Course Title: East Asian Pop Culture & Media - NOTE:  CMN 455 pre-requisite has been removed from the course.  Freshmen may take this course.  From K-pop to Pokémon, from TV drama to video games, this course introduces you to the media and popular culture 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.

The class is divided into three big sections with each focusing on one East Asian region: Greater China, Japan, and Korea (South and North). In each section, we will start with a brief introduction to the modern history of the region. Then we will examine case studies selected from the region’s media and pop culture realm. Some of the topics include cyberculture 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 its global fans; and everyday life in North Korea depicted in a comic book.

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 learned in this class,  and be able to engage in productive conversations with people from these societies.