Coursework

Throughout my academic career, I have continuously sought out classes that enhanced my world view and cultural competencies, while also being related to my passion for Asian Studies. I have been able to take Asian-focused classes in various departments to understand complexities not only from a continental perspective (North American v. Asian), but also from the perspective of different countries and cultures found in Asia. My coursework has allowed me to purse and research a diverse range of political issues directly relating to the Asia continent as well as lead me to be knowledgeable in a variety of disciplines.

 

Major Course Descriptions

The courses below provide descriptions of my upper-level political science classes that have directly related to my interests in U.S. foreign policy, international relations, and/or Asian politics and political history.

PS 1328: Authoritarian Statecraft & Resistance

Authoritarian Statecraft & Resistance was an extremely interesting class. Through the study of political institutions found through major East and Southeast Asian countries, I studied the different methods of retaining power within an authoritarian government while also understanding why there is an increasing amount of pressure for democracy and transparency through this region. The regimes that were studies included a wide range including “Asian tiger” democracies (South Korea, Taiwan), more recent democracies (Indonesia, East Timor), transitional regimes (Burma, Thailand), as well as authoritarian systems (China, Vietnam), among others. I finished the class with a research paper analyzing the role Confucianism plays when establishing authoritarian governments in East Asia.

PS 1378: Building Democracy Around the World

It has been theorized that democracies form in “waves,” or major surges, in the course of history. The latest wave (the Third Wave of Democracy) began during the 1970s in Western Europe, picked up pace in South America during the 1980s, and continued with democracy in African countries during the 1990s. In PS1378, we aimed to take a closer look at these democratic transformations in the most recent wave to understand the following:

  1. Why it was in particular historical moments that such waves of social transformation took place
  2. The role of particular social movements in democratization
  3. The ways in which the meaning of democracy has been debated since the breakthrough of the late eighteenth century
  4. The role of established elites in democratization, both as reformers and as resisters
  5. the ways in which democratizing processes in some countries have powerfully effect political processes elsewhere

This class finished by analyzing the processes, prospects and perils for the current and potential democratic transitions, such as the Arab Spring, which some have dubbed as the Fourth Wave of Democracy.

PS 1511: American Foreign Policy

This course covered the foreign policy actions taken by the United States starting from the end of World War II to current day while analyzing the decision making process led by the president of the United States. We studied the how US policy evolved when faced with one of the greatest ideological conflicts in human history: The Cold War, the conflict between communist and capitalist worlds. After studying the policy actions taken during the Cold War, we explored how US foreign policy has changed during the post-Cold War geopolitical order and the challenged it faced after 9/11.

PS 1538: Politics of Oil and Natural Resources

I have always found the way natural resources affect politics interesting due to the fact that that we have no control over the placement of resources, particularly oil. Some countries have been naturally endowed with an abundance of oil resources and some have been endowed with close to nothing. The way that these two groups of countries interacted was studied in this course. We studied various countries with the largest oil resources in regions such as the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa. In addition, we studied how these resources impacted the formation of their political systems and how it still influences their international relations. Lastly, we finished the course discussing what is known as the “resource curse theory.”

PS 1541: Politics of Global Economic Relations

In order to supplement my interest in understanding how politics can affect global markets (and vice versa), I elected to take Politics of Global Economic Relations. I thought that this class was interesting in the fact that it was able to combine, both, my political science and economics majors. Through this class, I studied four key time periods: the Golden Age under Pax Britannica, the Interwar Years, Bretton Woods and the Cold War, and the current era of economic globalization. For the final project, I created four visualizations to complement these time periods.

PS 1604: Myth, Propaganda, and the State

PS 1604 was the first political theory class that I took during the Spring semester of the Junior Year. In all reality, I elected to take this class because I heard amazing reviews about the professor – little did I know that this class would end up being my favorite political science class in my undergraduate career.

Myth, Propaganda, and the State aims to study how the use of narrative(s) support regimes. Throughout the class, we studied how story, myth, propaganda, and indoctrination have been used by political actors to build, sustain, and/or destroy regimes. It is no question that myths and tales are an important part of Asian culture. This course helped me understand the blending of this aspect of culture with the workings of current Asian governments. Specifically, I was able to analyze this through the importance of myth during Imperial Japan in my paper titled, “Mythological Influence on National Identity Through Ethno-Symbolism in Imperial Japan.” In addition, I created my own propaganda advocating for nuclear non-proliferation through the use of a paper crane and nuclear warfare’s impact on post-WWII Japan.

Certificate Course Descriptions

In order to complete the Asian Studies Certificate, a student must complete courses equal to two years of college-level study of an Asian language and five classes about or related to the Asian continent (with one course being in the major requirement).

Korean Language, Years 1 & 2

I have rigorously studied the Korean language through courses offered by Pitt during the first two years of my undergraduate career – eventually culminating to my study abroad experience.

PS 0300: Comparative Politics

As an introductory political science course, PS0300 provided a the basic information about a range of political systems outside of the United States. This information provided a strong foundation for examining major theories about politics – a skill I have used in all political science classes. This class also enhanced my interest in the idea of American exceptionalism by helping me view the government and the politics of the United States in a comparative perspective.

 

KOREAN 1023: Aspects of the Korean Language

I elected to take Aspects of the Korean Language as part of my Asian Studies Certificate. I felt that this class complemented my Korean Language courses in the fact that not only was I able to practice my reading and writing, but I was also able to learn sociolinguistic aspects and history of the Korean alphabet and spoken language. By the end of the semester, I had gained enough linguistic knowledge of Korean language to write my term paper on epenthesis found in the Korean language.

HAA 0020: Introduction to Asian Art

I decided to join the Asian Studies Academic Community during the freshman year. One of the requirement of this academic community was to take Introduction to Asian Art as an elective. The course covered ancient art from Korea, China, Japan, and India while incorporating important religious and social factors in our analysis. By studying the art of these countries, I was able to gain a deeper understanding of various factors within Asian culture.

HIST 0401: Modern East Asian Civilization

As we have seen in recent decades, the countries found in the Eastern region of Asia have proved to be extremely influential in global economy as well as global security. This can be seen by such instances as China introducing itself as a modern industrial nation and Japan being a major post-industrial world power. Meanwhile, there is also the stark contrasts between the Koreas – South Korea enjoying comfortable standards of living while impoverished North Korea threatens the world with its nuclear program. Modern East Asian Civilization surveys the history of China, Japan, and Korea from 1840 to the present, with the goal of uncovering the rise in East Asia through history.