Course Description:
01:098:345 Asia-Pacific in Cross-Cultural Perspective
This course explores the social, cultural, and political interactions in the Asia-Pacific region from the late nineteenth century to the present from a cross-cultural perspective. Students will gain “alternative” perspectives and learn to critically examine topics on early U.S.-Asia encounters (immigrants, students, embassies), colonialism, and war and its legacies through exposure to multiple points of view: the “voices” or contemporaneous literary works and primary sources (in translation), museums and sites where the experiences are remembered and told, and faculty and students of a Japanese university. Guest lecturers will be invited for selected topics.
This is an inter-institutional collaborative learning course with Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan. We will be joined for four weeks during the semester by students from Ritsumeikan, who will attend our lectures and discussions and work on group projects. There will be a number of optional field trips with the Ritsumeikan students, which include an overnight visit to Washington, DC and a day-trip to Seabrook Farm. The class will culminate with joint online sessions with Prof. Keiji Nakatsuji’s class at Ritsumeikan in April and May.
Note: The optional second segment of this course will be held in the summer at Ritsumeikan. The summer course will feature a three-week study abroad experience at Ritsumeikan, Kyoto, which includes participation in Professor Nakatsuji’s class on contemporary issues in Asia-Pacific Relations (which includes an overnight trip to Hiroshima), followed by a one-week trip to Tokyo led by Prof. Wakabayashi. Students enrolled in the spring semester are encouraged to apply for the summer program (applications are due to Rutgers Study Abroad in March). Students enrolled in this course will be given priority in the application process, provided they maintain adequate academic progress in the spring.