Minor in East Asian Studies
The Minor in East Asian Studies provides a comprehensive overview of East Asian nations in the contemporary period. It spans two terms and comprises lectures, selected readings, seminars and essays as well as 4 credits of language studies in Japanese or Chinese.
Please download the study leaflet for more detailed information on individual courses, including the number of credits and the course code as well as the teaching schedule with dates and times.
Language of instruction (if not stated otherwise): English
Total amount of credits is 25 (op) for the Minor in East Asian Studies.
Duration: September 2011 - May 2012
Signing up: Due to limited teaching space, students interested in taking the Minor in Asian Studies must register beforehand by email to kaanle[at]utu.fi by midnight, Sunday 28 August 2011.
The intake is 25 students to take the complete minor, but students can also take single courses without registration. In case of extensive interest, students in Contemporary History are given priority. Exchange students are welcome to take any or all of the courses, but are asked to register beforehand.
When signing up, please provide the following information:
- Your name
- Student number
- Main subject
- Are you taking the Chinese or Japanese language course, and at what level (basic, intermediate, advanced). If you register this way for the language course, you do not need to register separately at the Language Centre.
Special registration: You need to register separately for the online courses MEAS 7a. Regional Cooperation in Asia and 7b. Media Reading Course. See this website for more.
Taking exams: Exams for lecture courses are taken at the end of each course. There are a few courses which are completed differently. Please see the study leaflet or contact the course coordinator for more information.
Person in charge and further information: University Teacher Annamari Konttinen, Centre for East Asian Studies.
Registering the complete module: When you have completed 25 credits worth of studies for the minor, please get in touch with Executive Administrator Kari Lehti.
Integrated Minor in Asian Studies
Students who complete both the Minor in East Asian Studies at the Centre and the Asian Programme provided by the National University Network for East and Southeast Asian Studies can combine these into an Integrated Minor in Asian Studies. Please read this pdf file for more information.
Description of studies in the minor
This specialization package addresses selected themes concerning the experience of particular nations and of East Asia as a whole in the contemporary period. It explores on the one hand the turbulent process of integrating Asian nations and states into a global order and on the other discusses nationalism as a powerful motivating force in the modern development of these countries.
Thus, students should be prepared for (and excited about) investigations into and discussions about the manner in which contemporary history, social practice, political philosophy, political culture and even literature and cinema offer an alternate, but equally significant understanding of East Asian society and politics in the present. Participation in this class assumes a high level of preparedness and a willingness to active participation.
Teaching begins on Monday, 6 September 2010. Selected courses use the open source Moodle course management system as adapted by the University of Turku. An introduction to using the Moodle environment will be provided at the start of the Autumn term. The minor is not recommended for first-year students.
Structure of the programme
The first term consists of introductory readings and a survey lecture course which when taken together provide a broad-ranging narrative of the contemporary history of the region, particularly detailing the rise of China. The second term focuses in more detail on the various nations of East Asia and regional points of contention. Current issues will also be delved into during the final period in March and April (for example, the Beijing Olympics was the topic of choice in 2008).
Goals of the programme
- to introduce students to East Asian Studies
- to familiarize students with main long-term trends and structural developments in East Asia
- to present to students the main scholarly works of East Asian studies and the most useful sources of information on East Asia such as academic periodicals, databases and reference works. Both visual and written resources will be used as source materials.