Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996
Synopsis By 1800 much of South and Southeast Asia was under European rule. By the late nineteenth-century China and Japan, though still formally independent, had become subject to varying degrees of European influence. Today, China and India are once again autonomous countries, significant players on the world stage, while Japan bids fair to overtake the USA as the world's strongest economic power. This subject seeks to shed light on this remarkable reversal of Asia's fortunes. How did India, China, and Japan manage to throw off the shackles of imperialism and how did they adjust to the economic and cultural challenge posed by a confident, industrialised and democratising Europe? And what of the future? Does the Japanese `economic miracle' signal the beginning of an era of Asian world dominance? Lectures and tutorials will focus on the big picture, providing thereby a broad, connected survey of Asia's `renaissance' from 1800 to the present; but students will have the opportunity, in essay work, to specialise on areas and themes of their choice.
Assessment Written (2500 words): 60% + Examinations (2 hours): 30% + Seminar participation/class participation: 10%