Summer Session 2023 Course Information

SOAN 293 – Cultures and People of Southeast and East Asia

The story of the relationships between the people of East Asia and Southeast Asia is rarely told. It is a fascinating tale of the interaction between cultures, migrations, innovation, movement of religions and art forms, and the seeds of contemporary global trade. This class will focus on these relationships as a window into learning about the larger regions of Southeast Asia and East Asia. This course looks at the people and cultures of these two distinct yet intertwined regions by examining pirates, film, fashion, cosmologies, health practices, food, subsistence strategies, sultans, capitalist despotic rulers, genocides, and other contemporary challenges. The backdrop for these examinations are theories of post-coloniality, political economy, and personhood. This course has an optional writing credit component.