Professor: John Leisure
4 credits
This course explores transpacific connections between the United States and East Asia in the 19th and early 20th century. The course begins by looking at maritime activity in the eastern Pacific, including the arrival of Commodore Perry to Japan in 1853, the Opium Wars in China, and the voyages of American missionaries to the Korean peninsula. We will consider also those who traveled across the Pacific from East Asia, including diplomatic missions to the United States, educational exchanges, and those who worked in and helped build port cities along the west coast of America. Topics include: transpacific travel and trade, maritime technology, national development, diplomacy, empire, and the diffusion of popular culture. Sources include: travel diaries, missionary reports, treaties, newspapers, trade journals, photographs, and woodblock prints.