Assignment: East Asian Thought in Comparative Perspective
Course Description
The purpose of this course is to provide students with an analytic introduction to East Asian political thought and culture from 551 BC to the present.
Assignments
If you need help writing these essays, you are encouraged to make an appointment with the UCSD writing center. Specific deadlines, instructions, and submission guidelines will be announced when the exam prompts are posted to TritonEd. The midterm prompts are included on the final page of this document.
Course Resources
Lectures will be available via podcast. Prof. Magagna's notes from each lecture will be posted to TritonEd as well.
Readings
• Yao, X. 2000. An Introduction to Confucianism. Cambridge University Press. (Read entire book.)
• C.C. Tsai. 2018. The Analects: An Illustrated Edition. Princeton University Press. (Read entire book.) Weeks 6 - 10:
• de Bary, W.T. et al. 1999. Sources of Chinese Tradition, Volume 1: From Earliest Times to 1600. Columbia University Press. (Read sections on Mencius, Xunzi, Confucius and the Analects, plus either Zhu Xi or Wang Yangming sections.)
Teaching Assistants
The TAs for this course are Mariana Carvalho Barbosa, Todd Levinson, Stan Oklobdzija, Michael Seese, and Liesel Spangler. The TAs will not hold regular office hours. At least one TA will be present at every lecture; students are encouraged to approach the TA with questions either before or after the class session.
Directions
You will be required to submit a digital copy of your paper to the Turnitin link on TritonEd. Please retain a copy of your submission confirmation, in case there are any technical issues with your submission.
Write 6-7 pages for each response, except for Prompt 1. If you select Prompt 1, you must write 8-10 pages.
• Use standard formatting with:
- Double spacing,
- 11 or 12 point font (Times, Helvetica, Calibri, etc.),
- 1 inch margins,
- No more than 1 inch of space dedicated to title and header,
- No extraneous space between paragraphs or headers.
• Include the number of the prompt you are responding to.
• Cite lecture and class readings where appropriate;
- Include a bibliography and in-text citations,
- You may use any standard citation style, (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.),
- Do not use outside sources,
Do not include pictures, charts, or figures in your responses. Please do not copy / paste lecture notes into the text of your response.
• Stay on topic.
Prompts
Choose and respond to one of the prompts below.
1. Explain the paradox of proper order and illustrate it with the work of the district magistrate. (8-10 pages, source: lectures)
2. Explain the core concepts of East Asian thought. (6-7 pages, sources: Yao and lectures)
3. Explain the Analects used in the lectures and the illustrated Analects. (6-7 page, sources: lectures, Illustrated Analects)
4. Explain the problem of elite regulation. (6-7 pages, sources: lectures, de Bary, Yao)
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also Include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.