From K-pop to Pokémon, from TV drama to video games, this course introduces you to the media and popular cultural scene in one of the most dynamic regions of the world economy today. It gives you the theoretical tool to understand and analyze these media and cultural phenomena. While acknowledging some common defining characteristics of East Asian societies, we will pay attention to the internal diversities, differences and transcultural flows within the region as well as East Asian nations’ connections to the world.

We will start with a brief introduction to the history of the East Asian region (China, Japan, South and North Korea). Then we will closely examine the current media and pop culture scene of East Asia through case studies. Some of the topics include cyber culture and video games in China; night market and food culture Taiwan; Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement; Japan’s anime culture and cat café; Korean popular music and TV drama and its global fans; and the global circulation of Japanese Manga.

By the end of the semester, you should be able to have a basic understanding of East Asian societies and cultures, critically analyze cultural trends and media events using the theories learnt in this class, and be able to engage in productive conversations with people from these societies.