Engineered Environments in East Asia

Undergraduate / Graduate

Environments in East Asia have drastically changed in the twentieth century. Seawalls and cities rose in coastal areas that were previously untouched along Japan's coast; cement-dams replaced dirt dikes that divided the Han river in the Korean Peninsula; and railroads expanded into far-off regions in China, redefining both cities and hinterlands. These are three archetypal examples of technically complex projects that this course will explore. These industrial and technological projects of a national, regional, or global scale connect past to present and pose questions to our future about climate change, public health crises, and energy anxieties. This class asks what engineered environments are and how they shape our everyday life. We will visit three types of archetypal megaprojects-the railway system, the transformation of ocean space, and the building of dams--in China, Japan, and Korea that have shaped and continue to shape the environments of East Asia, an economically vibrant, politically challenging, and ecologically diverse region, with a deep history and vibrant technological innovations even today. We will discuss the politics and science behind the building of each megaproject, the interconnected history among them, and more importantly, how each project generated its environment, shaped the relationship between human societies and nature, and influences our current understanding of the region.