History 241: Modern East Asia

• MWF 12:30-1:20
• WTHR 160
• 3 credit hours
• No prerequisites
• Contact me within the first week if you would like to do an honors contract

Professor Tillman

• mmtillman@purdue.edu
• OH: Wednesdays in office or virtually after class; by appointment

Please do not come to class or to my office if you are ill.

Course Description

This course familiarizes students with significant aspects of the cultures, and histories of East Asia, with major themes being different forms of imperialism in the nineteenth century; the rise of modern Japan in the early twentieth century; the impact of World War II on the Cold War; subsequent economic growth and cultural developments in the region.

Course Goals:

• to impart familiarity with the politics and societies of China, Japan, and Korea;
• to instill an appreciation of different cultures, especially through the development of historical imagination;
• to introduce an understanding of historical methods, especially as a tool of criticism and analysis;
• to impart a nuanced understanding of different processes of modernization and their consequences

Learning Objectives:

• to assess a variety of primary sources:
  1. to understand the differences between fiction and non-fiction, and among different types of sources
  2. to see what different types of sources can reveal, and what their limitations are
• to evaluate information:
  1. to read primary sources closely
  2. to interpret information in light of context, chronology, causality, contingency, and complexity
• to write evidence-based arguments:
  1. to write theses that are tenable, argumentative, and relevant
  2. to draw upon sources that are offered in class and in assigned reading
  3. to relate those arguments to the historical narrative
  4. to use reasoned logic, especially regarding context, causality, contingency, and complexity

Required Readings:

Ebrey, Patricia Buckley, and Anne Walthall. Modern East Asia from 1600: A Cultural, Social, and Political History, 3rd Edition. Wadsworth Cengage, 2013.

Ishikawa Tatsuzo trans. Zeljko Cipris, Soldiers Alive (available online on HSSE) Richard Kim, The Martyred (available on BrightSpace)

Additional course readings: via hyperlink on the syllabus or BrightSpace

AI Policy

1. You remain the human in your relationship with the That means that you are the one thinking and directing the machine to work for you, not the other way around. So, for example, use AI to help you with grammar or organization, but make sure that you understand how you are coming to those conclusions. An analogy: When you use a calculator, you should have an idea of why you are adding or subtracting, and also a general estimate of whether a number should increase or decrease. Likewise, you need to have a sense of the parameters of an intellectual exercise. You need to be the creator and to exercise creativity, not a passive recipient of the machine’s output.

2. You disclose to me when and how you use AI. That will include a list of whatever software you use and the prompts that you’ve given to So, examples might include this: “I used X platform and typed in this prompt: ‘xxxxxx.’ I read the result and revised the prompt to say this: ‘xxxxx.’ Then I revised the writing to include A, B, and C, and I added these paragraphs.” If you simply write, “I used AI in this paper,” without further clarification, you will get a zero on the assignment.
3. You are ultimately responsible for any work that you Revise your assignments to make sure that the final product is one that you own and approve of. If you submit an empty or invalid citation, you will get a zero on an assignment.
4. If you do not disclose your use of AI, and software indicates that AI was used, you will get a zero on the assignment.

What happens if I get Covid/RSV/the flu and need to stay home?

First of all, Confucius asserted that your body is a gift that your ancestors gave you, and you thus have a duty to preserve it as much as possible. Taking care of your health is important, and I urge you to get the rest that you need. However, you need to contact me to let me know that you are sick or need to stay home.

There are some things that you can do to keep up with the course material if you need to stay home. First, all classes are recorded online and should be available for you to watch. (However, last semester the cable to our classroom was broken and so this did not work.) Second, all powerpoints should be available to you. Third, you should definitely read the textbook and assigned readings. I would go in this

order because it will help you to understand what we are focusing on in class. Especially in Part 1, we are covering material pretty quickly. For example, our class begins in 1800, but only very briefly. Korea’s Choson dynasty starts in 1392, and so we very, very briefly cover how it began. But if you just read the textbook, you might get bogged down in a lot more complexity about court factions than you need to know for this class. (If you love K-drama and would like to learn more about court life, please take History 240.)

Do you want to try to reduce your carbon footprint? We all have a carbon footprint, and that’s okay. No pressure, but if you want to try to reduce, here are some suggestions:

• Use https://www.ecosia.org and turn off the AI
• Go to class rather than watching

Class components: how they are calculated; what they assess; how they function pedagogically

Course Schedule

Course syllabus is subject to change. Please check BrightSpace once daily for any updates. Updated 1/14