EAST4510 - Approaches to East Asian Culture and History
Course content
This course focuses on central approaches to the study of East Asian culture and history, in particular the historical interplay between tradition and modernity in Chinese, Japanese, Korean and/or Tibetan cultures. You specialize in one of the four geographical areas, and base your studies on sources in one of the regional languages, but are encouraged to develop a comparative East Asian perspective.
The aim of the course is to prepare you for further studies, both in other master courses and in connection with your master's thesis. Through interactive seminars, you will be trained in identifying, accessing and processing East Asian primary sources and East Asian and English secondary sources, including reference works and digital material. You will also be introduced to relevant theories and methodologies, including textual criticism and fieldwork, and you will learn how to develop research questions and a research project.
Oral and written forms of presentation are an integral part of the course.
Learning outcome
• Methodological and theoretical skills needed to find and
analyze primary and secondary sources for the study of East
Asian culture and history.
• Skills in presenting findings and engaging in academic
dialogue.
• Techniques and genres of academic writing, including how to
develop a project and write a project description.
Admission
Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in StudentWeb.
International applicants, if you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures for international applicants.
The examination in this course is not available for external candidates. Only students admitted to the course may sit for the examination.
Prerequisites
Formal prerequisite knowledge
Id does not exist in shared textAdmission to the MA programme option East Asian Culture and History.
Teaching
The course is taught through a combination of lectures and seminars organised as 20 classes of 2 hrs each throughout the semester. Active participation and at least 80 per cent attendance in class are required.
Access to teaching
A student who has completed compulsory instruction and coursework and has had these approved, is not entitled to repeat that instruction and coursework. A student who has been admitted to a course, but who has not completed compulsory instruction and coursework or had these approved, is entitled to repeat that instruction and coursework, depending on available capacity.
Examination
The exam consists of three equal parts:
1. One oral presentation in class (around 15 minutes).
2. One written essay (8-10 pages, 2300 characters per page, plus
bibliography) on a subject approved by the teacher. The essay
should include analysis of a subject based on both East Asian
primary sources and East Asian and English secondary sources.
3. One project description for the master's thesis (5 pages,
2300 characters per page, plus bibliography)
Each part counts for 1/3 of the final grade.
The written papers (essay and project description) are to be submitted in Fronter within the given deadline. Before submitting your paper, you must electronically sign an "Obligatory statement concerning cheating" in Fronter.
Information on writing and submitting papers at IKOS (only in Norwegian).
Examination support material
No examination support material is allowed.
Language of examination
Id does not exist in shared textEnglish
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.
Explanations and appeals
You may request an explanation of your grades, and you may also appeal against your grades or make a complaint about formal examination errors. Read more about explanations and appeals.
Resit an examination
You can usually resit an exam, but the conditions depend on whether you had a valid reason for absence from the regular exam. Read more about resitting an exam.
Withdrawal from an examination
A student may sit this exam up to 3 times. If a student wishes to withdraw from the exam, s/he must do so in StudentWeb at least two weeks prior to the first day of the exam. Failure to do so will be counted as one of the three opportunities to sit the exam.
Special examination arrangements
If you have a disability or a health problem that entails significant inconvenience in an examination situation, you may be considered for special examination arrangements. Mothers who are breastfeeding may apply for extra time to complete the exam.
Evaluation
Feedback from our students is essential to us in our efforts to ensure and further improve the high quality of our programmes and courses. All courses are subject to continuous evaluation. At regular intervals we also ask students on a particular course to participate in a more comprehensive, periodic evaluation of this course.