History 370:
Women and Gender in East Asia

Dr. Yi-Li Wu

208 Robinson Hall
E-mail: ywu@albion.edu

Course description

The goal of this course is to help you think critically about the social, economic, and political factors that have shaped women's lives in China, Japan, and Korea over the last four centuries. We will examine how East Asian men and women constructed norms of female behavior in different historical periods, how gender differences were institutionalized in social structures and practices, and how these norms and institutions changed over time. We will also analyze how women negotiated, challenged, or even exploited these dominant gender norms in pursuing their own goals and aspirations. The course will be divided into three units: traditional gender norms, women during the 19th and early 20th-century, and gender in the late 20th century. The available scholarship on China, Japan, and Korea varies as to emphasis and chronological coverage, so not all topics will be covered equally for all three countries. Insofar as possible, however, we will also compare gender differences and similarities across cultures.

The class is run as a discussion seminar. Course requirements include class participation (25%) and three 7 page papers (25% each).

There is no prerequisite for this course.

History 370 fulfills the Gender category requirement.

See most recent syllabus.

See Paper #4 Assignment