Courses

Two-term directed research project under the supervision of a ladder faculty member. Students should write essays using materials in East Asian languages when possible. Essays should be based on primary material, whether in an East Asian language or English. Summary of secondary material is not acceptable.

The holdings of the Yale Univerity Library include numerous collections of invaluable pre-modern Japanese documents, including many, such as the “Kyoto Komonjo” collection, which make it possible to delve deep into the history of Tokugawa period (1600–1868) Japan. In the last two years, moreover, the Council on East Asian Studies has been able to acquire a variety of fascinating new collections of Tokugawa period documents to augment the library’s existing holdings. As a result, students at Yale now have the opportunity to use unpublished primary sources to study various aspects of Tokugawa period history in a way that is rarely possible outside of Japan. This course is intended to help graduate students and properly qualified undergraduates build the advanced skills, knowledge, and confidence needed to engage these kinds of materials independently and use them to pursue a variety of historical research topics.

Directed reading and research on a topic approved by the DGS and advised by a faculty member (by arrangement) with expertise or specialized competence in the chosen field. Readings and research are done in preparation for the required master’s thesis.

Directed reading and research on a topic approved by the DGS and advised by a faculty member (by arrangement) with expertise or specialized competence in the chosen field. Readings and research are done in preparation for the required master’s thesis.

By arrangement with faculty and with approval of the DGS.

By arrangement with faculty and with approval of the DGS.

In recent times, world cinema has witnessed the rise of South Korean cinema as an alternative to Hollywood and includes many distinguished directors such as Park Chan-wook, Lee Chang-dong, Kim Ki-duk, and Bong Joon-ho. This course explores the Korean film history and aesthetics from its colonial days (1910-1945) to the hallyu era (2001-present), and also analyzes several key texts that are critical for understanding this field of study. How is Korean cinema shaped by (re)interpretations of history and society? How do we understand Korean cinema vis-à-vis the public memories of the Korean War, industrialization, social movements, economic development, and globalization? And how do aesthetics and storytelling in Korean cinema contribute to its popularity among local spectators and to its globality in shaping the contours of world cinema? By deeply inquiring into such questions, students learn how to critically view, think about, and write about film. 

This course examines the global new media situation through the lens of Korean and Chinese screen cultural interactions. Students explore the evolution of these interactions from the early twentieth century to the contemporary Hallyu era (late 1990s-present). The term “Hallyu” (한류/韓流), initially coined in Chinese as “hanliu” (韩流), has become a widely recognized term for Korea’s media cultural influence. The screen-based cultural diffusion of Hallyu—encompassing Korean films, K-dramas, K-pop, TV reality shows, video games, and social media—spreads Korean culture, values, and lifestyle globally, establishing Seoul as a new pop-culture hub. Hallyu first gained popularity in Asia, especially China and Japan, before extending its influence on other areas including the Middle East, Latin America, Europe, and the United States, becoming a global media phenomenon. Despite its worldwide impact, In North American academia, studies on Hallyu’s reception in film, media, and cultural studies still predominantly revolve around the U.S. as the primary focus, serving as the entry and exit point for the study of understanding and analyzing other cultures. This course seeks to shift that perspective by emphasizing Global Asias in world cinema, media, and cultural studies, offering an alternative to the Western views on global media dynamics. Students explore under-discussed themes and topics in media and cultural studies, such as transnational screen cultural interactions, collaborative productions, inter-Asian media exchanges, cultural boycotts, geopolitical tensions,(trans)nationalism, cultural affinity and resistance

For three decades after China’s economic opening in 1979, and especially after China’s 2001 accession to the WTO, U.S.-China economic relations were based on a U.S. assumption that China would integrate into the U.S.-backed international economic order. China’s rapid growth and adherence to a state-oriented economic model, however, combined with globalization’s challenges to the liberal economic system, have significantly increased tensions between the world’s two biggest economies. This course examines the factors driving economic friction between the United States and China, and is divided into four sections. The course is taught by a practitioner who spent over a decade managing U.S. Government economic policy in and on China.

This is a course about when governments borrow from foreign lenders and the political causes and consequences of the decision to borrow. To enable us to focus on politics, some training in economics is required. We begin by reviewing the internal determinants of China’s external lending behavior. Next, we study how international finance collides with domestic politics creating both opportunities and challenges for borrowers. The second half of the course surveys topics of contemporary importance: how effective is Chinese economic statecraft? Can China expect to be repaid in full? Will the renminbi become a global reserve currency?

In the decades after 1979, China’s adherence to key tenets of the U.S.-backed liberal international economic system enabled it to achieve middle income status. After the 2008-9 global financial crisis, however, weaknesses in the U.S. model combined with China’s own sustained growth increased Beijing’s confidence in an alternative, state-oriented model that increasingly underpins China’s foreign economic engagement. This course examines the Global Security and Belt and Road initiatives, trade, investment, and development policies, international organization advocacy, business practices, and other aspects of China’s growing international economic footprint. These factors are analyzed from the perspective of China’s internal dynamics, competition with the United States, and overall foreign policy goals, and are evaluated for their impact on the prevailing global economic order. The course is taught by a practitioner who spent over a decade managing U.S. Government economic policy in and on China.

The global movement of people that occurred in the aftermath of the Second World War is often evoked today. It’s used as a benchmark against which the scale and scope of the current global refugee crisis is measured. However, histories of this ‘global’ post-1945 crisis of displaced people have mainly focused on Europe, especially the aftermath of the Holocaust. This was a global war, but historical work on its aftermath for those displaced by fighting, genocidal regimes, and wartime mobilization is far less global in scope. Unlike in Europe after 1945, where, as historian Tony Judt writes, “boundaries stayed broadly intact and people were moved instead,” in East Asia, “both people and boundaries moved.” In this seminar, we look at the histories of the wartime and postwar movement of people in Asia, especially those mobilized or displaced by the wartime expansionist Japanese state, its colonial governments, and military forces.