Department of History Spring 2001
 

Instructor: SANJAY JOSHI Meeting time: T-Th. 2:20 - 3:35

Office: LA 206 Office Hours:T-Th. 12:30-02:00, 

Phone: 523-6216 and by appointment

Web page: http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~sj6E-mail: Sanjay.Joshi@nau.edu
 

A copy of this syllabus as well as web-based links appropriate for this course will be available at my web-page listed above.

IMPORTANT: Please see the "Northern Arizona University Policy Statements" and "Classroom Management Statement" at the back of this document.
 

Course Description

This course examines transformations in the lives of people and governments in Asia from the 18th century to the mid-20th century. Focusing on China, India, and Japan, we explore a history where all three societies, in different ways, were brought in contact with, and then subordinated to the interests of more powerful Western powers. We examine the transformations these societies underwent as a result of their interaction with Western colonialism, and the different strategies they adopted to overcome and/or adapt to the changes they confronted. The first part of the course deals with the emergence of Western hegemony over India, Japan, and China. The second part of the course will look at changes that came with foreign interventions. The third and final part of the course examines the very different results produced by interactions with and/or resistance to colonialism in India, China, and Japan. Taken together these histories of colonialism and nationalism, social reform and revolution, seek to explain the factors contributing to the making of modern Asian society and politics. 
 

Course Structure/Approach

The format of the course consists of lectures and formal and informal discussions. Students are encouraged to raise questions and make comments throughout the course.
 

Required Textbooks

1. Sugata Bose and Ayesha Jalal. Modern South Asia: History, Culture, Political Economy. London and New York: Routledge, 1997.
 

2. Ranbir Vohra. China's Path to Modernization. Third Edition. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2000.
 

3. Kenneth B. Pyle. The Making of Modern Japan. Second Edition. Lexington, Mass., Toronto: D. C. Heath and Company, 1996.
 

IN ADDITION, other sections of books, journal articles, short stories, films or videos may be put on reserve in Cline Library and will be REQUIRED reading or viewing for this course. 

Assessment of Outcomes 

The course uses primarily three types of instruments to assess your achievement of the learning objectives listed above: two examinations ( 20% and 25% of the total points for the course), one medium-length paper (30% of the total course grade), and the notes you prepare to participate in class discussions (20%). Five percent of your course grade will be evaluated on the basis of your class and discussion participation. The examinations will consist of short answer, essay, and map questions to test your grasp of factual details and interpretive insights into modern Asian history. The paper is designed to test your ability to critically read and think creatively about the material on modern Asian history, and to be able to present it effectively in appropriate prose. The discussion notes are a test of your ability to think creatively and critically about the subject, and to present your own arguments on a subject well supported by data. 
 

Learning Portfolio

The paper as well as your discussion notes could form a part of your learning portfolio. 
 

Assignments and Exams

ITerm Paper: You will write one 5 to 8 page analytical paper for this course. The paper will be assigned on February 15 and will be due April 17.
 

II.Mid-Term and Final Exams: There will be one final and one mid term exam. The exams may have an essay component, as well as other sections including short-answer or map-based questions.
 

III. Scheduled Discussions: TWO formal discussions have been scheduled as part of this course. The class will be divided into small groups to facilitate discussion. You will be given specific questions or topics around which to frame the discussions a few days in advance of the discussion day. On the day of the discussion you need to come prepared with TWO copies of your notes on the discussion topics. You will hand one copy of that to me, and use the other to participate in the discussion.
 

Grading System

Grades for the course will be determined according to the following criteria:

Term Paper 30%

Final Exam 25%

Mid-Term Exam 20%

Written Discussion Notes 20%

Class & Discussion Participation 05%

TOTAL FOR COURSE 100%

The grading scale for the course will be as follows: 

90%+ = A; 80 - 89%= B; 70-79%= C; 60-69%= D; below 60%= F.

Frequent absence from class may result in grade penalties
 

Course Policies 

PLEASE NOTE: I do not give extensions, incompletes, or make-up exams, except in cases allowed for by University Policy. 

Plagiarism or other forms of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated in any of the assignments, and will result in failing the course. Please consult the section on "Academic Integrity" in the NAU Policy Statements appended to this syllabus for further details. IT IS THE STUDENTS' RESPONSIBILITY TO FAMILIARIZE HERSELF/HIMSELF WITH THESE MATTERS AS DEFINED BY THE UNIVERSITY. 
 

Attendance and Punctuality

Absences and lack of punctuality will be penalized at the Instructor's discretion. Whatever your reasons for arriving late or missing a class, it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to arrange to meet or call a classmate and find out what happened in that class. I encourage you to form small "study groups" or at least make a "class buddy" whom you can contact for information about classes missed, study with for the exams, or more generally discuss the proceedings of the class. 
 

In General

I expect you to come to class having done all the required reading and prepared to engage in discussion. I also expect you to be motivated to learn about the subject and to improve your skills as a historian. I will do my best to help you understand more about the subject. What you make of this course however, is ultimately entirely up to you.
 

PROVISIONAL COURSE SCHEDULE (Subject to Modification)

Introduction

January 16 Introduction to the Course.
 

PART I: Toward Western Hegemony

January 18-30 India: The Emergence and Consolidation of British Power

Readings: Bose and Jalal, 

Tentative Schedule: Jan. 18: introduction to India and part I 

Jan. 23: pp. 34-56 (ch. 4-5)

Jan. 25: pp. 57-75 (ch. 6-7)

Jan. 30: pp. 76-96 (ch. 8-9)
 

February 1-8 China: The Manchu Monarchy, Traditional Chinese Society, and pressure from the West.

Readings: Vohra, chapters 1, 2, and 3. (One chapter per class)
 

February 13-20 Japan: The Tokugawa Shogunate and it's downfall.

Readings: Pyle, pp. 1-74. 

Tentative Schedule: Feb. 13: pp. 1-27 (ch. 1-2)

Feb. 15: pp. 29-54 (ch. 3-4)

Feb. 20: pp. 57-74 (ch.5)
 

February 22 Comparative Colonial Experiences and Early Responses.

Readings: Revise all chapters from Bose and Jalal, Vohra, and Pyle.
 

February 27 Discussion #1
 

March 1 MID TERM EXAMINATION
 

March 5-9 SPRING BREAK
 

PART II: Colonialism, Reform, and Nationalism

March 13-15 Colonialism and Early Response in India

Readings: Bose and Jalal, pp. 97-145

Tentative Schedule: March 13: pp. 97-106 and SKIM 107-125 (Ch. 11)

March 15: pp. 126-145
 

March 20-27 Meiji Japan. 

Readings: Pyle, chapters 6, 7, 8. (One chapter a class)
 

March 29-April 5 China: The Nationalist Revolutions

Readings: Vohra, chapters 4, 5, and 6. (One chapter a class)
 

April 10 Discussion #2
 

PART III: Asia in the Modern World: Revolutions and Empires

April 12-17 India: Toward Independence.

Readings: Bose and Jalal, pp. 146-199.

Tentative Schedule: April 12: SKIM pp. 146-155 (ch. 14), READ pp. 156-164.

April 17: pp. 165-189 (ch. 15) and SKIM pp. 190-200 (ch. 16) 
 

April 19-24 Japan: Toward Authoritarianism and Imperialism

Readings: Pyle, chapters 9, 10. (One chapter a class)
 

April 26-May 1 China: From Nationalist to Socialist Revolution.

Readings: Vohra, chapters 7, 8. (One chapter a class, chapter 8 may be read by April 27^th to keep reading week free of assignments)
 

May 3 End of Term Review
 

THURSDAY MAY 10 12:30-2:30 PM FINAL EXAM
 

Thematic Focus

Valuing the Diversity of Human Experience: This period of Asian history demonstrates the ways in which a variety of social groups, economic processes, and cultural influences contributed to the making of modern Asia. The interaction between the West and indigenous societies in Asia produced new forms of economic organization, new politics, new ideologies , and new ways of communicating these to a larger body of people. This interaction also produced three very different forms of political, economic, and ideological systems in the three Asian societies we study. This course seeks to examine the historical processes that led to the emergence of a popular Communist leadership in China, an oligarchy committed to the market economy in Japan, and an elite liberal-democratic leadership in India which tried to run a path between a state-controlled economy and free market principles. Looking for both the similarities and the differences in the experience of China, Japan, and India, this course aims at understanding the factors that link Asian histories together, and those that make them distinct. In this way the course compels students to reflect on the similarities and dissimilarities between these segments of the human experience they learn about in the course and others they may already be somewhat familiar with. 
 

Technology and its Impact: Technology, broadly defined, is crucial to the understanding of the changes which produced modern Asia. The course will explore not only the development of new technologies, but also ways in which technological innovations shaped the exercise of power in modern Asia. This involves, for instance, studying the importance of industrial technology that enabled the Western powers to secure direct or indirect control over much of Asia, and also the movements that this inspired among Asian nationalists to "catch up" with such technological prowess. The course examines the emergence of new technologies of economic planning and state power in modern Asia, as new states sought to exercise greater control over the lives of their subjects, exemplified perhaps by the colonial state in India, but also the Meiji and post-Meiji states in Japan and the modern nation-state in China which supplanted the ancient monarchical empire in the twentieth century. However, the course highlights the social and political contexts of technological changes in Asia. We therefore examine the ambivalence towards technological progress that was characteristic of colonial societies in Asia, and the different ways in which the three Asian societies negotiated and overcame this ambivalence to the use of Western technology. 
 

Distribution Block: Social and Political Worlds. 
 

Essential Skills: Critical reading, creative thinking, effective speech and writing, critical thinking, use of Technology for Learning. 
 

Course Objectives 

By the end of the course, students will not only be familiar with the broad contours of the political, social, and cultural history of Asia from ca. 1750 to ca. 1945, but also be able to do the following:
 

a. Critically read and interpret histories of India, China, and Japan and make arguments about the connections between these histories. (Critical reading and thinking, creative thinking)
 

b. Combine evidence from a variety of historical sources to get a sense of life in the times and places they are reading about. (Creative thinking) 
 

c. Be able to present a cogent argument well supported by evidence in written essays, discussion notes, and in discussion groups. (Critical reading and thinking, creative thinking, effective speech and writing)
 

d. Use traditional printed material and selective use of the Internet or other digital sources to gather information. (Use of technology for learning)