Course Schedule

EAS 201 – Myth, Memory, Mind: Introduction to Traditional East Asia

Gen Ed: Diversity Emphasis · Gen Ed: Tier 2 Humanities · Gen Ed Attribute: Diversity and Equity · Gen Ed Attribute: World Cultures and Societies · Gen Ed: Building Connections

What would it be like to visit China, Japan, and the Korean Peninsula in premodern times? What is East Asian Studies? This course offers an introduction to the histories, cultures, languages and scripts, religions, and literatures of traditional East Asia. It also invites students to participate in the interdisciplinary knowledge production that is East Asian Studies. While we explore what has been historically shared among these East Asian societies, our emphasis is on how East Asia has always been diverse and heterogeneous. We encourage students to debunk the popular myths about East Asia--particularly premodern East Asia--as an exotic and homogeneous place. This will not only inform our understanding of today's East Asia in its historical context, it will also prompt us to actively address the historical legacy of orientalism.