Empire in East Asia: Theory and History (WI)

3 units

An introduction to how historians and anthropologists incorporate theoretical insights into their work, this course first reverse engineers the main arguments in several insightful books and articles on empire in Asia, arguments which are informed by a range of theorists. Retaining our theoretical knowledge, we then focus on the more empirical aspects of the Japanese empire in Asia, including settler colonialism, the colonial economy, representations of colonialism and the long-term ramifications of empire. We conclude with a general assessment of the history of empire. In these ways, this course seeks to equip students with a knowledge of empire in East Asia in the late 19th and 20th centuries while simultaneously investigating the nature of that knowledge.