EAS395Y0 Topics in East Asian Studies
This course will begin with an examination of academic theories of leadership and governance, particularly as they apply to the Chinese tradition, and its encounter with the Maoist attempt to reshape Chinese society and politics since 1949. It will finish by looking at Chinese leadership in the new era of Xi Jinping. Beginning with China’s imperial legacy, the failures of governance in the Republican Period (1911–49), the revolutionary successes and failures of Mao Zedong, and finally, the directions of post-Mao China, this course should provide the student with the tools to evaluate China’s role in the world today. Specific topics of interest might include such things as village elections and democratic reform; the nature of, and recent changes within the Communist party; the persistence of Confucianism in China, and the growing importance of the internet and such social networks as Sina Weibo.
Prerequisites: None
Breadth Requirement = Society and its Institutions (3)
Note: Can be counted toward programs in Contemporary Asian Studies at the University of Toronto.
Course Outline 2026.pdf (Tentative)
Field Trips
5-day Field trip in Anhui province
Instructors
Victor Falkenheim holds a joint appointment as Professor Emeritus in the Departments of East Asian Studies and Political Science, specializing in the political economy of contemporary China. He has previously served two terms as Chair of the Department of East Asian Studies and has worked for more than a decade on a number of Canadian development assistance projects in China as well as a consultant on World Bank China projects. His recent work focuses on municipal and rural governance in China.
Professor Richard Guisso is Emeritus Professor in the Department of East Asian Studies where he has taught for more than thirty years, serving two terms as Departmental Chair. His research interests lie in the sphere of Chinese social and cultural history with a special emphasis on gender, and he has published a number of books and articles on subjects related to these areas in the pre-modern period.