British India

For Monday's class please read Murphey, chapter 14, to page 281 (15 pages), and for Wednesday's class read the remainder of the chapter (16 pages). The topic is British ascendancy and rule in India. Please be prepared to answer the review questions at the end of the chapter.

Movie suggestions:

• Ilo Ilo (Singapore, 2013) [Asian Financial Crisis, Family Life]
• Laksar Pelangi (Indonesia, 2008) [School Kids in the 70s]
• Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Thailand, 2010) [1960-present, reincarnation] 
• The Vertical Ray of the Sun (Vietnam, 2001) [Women in modern Hanoi]
• Throne of Blood (Japan, 1957) [Samurai Macbeth]
• Kano (Taiwan, 2014) [Baseball in Japanese occupied Taiwan]
• Monsoon Wedding (India, 2001) [Modern India]
• Earth (India, 1998) [India/Pakistan Partition]
• To Live (China, 1994) [Communist China]
• Jodha Akbar (India, 2008) [Mughal India]

Tokugawa Japan

For Monday's class, please read Murphey, chapter 12, on Tokugawa Japan (14 pages), and for Wednesday's class read Murphey, chapter 13, on the increasing contact between Asia and the West (20 pages). Be prepared to answer the chapter review questions.

M is for Midterm

In preparation for the midterm exam, please make a suggestion for an essay question in the comments below. The question should be broad and thematic. The answer to the question should be found in the textbook, and preferably drawn from more than one chapter.

UPDATED 10/15/18
The midterm will be made up of a map quiz and the following two essays:

1. What influence did India and China each have on Southeast Asia? (please be very specific)
2. What is the significance of the monsoon for the region we are studying? (socially, culturally, commercially, historically, politically, agriculturally, etc.)

M is for Mongol, Mughal, Ming, and Manchu

For Monday's class, please read Murphey, chapter 10, on Mughal India and Central Asia (20 pages), for Wednesday's class read Murphey, chapter 11, just to p. 216 (15 pages) on the last dynasties of China, and for Friday's class read the rest of chapter 11. Be prepared to answer the chapter review questions.

Heads up! Next week we will review and have the midterm exam on chapters 1-11.

Japan and Korea

We will continue discussion of China on Monday. Please read Murphey, chapter 9 (22 pages), for Wednesday and be prepared to answer the review questions on page 176f.

And check out this amazing site from the Asian Art Museum--you'll be glad you did.

Southeast Asian Civilization

For this coming week, please read Murphey, chapter 7, on Southeast Asian civilization (15 pages) by Monday and Murphey, chapter 8, for more on Chinese civilization (20 pages) by Wednesday. Blog posts are due by midnight on Wednesday.

If you didn't get to see the video on the engineering history of the Chinese empire, or didn't get enough of it, you can find it here on YouTube.

Chinese & Indian Civilizations

For this coming week, please read Murphey, chapter 5, on Chinese civilization (22 pages) by Monday and Murphey, chapter 6, for more on Indian civilization (14 pages) by Wednesday.

Blog posts are due by midnight on Wednesday.

As noted in class today, there are some nice opportunities for extra credit. The Mid-Autumn Festival will be celebrated in San Francisco this Sunday. The Asian Art Museum in SF has loads of interesting exhibits, including a new one on contemporary painting from Mithila, an ancient cultural region of India (see image below). The museum is free on the first Sunday of every month.

If you have suggestions and recommendations for things to do, please leave a note in the comments.