Asian Studies
Objectives
a) To provide students with the necessary skills to be able to understand the Asian continent;
b) To understand the enormous heterogeneity and History of this continent as well as to be able to recognize and contextualize the particular characteristics of the Asian regions: East, Southeast, South, Central and Western;
c) To study the main Asian countries at their regional levels taking into account the political, economic and social dimensions;
d) To critically discuss the impact of the rise of India and China in the regional contexts and their relationship with Europe and the USA;
e) To critically discuss the several approaches that portrait the 21st century as the century of Asia or of the Pacific.
General characterization
Code
722071087
Credits
10.0
Responsible teacher
Ana Raquel Coutinho Rosa Vaz Pinto
Hours
Weekly - Available soon
Total - 280
Teaching language
Portuguese
Prerequisites
Available soon
Bibliography
SHAMBAUGH, David, YAHUDA, Michael (2014), International Relations of Asia, New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
YAHUDA, Michael (2011), The International Politics of the Asia Pacific: Since 1945, New York: Routledge.
FRANKOPAN, Peter (2015), The Silk Roads, A New History of the World, London: Bloomsbury.
ECONOMY, Elizabeth C. (2018), The Third Revolution, Xi Jinping and the New Chinese State, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
ROY, Olivier (2009), The New Central Asia, Geopolitics and the Birth of Nations, London and New York: I. B. Tauris.
AYRES, Alyssa (2018), Our Time has Come, How India is making its place in the world, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
AUSLIN, Michael R. (2017), The End of the Asian Century, War, Stagnation, and the Risks to the World's most dynamic region, New Haven and London: Yale University Press
MCGREGOR, Richard (2017), Asia's reckoning, the struggle for global dominance, London: Allen Lane.
Teaching method
Theoretical and practical teaching with interactive lectures by the professor and based on previously selected bibliography. Besides the discussion resulting from the readings the essay proprosal will be presented and debated in classes.
Evaluation consists in a written exam on the themes studied in Part I of the programme and in the writing of an individual essay (7500 words including notes and excluding bibliography, either in portuguese or english) on one of the topics of Parts II and III of the Programme of course, being that the specific theme of the essay needs to be previously approved by the professor. The discussion of the readings and participation in classes will also be evaluated.
Evaluation method
Método de Avaliação - Essay(50%), Participation in classes and presentation(20%), Written Exam(30%)
Subject matter
Nowadays it is very common to portrait the 21st century as the Asian or Pacific century. To understand and to critically reflect upon this perspective we opted to centre our course on three pillars: a characterization of the continent, an analysis of its five regions and the way India and China relate to the rest of the world.
Part I: The rise of Asia
I. The Heterogeneity and History of Asia
II. The post-1945 Asian dynamism: the political and economic affirmation
III. The main regions and its particular characteristics: East, Southeast, South, Central and Western
Part II: Asia and its regions
IV. Eastern Asia and the leadership of China
V. Southeast Asia and the search for an identity
VI. India and South Asia
VII. Central Asia and the challenges of a post-soviet world
VIII. The rediscovery of Western Asia
Parte III: Asia and the World
IX. India and China and their relationships with Europe and the USA: a strategic analysis
X. The Asian or Pacific 21st century?
Programs
Programs where the course is taught: