ASIAN 4415

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  • Schedule of Classes - October 16, 2017 11:09AM EDT
  • Course Catalog - June 14, 2017 7:15PM EDT

ASIAN 4415
Sex, Science, and Revolution in Asia, 1500-2000

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2016-2017.

Visions of bodily corruption have preoccupied ruler and ruled alike in Asia, and prompted campaigns for moral, medical, and legal reform in periods of both stability and revolution.  This seminar, designed for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, explores the links between sexual, political, and scientific revolutions in Asia from the 1500s to the present.  The focus is on China and Japan, with secondary attention to South Asia and Korea.  Interaction with the West is a major theme.  Topics include disease control, birth control and population control, the history of masculinity, the science of sex, normative and stigmatized sexualities, honorific violence, body modification, fashion, disability, and eugenics.  We first explore the body in "traditional" Asian cultures, legal regimes, and medical practice.  We then explore the modernization of sex, health, and the body itself under the major rival political movements in Asia: imperialism, nationalism, communism, and feminism.

When Offered Spring.

Breadth Requirement (GB)
Distribution Category (HA-AS)

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Syllabi: none

  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: FGSS 4127, HIST 4127

  • 4 Credits Graded

  • 17322 ASIAN 4415   SEM 101

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