67711 - Sociology of Asiatic Countries

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course students will know the main social, political and cultural transformations occurred in Asian countries that were triggered by the encounter with European countries and the United States, as well as those currently ongoing within the context of today's economic globalization. Students will be able to analyze the processes of identity construction at both the regional and national levels, and to deconstruct the concepts of racial, ethnic and cultural identity, with particular reference to the People's Republic of China and Japan. Furthermore, students will have acquired the main theoretical and methodological tools for the critical analysis of various types of texts (linguistic and non-linguistic). Finally, they will also have fully developed interpersonal communication skills among peers to carry out group researches as well as those for conducting individual work, presenting the results by adopting an academic and scientific language.

Course contents

The course focuses on the main social, political and cultural transformations in Asia, with a focus on China and Japan. It can be ideally divided into two parts. The first part is concerned with the social, cultural and political transformations in Asian countries caused by the arrival of Europe and the United States. It then proceeds with the analysis of China and Japan in the context of today's globalization. In this first part, the main aim is to examine the role that the movements of ideas, people and capitals have had and still have in the processes of identity creation, providing the fundamental tools to analyse and deconstruct the concepts of racial, ethnic and cultural identity. In the second part, the discussion will be thematic and will focus on specific case studies.

The course also is carried out by means of multimodal materials, their analysis and discussion.

Furthermore, the course includes an introduction of methodologies belonging to the field of social science. A focus on Communication Studies and their use in the field of social sciences will provide students with useful tools to interpret and understand the materials discussed during the lessons.

Readings/Bibliography

PPT slides will be available on the IOL platform week-by-week.

Compulsory bibliography:

• Said, Edward, “Introduction”, in Orientalism. New York: Vintage Book, 1979.
• The following chapters in Tamara Jacka, Andrew B. Kipnis, Sally Sargeson. Contemporary China: Society and Social Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013:
  

1. - Introduction
2. - Cap. 1 Families, Kinship and Relatedness
3. - Cap 3 Citizenship, Household Registration and Migration
4. - Cap. 5 Wok
5. - Cap. 7 Ethnicity
6. - Cap.8 Education and Cultivation of Citizens
7. - Cap. 10 Social Class and Stratification
8. - Cap. 12 The Woman Question and Gender inequalities
   

• The following chapters in Sugimoto, Yoshio. An Introduction to Japanese Society. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010 (IV edizione):

1. - Cap. 1 The Japan Phenomenon and the Social Sciences
2. - Cap 2 Class and Stratification: An Overview
3. - Cap 4 Forms of Work in Cultural Capitalism
4. - Cap. 6 Gender Stratification and the Family System
5. - Cap. 7 ‘Japaneseness’, Ethnicity, and Minority Groups

 

• Dirlik, Arif, Chinese History and the Question of Orientalism, History and Theory 35(4), 1996.

Recommend readings and additional materials will be available on the IOL platform.

Teaching methods

Frontal lectures with Power Point presentations and multimedia materials. The active participation of students in the classroom discussion is strongly encouraged.

Assessment methods

The final exam consists of a written test of 3 open questions to be carried out in one hour and thirty minutes.  By  sitting at the written test of 3 questions only, students can obtain a maximum score of 27 out of 30 (each question has a maximum score of 9). Students who want to integrate - in order to  obtain a grade of 30 - have two options:

- present in class (in the second half of the course) a piece of research carried out with a few colleagues. 

- write an in-depth paper on a topic agreed with the teacher and delivered by the dates indicated for each exam session.

Teaching tools

Slides and multimedia materials. Furthermore, in addition to the lectures, some seminars held by experts in the fields of Japanese and Sinology will be organised. These activities are an integral part of the exam program.

Office hours

See the website of Beatrice Gallelli