Module EAST2161: JAPANESE AND KOREAN ORIGINS

Department: EAST ASIAN STUDIES

EAST2161: JAPANESE AND KOREAN ORIGINS

Prerequisites

• None.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To discuss the context and content of Japanese and Korean pre-history and to examine the structure and role of archaeology in these modern societies.

Content

• This module will cover the chronological development from the Palaeolithic to the C9th AD, with emphasis on the dialectic between issues in Japanese and Korean archaeology and method/theory/analysis.
• Michaelmas Term schedule - Introduction: geography, climate and languages, study tools; the common development trajectory of Korea and Japan versus China; Palaeolithic Peoplings; Stone Tool Kits (including hands-on experience); Affluent foragers and poor relatives; Settlements and sedentism; the transition to agriculture; ceramics (including hands-on experience).
• Epiphany Term Schedule - Bronze-Age Korea; Bronze and Iron in Yayoi Japan; Paddy Field Archaeology; the establishment of the Lelang commandery; Mirrors and Mounded Tombs; the emergence of an Elite; the Korean Straits Iron Trade; Sibling states; the Horserider Theory of State Formation; Archaic states.
• Easter Term Schedule - Seminar on "Origins of the Japanese and Korean Peoples"; Seminar on "Origins of the Japanese and Korean States"; review for exam.

Learning Outcomes

• A thorough knowledge of the cultural periodization schemes of Korea and Japan from the Palaeolithic through the C8th AD, ensured by testing for knowledge of period date, controversies over period divisions, and the developmental theories underlying the divisions on final exam.
• A general knowledge of the cultural successions within the above periodization schemes, ensured by testing by essay questions aimed at comparing and contrasting the period contents between Korea and Japan on final exam.
• A detailed knowledge of aspects of the origins of the Japanese and Korean peoples, the origins of the Japanese and Korean states, ensured by termly essays on aspects of these topics.
• A general ability to identify material objects from the different cultural periods of Korea and Japan, ensured by testing for object recognition on final exam.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• .

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Two essays, one each in Michaelmas and Epiphany terms.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University