EAST4520 – Topics in East Asian Societies and Politics
Course description
Course content
This course focuses on one or more central topics in the field of East Asian societies and politics.
Such topics may include the formation of modern ideological paradigms, nationalism, gender, modern family and education, media, mass culture, etc.
Modern East Asia is a highly diverse region, politically as well as socially, and the course will encourage students to approach the study of East Asia comparatively across Japan, the two Koreas and/or China. During the course, the thematic topics will be studied in the context of major theoretical approaches relevant to the analysis of East Asian modernity.
The course includes reading, analysis and discussion of East Asian sources in English translations. Training in essay writing and oral presentation is an integrated part of the course.
Learning outcome
- You will learn to identify, summarize, and analyze sources directly relevant to the study of key topics in the field of modern East Asia’s societies and politics.
- Through teacher guided writing of an essay, you will learn to present academic knowledge in a written form, and through class presentations and oral discussions the student will learn to present and debate academic knowledge orally.
Admission
Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.
If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.
Prerequisites
Formal prerequisite knowledge
Please see the admission requirements defined by the programme option East Asian Culture and History.
Teaching
The course is taught through a combination of lectures and seminars organised as 12 classes of 2 hours each throughout the semester.
The course presupposes active participation in class.
As an obligatory assignment the students have to hand in an outline, including a bibliography, of their paper. The assignment must be approved by the teacher in order to take the exam. An approved assignment is only valid for one semester.
Guidelines for compulsory tuition activities at the Faculty of Humanities.
Examination
The obligatory assignment must be approved by the teacher in order to take the exam (please see "Teaching").
The exam consists of one written and one oral part:
The oral part consists of an oral presentation in class. All students need to provide a hand-out of their presentation.
The written part consists of an essay of 6-8 pages (2300 characters per page, not including spaces) on a subject approved by the teacher. The essay should be based on both East Asian and English sources.
The essay is to be submitted in Inspera within the given deadline.
The oral part counts for 25 % of the final grade and the written part counts for 75 % of the final grade.
Information about writing and submitting assignments at IKOS.
Use of sources and citation
You should familiarize yourself with the rules that apply to the use of sources and citations. If you violate the rules, you may be suspected of cheating/attempted cheating.
Examination support material
No examination support material is allowed.
Language of examination
The examination text is given in English, and you submit your response in English.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.
Explanations and appeals
Resit an examination
Withdrawal from an examination
It is possible to take the exam up to 3 times. If you withdraw from the exam after the deadline or during the exam, this will be counted as an examination attempt.
Special examination arrangements
Application form, deadline and requirements for special examination arrangements.
Evaluation
The course is subject to continuous evaluation. At regular intervals we also ask students to participate in a more comprehensive evaluation.