ASIA 200 Introduction to Asian Studies
Family and community in Asia

The creation of Japan

  The purpose of this class is to introduce you to the varieties of Asian societies and some of the different methodologies that are used to study Asia. We will do this by looking at case studies of different aspects of Asian society. The theme of the course is family and community, meaning that each of our topics has something to do with these topics. This is a fairly broad theme and we will use it to examine many Asian societies and different disciplinary traditions. While I will do my best to make the course as coherent as possible, a lot of the work will fall to you. There really is no single "Asia" and the boundaries  between disciplines are equally artificial. If you approach this as a class where you have to memorize and regurgitate a certain amount of information you will struggle and you will probably not enjoy it very much.  Instead it is probably better to look at the class as a chance to think about things in a number of different ways.

Professor Alan Baumler 216 Keith Hall; Office phone 357-4066 Office Hours MWF 10-11 and 1:15-2:15 and by appointment. e-mail baumler@.iup.edu
http://www.chss.iup.edu/baumler/index.html

Books
Cho Se-hui The Dwarf University of Hawaii Press 2006
Ruf, Gregory Cadres and Kin: Making a Socialist Village in West China, 1921-1991 Stanford University Press,1998
Sara Suleri Meatless Days University of Chicago Press, 1991
Pramoedya Ananta Toer The Girl from the Coast Hyperion, 2003

1. Myth, legend and family Religion, folklore, history, Japan
In this section we will be looking at the myths and legends surrounding the creation of Japan, and particularly the stories of Amataerasu and her troublesome brother Susa no o. As we will see a lot in this class family is often used as a metaphor. We will also look at the archeological evidence for the creation of the early Japanese state and how this relates to the written record.

Myths of early Japan
Sections from Nihongi on reigns of Emperors Sujin and Suinin

2. Status, class and nobility History, literature, sociology, Indonesia
Americans are used to an egalitarian society where we are all born equal and at least in theory stay that way. This is an oddity in world history, as most humans have been born in societies where one's choices in life are deeply dependent on birth. Toer is one of Indonesia's best- known novelists, and this book, based on the life of his grandmother, explores the meanings of class and nobility in Javanese society. It is also a condemnation of traditional forms of marraige, which was often part of creating modern citizens in many places.

Girl from the Coast
Elsbeth Locher-Scholten “Morals, Harmony, and National Identity "Companionate Feminism" in Colonial Indonesia in the 1930s” Journal of Women’s History 14.4 (2003)

3. Gender, tradition and the Nation History, Women’s Studies, Literature and Pakistan
Although national states have made tremendous efforts to confine people in a single identity, in practice what people are can be a very complex question, as is shown in this set of stories

Meatless Days

4. State and revolution Anthropology, History, China
In additions to changes in people’s lives that came about “naturally” the 19^th and 20^th centuries have seen massive attempts by states to transform the people. This is a study of one village in China and how it was affected by state attempts at reform in the Twentieth Century.

Cadres and Kin

5.  Movies
Like Americans, lots of people in Asia get most of what they know about the past and their own society from the movies. We will be watching a couple of movies that we will select as a group and each of you will also do a presentation on a third movie that you watch on your own.

Not one Less, Children of Heaven, Turtles can Fly, Grave of the Fireflies

6. The Dwarf Economics, literature and Korea
Society can be transformed by the state, but also by the market. This is a collection of stories about the rapid transformation of Korea after 1970 and what it has meant for Koreans.

The Dwarf

7.  Student presentations

Grades

Quizzes and class participation 15%
Two short papers 25 % each
Movie presentation 20%
Final exam 15%

-Attendance policy-- You are expected to come to class every day, but the point is not just to come to class, but to come having done your reading and being ready to talk about it.
-Academic dishonesty-- All students are required to abide by the University's policies on Academic Integrity, as found in the catalogue.
Quizzes. All of the short assignments and projects we will do are part of your quiz grade.
Papers. Each of you will write two short papers on two of our books. You may pick any two books. You may write on more than two and toss out the low grades. Topics for the papers will be discussed later
Movie presentations
Each of you will do a short presentation about issues of family and community in Asia, based on one movie that you watch. This means that you will have to pick a movie, watch it, and come up with a presentation. Each of you will have to pick a movie from a list of possible titles that we will create together. Each of you will give a brief 5-7 minute presentation on your movie, which should include at least one clip from the film.
Final exam There will be a final writng assignment that will draw on several of the topics we have discussed.