HIS 295-05 - Special Topic: Korea and Vietnam: How States are Made and Unmade

4 credits (Spring)

Focuses on colonialsm, war, revolution, state-making, and post-colonial nationalism in two East Asian countries. Both Korea and Vietnam have experienced wrenching transitions in their respective histories-transitions which provide us with important lessons concerning the legacies of Confucian, colonial, and authoritarian rule. This course will attempt to answer the question of how, despite these shared legacies, the contemporary states of North Korea, South Korea, and Vietnam are so different today, as well as why post-colonial unification efforts have failed or succeeded.

Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Instructor: Johnson