture with specific reference to Indian religious traditions. In particular traditional notions of the individual, authenticity, and the concept of dharma will be addressed through an exploration of social and political structures, gender and the family, and forms of artistic, literary and religious expression. A key focus will be on the continuity of tradition and its interaction with modernity and the implications this has for understanding today's India.

While India and China emerge as present-day superpowers, their historical inter-relations are not well known. This unit provides an overview of cultural interactions between Indian and Chinese civilisations, especially as these have shaped Tibetan cultural identity. A key focus is upon how pre-modern cultural interactions with India and China provide ideological contexts within which Tibetan religious and cultural traditions and political institutions developed. This is undertaken in order to understand interactions between all three cultures on the current global stage.

This unit explores the historical validity of key motifs of Japanese traditions. Through the liberal exploration of primary historical sources including texts, pictorial sources and material artifacts, students will learn of such diverse topics as early religion, imperial authority, the lives of the court and military elites (samurai), Zen monastic practice, medieval aesthetics, geisha, and the tea ceremony. By separating stereotype and cliche from history, we will attempt to construct a more sober yet ultimately more viable narrative of early Japanese history and culture.

This unit of study will begin with examination of social aspects of the Meiji reforms, evaluating interpretations of their aims and effects. The focus will then turn to the emergence of new social forces in the twentieth century, including industrial workers, an urban middle class and a women's movement. We will also explore changes in daily life and attitudes to work and leisure as urbanisation and industrialisation progressed and assess the effects of the Second World War and the Occupation.

The usual but contradictory descriptions of Japanese society (hierarchical but egalitarian, adaptable but conservative and traditional, consensual but authoritarian, etc.) show that "power" - manifest or hidden in decision making, consensus building, conflict resolution or avoidance - is the enigma of Japan. We will focus on power relationships in politics, administration, enterprises, families, schools, etc, survey the various explanations proposed to solve the enigma and, more generally, learn about the origins, forms and treatments of power and conflict relations.

This unit of study aims to introduce Korea's historical experience from antiquity to the early phase of the Choson dynasty (1392-1910). Topics include sources and historiography of early Korea; foundation myths and legends of the Three Korean Kingdoms; process of state formation and subsequent political developments; religious ideology, focusing on Buddhism; and cultural and social traditions of Korea from the 4th to the 15th century. These topics will enable students to understand and appreciate the uniqueness of Korean identity.

This unit aims to introduce some of the major issues in the history of Korea in the late 19th century and the last century. Topics include contradictions of the late Choson dynasty society; opening of Korea to the West and Japan and the attendant wave of reforms and rebellions; Japan's colonial rule; Korea's fight for freedom; liberation and division of Korea in 1945 and the subsequent process of nation-building in the two Koreas.

This unit examines the history of Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country, emphasizing the interaction between Islam, nationalism and democracy. The unit traces these forces impact on the formation of modern Indonesia from the late nineteenth century, highlighting the experience and legacy of colonialism, the independence struggle, and the rise and fall of military rule. Particular attention is given to changing notions of national identity, debates about the place of Islam in the polity and authoritarianism and democratisation.

This unit introduces students to the media industry and policies in selected countries in East Asia, namely Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan. In addressing the topics, the main features of media in the region are discussed and compared. The unit will be multi-disciplinary, covering various aspects of mass media in the region. These include the social and cultural role of the media, political and economic justification of state control, and implications of the emergence of new communication technologies.

This unit inserts the modern and contemporary history of Japan inside its East Asian context. We will examine a dozen key events and subjects pertaining to the relations between Japan, China and Korea, from the 1840 Opium War until today. Doing so, we will touch many sensitive and controversial topics, become aware of the differing historical consciousness prevalent in these three countries, and understand why the historical question constitutes a major political issue in East Asia.

Foreign perceptions of Japan cluster around two stereotypes: feminized images of elegance and submissiveness, epitomized by geisha, and hypermasculine images of violence, exemplified by samurai. A long tradition of gender subversion, cross-dressing, and androgyny in Japanese culture speaks for a more nuanced vision of masculinity and femininity. Throughout the unit, we will examine the formation and subversion of gender roles as they emerge in a variety of classical and contemporary Japanese fiction and nonfiction genres.

On the brink of disaster in 1989, China has since become a political and economic power in the world. This unit of study examines the impact of globalisation on China with respect to the multilateral movements of ideas, capital and people. It will explore recent political, economic and social change in China, focusing on responses to China's expanded engagement with the outside world. Due attention will be paid to China's changing relations with its Asian neighbours and with Western countries.

This unit gives students the opportunity to undertake broad background reading in theory and methodology relevant to Asian Studies. The unit trains students to discuss published work exemplifying a range of approaches to humanistic and/or social scientific research. It thus provides models on which students can draw in creating their own research proposal.

The Honours program in Asian Studies consists of:
1. a thesis written under the supervision of one or more members of academic staff
2. two seminars that meet weekly for two hours for one semester.
The thesis should be of 18000-20000 words in length. Each seminar requires 6000-8000 words of written work or its equivalent.
The thesis is worth 60% of the final Honours mark and each of the seminars is worth 20%.
The following seminars are on offer in 2014:
Semester 1: Theory and Method in Asian Studies (Dr Olivier Ansart)
Semester 2: Engaging Asia (Dr Rebecca Suter)
For more information, contact Prof Adrian Vickers, Honours coordinator.

Refer to ASNS4011

Refer to ASNS4011

Refer to ASNS4011