GEOGRAPHY 324

EAST ASIA

Spring 2004

INSTRUCTOR : PATRICK BUCKLEY, Assoc. Prof.

Office : AH 222

OFFICE HOURS

Phone : 650-4773 (office)

E-mail : patrick@cc.wwu.edu

READINGS: This course will follow a topical approach (see list below), a wide variety of readings have been selected and are available either in the assigned textbooks, or additional readings through the Web, Library Reserve Room, Map Library...

BOOKS TO BUY

Brown, Lester R. 1995. Who will feed China: wake-up call for a small planet -- paperback -- amazon.com Used & new from $2.20    ISBN 039331409X

Jolivet, Muriel. 1997. Japan: The Childless Society? Routledge: New York. 0-415-14647-X  amazon.com Used & new from $14.25

Starr, John Bryan. 1997. Understanding China: A Guide to China's Economy, History, and Political Structure. Hill and Wang: New York.   0-8090-9489-4  amazon.com Used & new from $6.00

Weiner, Michael. 1997. Japan's Minorities; The Illusion of Homogeneity. Routledge: New York 0-415-15218-6 .amazon.com Used & new from $7.25

THEME: East Asia contains nearly a third of the world's population and following the earlier lead of Japan is rapidly industrializing. Given the pressures on the limited space during this process many social and environmental issues are arising. At the same time our own region is continually increasing its ties to East Asia, thus an understanding of this region is essential to our well being.

GOALS OF THE COURSE: Broad exposure to what the "place" East Asia is from a physical, cultural, economic and political viewpoint. This will be viewed through the following areas:

OUTLINE OF TOPICS TO BE COVERED

1. The Physical and Human Environment

  • --including the physical, climatic and ecological divisions of East Asia
  • and the resulting patterns of human occupation.
    •

    2. The Historical Past and Cultural Heritage

  • --Overview of the historical events leading to modern East Asian nation states with an emphasis on the diffusion and assimilation of ideas, institutions and technology across space.

    --Confucian Heritage and political organization of space.

    --Politics of modern East Asia, Japanese style Meiji-era devolution of democracy and Chinese style Marxist People's democracy.

    •

    3. Demographics

  • --Demographics and aging.

    --One child policy, China's unbalance gender ratio

    --Japan's shrinking population (Women in society -- see also below), and China's stabilizing population

    •

    4. Economy, Agriculture, and Industry, and Regional Equality

  • --Economic Development in China since 1949

    --Unequal Development in China

    --Growing Food issue in China.

    •

    5. Women and Other Minorities

  • --Position of Women in East Asia, the family and the middle class.

    --Minorities in Japan and China

    •

    6. Environment

  • --Current policies and impacts on the environment
    •

    GRADING: Final Grade will be based on the following parts;

     

     Mid-Term & Final

    The mid-term and final will be a combination of multiple choice, short answer, and comparative essay, where the students will have some choice of several questions. The questions will be of a general nature providing the student with a fair degree of freedom in deciding how to answer the question.

    Geographical Short Quizzes

    Early in the quarter, short multiple choice, short answer, map fill-in quizzes will occur for both China and Japan.  After that there will be short multiple choice/ true-false quizzes scheduled for fridays covering important facts in the readings.  The purpose here is to guarantee that students have adequate knowledge of basic geographic facts about both of these countries to be able to understand the more complex materials being discussed in class.  Readings and study guides will be provided for these short quizzes

    Class Participation, Pop Quizzes, and in Class Activities

    Class participation is crucial in a class of this type. This makes it essential that readings be completed before class time. This also makes for a much more invigorating and enjoyable class. Since events unfold extremely rapidly in the modern world, part of the class time may be devoted to a discussion of current events. To gauge class participation, first and foremost attendance is necessary. Pop quizzes based on materials and discussions from previous classes in a very general sense will be used to help judge participation.  Pop quizzes will generally have a single question to be answered in a short sentence or two.

    Group Assignments

    During the quarter there will be two group assignments, the first based on an environmental issue in China and the second on the course readings from the books on gender and minority relationships in Japan.  The second assignment involves both a group report and presentation and discussion built around assigned chapter(s) from the course reading materials plus investigation of similar materials for China.  More details will follow at the time each assignment is made.  Scoring for these assignments are 5 pts for assignment 1, 10 pts for assignment 2 divided equally at 5pts each between the presentation and report.  The group presentations will be video taped so interested students can review their presentation and content delivery skills.

     

    Speakers, and Special Opportunities

    Field Trip:  On Saturday October21st we will visit the Greater Vancouver area to see the Asian impact on the only city in North America with an Asian majority, especially the impact of the Hong Kongese Diaspora.
          
    Extra credit will be available to those willing to write a short report about this field trip.

     

    Letter Grades

    Letter grades will follow a curve of the following nature:

    Academic Honesty

    Note that all University policies on Academic Honesty will be enforced in this class.  See catalog for exact details.

    Schedule and Reading List

    See course web page.