Unit name | East Asian Societies |
---|---|
Unit code | SOCI20059 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | I/5 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
Unit director | Dr. Yamashita |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies |
Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
This unit is a survey of social, cultural and political patterns in the East Asian societies of Greater China, Japan and Korea. Emphasis is on the shared traditions that define East Asia as a region, and its component societies with the forces associated with cultural, social and political “globalization” historically and during recent decades, and on the particular characteristics of each society. The study of East Asian society provides a unique opportunity to explore differences in the construction and articulation of key social divisions between countries and regions, as well as compare and critically examine existing conceptualizations of them. Going beyond dichotomies of East and West, traditional and modern, this course will examine sociological issues from a theoretically informed and comparative perspective among East Asia and between East Asia and Europe.
The unit aims to:
On successful completion of the unit, students will be able to:
One hour lecture and two hour seminar per week.
Formative Assessment: Students will each be required to do one 10-minute presentation that critically and synthetically engages with the week’s relevant readings.
Summative Assessment (100%): Students will be required to write a 3,000 word essay on a choice of titles provided by the tutor.
Both types of assessment are explicitly linked to the objectives of the learning outcomes, and the presentation topics and essay titles set by the tutor will address one or more of the broad concerns of the unit identified in the learning outcomes.