Instructor Contact Information 
 Diana Chen Lin, Ph.D. 
Contact: dchenlin@iu.edu 
Office Hours: By appointment 

Prerequisites

None.

 Ever wondered what Godzilla, Pokémon, Studio Ghibli, K-pop, TikTok, C-pop, and global fandoms can tell us about history, politics, technology, identity, and everyday life? In this 8-week asynchronous online course, we will explore Japanese, Korean, and Chinese popular culture as more than entertainment. We will ask how pop culture travels across borders, how fans participate, how governments and industries use “soft power,” and why songs, monsters, anime, idols, memes, and platforms become global. No prior knowledge of East Asian pop culture is required — just curiosity. The course uses short viewings, guided analysis labs, discussion, and a final project where you can research a pop culture example that interests you.

There are two sections of the course, HIST T325 19629 (for IUN students) and HIST T325 36435 (for IU Online students).     

Course description

This course examines modern East Asian popular culture as entertainment, industry, social practice, and historical evidence. We study Japanese film, monsters, anime, manga, games, J-pop, Korean popular music and fandom, Chinese popular music, hip-hop, streaming platforms, and transnational circulation. Rather than asking only whether a work is popular or enjoyable, we ask what popular culture reveals about postwar memory, economic development, youth culture, gender and labor, state cultural policy, platform capitalism, censorship, soft power, and global fandom. Students learn to analyze primary sources from contemporary media while connecting them to historical and cultural contexts. 

Course Outcomes 

1. Identify major developments in modern East Asian popular culture in Japan, Korea, and China. 
2. Analyze pop cultural artifacts as primary sources using evidence from sound, image, narrative, performance, platform, and audience context. 
4. Compare local, regional, and global meanings of East Asian popular culture without reducing them to stereotypes or national branding.
5. Use scholarly and credible contextual sources to build an argument about a pop culture case study. 
6. Communicate analysis in accessible written, visual, audio, or digital formats. Course Readings 

All required readings are online and available from the course’s Canvas website

Descriptions of Course Activities and Assignments

• Weekly readings/viewings from the Canvas weekly modules
• Weekly PlayPosit assignments (weeks 1, 3, 4, 5; due Thursday night @10: 59 pm CT; 10 percent in final grade)
• Weekly discussion forum essays (500 words) (weeks 1-6; due Saturday @10: 59 pm CT; two comments due on Sunday @10: 59 pm CT; 40 percent in final grade)
• Weeks 7 and 8 short writing pieces (500-600 words for week 7; 750-950 words for week 8; 15 percent, due Thursday @ 10: 59 pm CT)
• Weeks 7 and 8 longer research pieces (800-900 words for week 7; 1,000-1,200 words week 8; due Sunday @ 10: 59 pm CT; 35 percent in final grade)

Course schedule

Week 1 (Aug. 24-30)The development of J-Pop
PlayPosit and discussion assignments

Week 2 (Aug. 31-Sept. 6) Postwar Japan, Gojira and memory
Gojira viewing and discussion assignments  

Week 3 (Sept. 7-13) Japanese anime and global capitalism
PlayPosit and discussion assignments

Week 4 (Sept. 14-20) KPop, Hallyu, and the global-local pop system
PlayPosit, discussion

Week 5 (Sept. 21-27) Who gets to use pop culture as soft power
PlayPosit, discussion

Week 6 (Sept. 28-Oct. 4) China's pop culture
discussion

Week 7 (Oct. 5-11) Cross-border research: How does East Asian pop culture affect change when it travels?
Week 7 research template and analysis essay

Week 8 (Oct. 12-18) Comparative case study studio
Comparative case study studio sheet; final case study