Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes Robert A. Scalapino, the Robson Research Professor of Government Emeritus and founding Director of the Institute of East Asian Studies at U.C Berkeley. Professor Scalapino discusses Berkeley's evolution as a leading center for Asian Studies, analyzes the synergy between academic research and foreign policy, and comments on the transformation of America's relationship with Asia which he has witnessed over the course of his six decade career. (55 minutes)

This subject examines the interactions of East Asia with the rest of the world and the relationships of each of the East Asian countries with each other, from ca. 1500 to 2000 A.D. Primary focus on China and Japan, with some reference to Korea, Vietnam, and Central Asia. Asks how international diplomatic, commercial, military, religious, and cultural relationships joined with internal processes to direct the development of East Asian societies. Subject addresses perceptions and misperceptions among East Asians and foreigners.

India and South Asia: From Area Studies to Ethnic Studies
Course design by Rachel Heilman, Issaquah High School.
Developed with the support of Sunila Kale (Associate Professor of International Studies) and the South Asia Center (Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington), with funding from the U.S. Department of Education National Resource Centers Program.

Dear Colleague,

I hope you are able to implement some version of this course at your institution! I have it aligned to Washington State Social Studies Standards, but it is right in line with Common Core-driven expectations and should fit well with any state’s standards. This course also very much supports the new Washington Ethnic Studies Framework.

––Rachel Heilman, March 2022

Course Description

How can understanding a particular region both shape and enhance our understanding of ourselves and the world around us? As we gain knowledge, how do we both recognize and cross the political boundaries we see on maps? In this one-semester course we will use an interdisciplinary approach to examine India and wider South Asia as we work to conceptualize the ways people, power, geography, and the past shape the region. For the purposes of this course South Asia will include Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. In our role as global citizens we will also expand our inquiries to the web of connections between South Asia and our own individual and social identities.

This essay provides context for the Japanese Tea Ceremony. The Way of Tea is composed of a series of acts such as building a fire in the hearth, boiling the water, whisking the green tea powder in a tea bowl, and serving it along with some sweets. Simply put, it is an act in which the host invites the guest to share a bowl of tea together. Indeed, it began as a simple act of making and drinking tea. Over the centuries, however, it was influenced by Zen Buddhism philosophy and became a highly stylized form of art.