DHP P272 - China's Frontiers

Course Description

This seminar examines the significance of China’s frontiers for Chinese foreign policy, Asian security, and international relations. The course will move geographically, taking students from Vietnam to the South China Sea, by way of the Tibetan plateau, Central Asia, the Mongolian steppe, and the Diaoyu (or Senkaku) islands, to name a few. Students will consider the different forces that come into play in a frontier region, such as ethnicity, trade, boundary disputes, and geography. The course is multidisciplinary: students are encouraged to take advantage of perspectives from history, anthropology, political science, economics, and journalism. Students are expected to produce a 15-30 page research paper. The assignments of an annotated bibliography, a précis, and a rough draft are meant to facilitate the writing process.