University of Waterloo
TENTATIVE SYLLABUS (AUGUST 9, 2012); WILL BE UPDATED AT A LATER DATE
Fall, 2012
COURSE NUMBER: EASIA201R
Course Name: EAST ASIAN CULTURE
Instructor: Dr. Seung Hyok Lee
Office: REN 1111, East Asian Studies, Renison University College, 240 Westmount Road
North, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 3G4
Telephone: 519-884-4404 (ext. 28662)
Email: sh57lee@uwaterloo.ca
Class Times/Location: Mondays, 2:30PM-5:20PM. Location TBA
Office Hours: REN 1111 (NOT EAST ASIAN STUDIES READING ROOM) Mondays, 1:30PM2:30PM, or by appointment
Course Description & Objectives: The aim of this course is to provide students with a
basic knowledge and understanding of the history of East Asia. We will do so by examining
cultural, socio-economic, and political foundations of East Asian states. Students will come
to understand and appreciate the fact that there are both similarities and differences
between China, Japan, and Korea, stemming from long historical interactions between the
peoples within the region. By the end of the course, students will have enough knowledge of
East Asia to be able to objectively analyze why and how history is influential in contemporary
intra-regional interactions and in East Asian relations with the rest of the world.
Every week, classes will consist of lectures in the first half, while the latter half will focus on
in-class discussions. Pre-modern and modern history of East Asia will be covered equally, and
students will also get valuable insights from scheduled guest lectures.
IMPORTANT FACT TO CONSIDER BEFORE SIGNING UP: Students taking the course must
understand prior to signing up that they will be solely evaluated based on their understanding
of the course materials (particularly the textbook reading) and NOT necessarily based on their
personal familiarity with the region, or their background knowledge of East Asian history
from a particular national viewpoint. Moreover, although the course is titled “East Asian
Culture,” the classes will be geared toward providing a broad socio-political and economic
historical overview of the region from ancient to modern times, and thus it is not for
students primarily interested in contemporary popular culture of East Asia.
Text: Holcombe, Charles. A History of East Asia: From the Origins of Civilization to the
Twenty-first Century, Cambridge University Press, 2010. (NOTE THAT THE TEXTBOOK
WHICH HAS BEEN IN USE FOR THIS COURSE UNTIL WINTER 2012 WILL NO LONGER BE
ADOPTED FROM THIS SEMESTER)
Course Requirements: Students will be expected to attend all classes, participate in inclass discussions, complete the quiz,and sit for both term tests.
Grading:
Attendance & Participation
Short Quiz (In-class: Week 5)
Term Test 1 (In-class: Week 7)
Term Test 2 (In-class: Week 12)
15%
15%
35%
35%
SYLLABUS
WEEK 1:
Introduction: What is East Asia?
Reading: Holcombe, Introduction
WEEK 2:
The Origins & the Formative Era of Civilization in East Asia
Reading: Holcombe, Chs.1,2
WEEK 3:
The Age of Cosmopolitanism
Reading: Holcombe, Ch.3
WEEK 4:
The Creation of a Community: China, Korea, and Japan
Reading: Holcombe, Ch.4
WEEK 5:
First Half of the Class: Short Quiz
Mature Independent Trajectories
Reading: Holcombe, Ch.5
WEEK 6:
Early Modern East Asia
Reading: Holcombe, Ch.6
WEEK 7:
Term Test 1
WEEK 8:
The Nineteenth-Century Encounter of Civilizations
Reading: Holcombe, Ch.7
WEEK 9:
The Age of Westernization & the Dark Alley
Reading: Holcombe, Chs.8,9
WEEK 10:
East Asia since 1945
Reading: Holcombe, Chs.10,11,12
WEEK 11:
East Asia since 1945 (2) & Concluding Discussions: “Legacy of history on intra-regional interactions
in contemporary East Asia”
Reading: Same as WEEK 10
WEEK 12:
Term Test 2
The Dates of Scheduled Guest Lectures during the semester: TBA
Academic Integrity: In order to maintain a culture of academic integrity, members of
the University of Waterloo community are expected to promote honesty, trust,
fairness, respect and responsibility.
Academic Integrity website (Arts):
http://arts.uwaterloo.ca/arts/ugrad/academic_responsibility.html
Academic Integrity Office (UW):
http://uwaterloo.ca/academicintegrity/
Discipline: A student is expected to know what constitutes academic integrity [check
www.uwaterloo.ca/academicintegrity/ ] to avoid committing academic offences and
to take responsibility for his/her actions. A student who is unsure whether an action
constitutes an offence, or who needs help in learning how to avoid offences (e.g.,
plagiarism, cheating) or about “rules” for group work/collaboration, should seek
guidance from the course instructor, academic advisor, or Renison’s Administrative
Dean. When misconduct has been found to have occurred, disciplinary penalties will
be imposed under Policy 71, Student Discipline. For information on categories of
offences and types of penalties, students should refer to this
policy www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/Policies/policy71.htm . For typical penalties
check Guidelines for the Assessment of Penalties,
www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/guidelines/penaltyguidelines.htm.
Grievance: A student who believes that a decision affecting some aspect of his/her
university life has been unfair or unreasonable may have grounds for initiating a
grievance. Read Policy 70, Student Petitions and Grievances, Section 4,
www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/Policies/policy70.htm
Appeals: A student may appeal the finding and/or penalty in a decision made under
Policy 70 - Student Petitions and Grievances (other than regarding a petition) or
Policy 71 - Student Discipline if grounds for an appeal can be established. Read Policy
72 - Student Appeals www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/Policies/policy72.htm.
Note for students with disabilities: The Office for Persons with Disabilities (OPD),
located in Needles Hall, Room 1132, collaborates with all academic departments to
arrange appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities without
compromising the academic integrity of the curriculum. If you require academic
accommodations to lessen the impact of your disability, please register with the OPD
at the beginning of each academic term.