Modules

MO3335 The Japanese Empire and its Aftermath, 1873-1952

Handbook | Repository | Reflections: 2014 Spring

This module traces the history and contradictions of Japan’s empire from the first debate over how to “punish” Korea in 1873 and through to consider the early postwar aftermath of Japanese defeat in 1945. We will compare Japanese colonialism in Taiwan, Korea and Okinawa to that of Western empires, the important role of the Sino-Japanese war, and the development of nationalist and pan-Asian ideals.

MO3337 China’s Revolutions, 1850-1989

Handbook | Repository | Reflections: 2015 Spring

This module traces the modern history of China through the lens of its most transformative political and social changes. It begins with the momentous and transformative rebellions that shook the Qing dynasty to its roots and concludes with the 1989 democracy movement that centered on Tiananmen square in Beijing. We will examine the ways in which China’s revolutions connected themselves with the past in a process that generated a long and rich revolutionary tradition. We will address the issue of identifying revolutionary agency and the social and economic forces that help drive the most violent transformations of China’s past two centuries.

MO4971 The City in East and Southeast Asia c. 1850-1950

Handbook | Repository | Reflections: 2014-2015

This module explores the development of urban spaces in 19th and 20th century East and South East Asia. It examines the economic, social, and political geographies of Asian cities in colonial, semi-colonial, and early post-colonial contexts as well as the way in which these cities and their residents are embedded in multiple local, regional, national, and transnational contexts. The first semester will allow students to work in depth with the rich digitized Shanghai Municipal Police Archive, and other English-language sources will include newspapers, diplomatic and trade archives, missionary and travel accounts, and some translated sources.

MO3936 East Asia and the World 1850-1950

Handbook | Repository

This seminar on modern East Asian begins with an examination of the evolving societies of the Qing dynasty, the Tokugawa regime, and the Chosŏn dynasty on the Korean peninsula. Significant focus in the course will be given to the challenge of East Asian interactions with the West and western imperialism, including the domestic cultural and intellectual developments and responses to new challenges in the Japanese empire, including colonial Korea, and in the Chinese republic. Whenever possible the course will integrate and explore the parallels and contrasts in the experiences of Japan, Korea, and China and highlight some of the important transnational connections between them.

MO3351 Doing and Practising Transnational and Global History in the Late Modern World

Website | Handbook | Reflections: 2015 Afterthoughts by Bernhard Struck

Over the past ten years transnational and global history have emerged as some of the most vibrant fields in late modern history. With their interest in cross-border activities, with their focus on the flow and interconnection of ideas and goods and their transformation between different cultural and national contexts, with their emphasis on people on the move who create nodes between cultures, both transnational and global history very much reflect the world we live in. The team-taught module provides an entry point to the field of transnational history, its approaches and tools. At the same time, the module is designed around key aspects of today’s work life and transferable skills: a strong sense of sharing, exchanging, collaborating and presenting in informal and more formal settings. It is deliberately designed to be open and flexible as it seeks to allow students to take ownership of the content and the cases to be studied. Following an introduction to the field along a series of text based seminars, the module is mainly designed around a number of workshops and training sessions that will equip students with the skills to analyse, map and visualise transnational histories - that is “doing” and “practising”.