Asia in Western Eyes: Cases of Imperialism and Orientalism in Thought and Action, 2 ECTS

Organiser: University of Jyväskylä

Teachers: Jukka Jouhki (Phd/Docent), Henna-Riikka Pennanen (MA/Doctoral Student), Timo Särkkä (Phd/Senior Assistant).

Examinor: Jukka Jouhki from the Department of History and Ethnology, University of Jyväskylä.

Application Period:
3.-14.9.2012

Time:
24.9.-11.11.2012

Goals: The course aims to give students an understanding of how Asia has been constructed in Western thought and action. The leading question of the course is how Westerners and Western powers have viewed, acted on, and ruled Asian peoples and societies, managed it heterogeneity and defined "the East" as the counterpart of "the West".

Content: The lectures are divided into three sections, the first constructing a background for Western thought tradition towards Asia and the two other sections introducing cases of Western thought on and action in Asia. Section 1. Edward Said's notion of Orientalism and Western attitudes towards Asia. Section 2. Western views and interests in 19th century China, including economic, religious, academic and political ventures. Section 3. Colonized Asia: The case of the British Raj in India.

Target Group:The MA level courses are aimed for students who already have aquired some knowledge about Asia or on the specialty of the particular course.

Taken as:

Lectures (6 x 45 min.) and lecture diary (6-8 pages) including the content of lectures combined with the reading of three related articles (see below). The deadline for lecture diary is TBA. The student will attach the completed lecture diary (PDF, TXT or RTF) in an email and send it to examiner (jukka.jouhki@jyu.fi) with the following subject heading: Asia in the Western Eyes.

Required readings:

1. Jukka Jouhki: Orientalism and India. J@rgonia, No. 8 (2006). Stable URL: http://research.jyu.fi/jargonia/artikkelit/jargonia8.pdf.

2. a) Ryan Dunch: Beyond Cultural Imperialism: Cultural Theory, Christian Missions, and Global Modernity History and Theory, Vol. 41, No. 3 (Oct., 2002), pp. 301-325. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3590688.

or

2. b) Arif Dirlik: Chinese History and the Question of Orientalism. History and Theory, Vol. 35, No. 4, Theme Issue 35: Chinese Historiography in Comparative Perspective (Dec., 1996), pp. 96-118. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2505446

3. Andrew Sartori: The British Empire and Its Liberal Mission. The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 78, No. 3 (September 2006), pp. 623-642. Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/509149.

Note: Article 1. is freely accessible online but 2.-3. are accessible through JSTOR database (in any university library).

Grading: on a scale of 1-5

Application for the course: Application period in September 3.-14. 2012. A maximum of 40 students will be accepted to the course in the order of application.

These courses are free for all students who hold a valid study right in one of the University Network's member universities.

The study fee for students from Finnish non-member universities and students from universities of applied sciences is 50 euro per credit. Students from these institutions need to fill out both the course application as well as an application to study as a non-degree student. More information regarding the process and the form can be found in the study guide.

Please make sure you have familiarized yourself with the course requirements in order to makes sure you have both the time and resources to complete the modules you have chosen.

Drop outs from the courses have come about due to students not reserving enough time for assignments and forgetting the deadlines. When you are accepted to a given course, please write down the exam dates and essay deadlines immeadiately so that you won't forget them.

Meanwhile please visit our webpages for other MA-level courses on Asia.

Before enrolling on the course the students should check with their own home department that this course can be accepted as part of their degree in their own university.