Was East Asia a natural region—or historically made?
Tuesday, September 15
Tuesday & Thursday10:25 a.m.–12:10 p.m.Main Hall 211
A teaching workspace for the histories, sources, maps, and discussions that shape premodern East Asia.
Come ready to test the day’s question with evidence and conversation.
Was East Asia a natural region—or historically made?
Question and evidence
Each meeting begins with a historical problem and tests it against sources, maps, and counterevidence.
Course tools
Student destinations
Coming meetings
19 total
| Tue Sep 15 | Was East Asia a natural region—or historically made? |
|---|---|
| Thu Sep 17 | What can objects and inscriptions establish? |
| Tue Sep 22 | Why accept a conquering dynasty? |
View all 19 meetings
| Tue Sep 15 | Was East Asia a natural region—or historically made? |
|---|---|
| Thu Sep 17 | What can objects and inscriptions establish? |
| Tue Sep 22 | Why accept a conquering dynasty? |
| Thu Sep 24 | Can moral formation overcome violence and inequality? |
| Tue Sep 29 | Are people the problem, or political institutions? |
| Thu Oct 1 | Why did Qin unification fail? |
| Tue Oct 6 | Does an empire serve society or extract from it? |
| Thu Oct 8 | Why did empire fragment into durable political worlds? |
| Tue Oct 13 | Why did Buddhism flourish amid political division? |
| Thu Oct 15 | Copying China—or creating new political worlds? |
| Tue Oct 20 | 馬大王之清談 |
| Tue Oct 27 | Was Tang cosmopolitanism strength or instability? |
| Thu Oct 29 | Can regional order exist without universal empire? |
| Tue Nov 3 | Who gained from the Song transformation? |
| Thu Nov 5 | Why could the Mongols defeat richer states? |
| Tue Nov 10 | Did Mongol rule connect or harden East Asia? |
| Thu Nov 12 | Why describe innovation as restoration? |
| Tue Nov 17 | Was maritime prohibition really isolation? |
| Thu Nov 19 | Could governments control the markets they needed? |
Online final via Canvas
Sunday, November 22, 2026