Maps, Borders, and Conflict in East Asia

(Students enroll for 3 OR 5 units.)The nature of borders and border conflicts in N.E. Asia from the 17th to the early 20th century. Focus is on contact zones between China, Russia, Korea, and Japan. The geopolitical imperatives that drove states to map their terrain in variable ways. Cultural, diplomatic, and imperial contexts. European pressures and contributions to E. Asian cartography; the uses of maps in surveillance, diplomacy, identity, and war. Student projects focus on a contested border zone.