Globalizing East Asia

This summer I took the course called Globalizing East Asia from Seoul National University.

The course explored the changing culture and society of the three East Asian countries, South Korea, China, and Japan. The course also provided glimpses of local popular culture, such as Japanese animation and Korean dramas.

I learned about the changing culture and society of the three East Asian countries, South Korea, China, and Japan. The local culture has transformed over time as it responded to industrialization, war, socialism, expanding capitalist economy, and emerging consumerism.

There were a total of 8 lectures ranging from How Post-War Japan Became a “Model” Country of Modernization to Traditional Korea & Colonial Origins of “Militarized Modernity” to Case Study of McDonald’s in South Korea & China.

For example, ut was interesting to learn about how consumerism began to appear in the 1980s. Early on housing and food were not considered as commodities because they were distributed by the Chinese government. The right to living in a house and living in same conditions depending on who the person worked for. Housing reform occurred in 1991, and people could rent to own their living space and be free from the constant stress of moving.

The course was helped me understand how globalization changed the culture of societies of Japan, China and Korea.