EAS 384 - Religion and Conflict in East Asia

How did conflicts between religion and politics drive the formation of East Asia societies? How did these conflicts shape religious experiences, ideas, and practices? What did "religion" even mean for different people, communities, and authorities across time and space? This course considers these questions by examining religious traditions such as Shinto, Confucianism, Christianity, Buddhism, and shamanism in the contexts of dramatic social, political, and cultural transformations in East Asia from the early dynastic era through the modern period. Beginning with an introduction to religion, society, and state formations in premodern East Asia, this course will focus on the complex relationships between "religion" and the modern politics of nationalism, imperialism, and colonial governance in the 19th and 20th centuries.