OBLIGATORY QUALIFYING ESSAY (ASSIGNMENT)- EAST1504 …

OBLIGATORY QUALIFYING ESSAY (ASSIGNMENT)- EAST1504

Deadlines:

The essay must be submitted by March 27, 2009

Content:

Please choose one of the following topics for your essay:

1.Compare the impact of Christianity (both Catholicism and Protestantism) upon China, Japan and Korea from the sixteenth century onward. How would you explain why Christianity influenced Korea much stronger than modern Japan or China?

2.Describe the main differences between the socio-political doctrines of Confucius (孔子), Taoists (道家) and Mo Zi (墨子). Which salient features of Confucianism helped it to eventually become the main ideology of the ruling elites in the traditional states of East Asia?

3.What are the reasons for the persistent popularity of the “new religions” in East Asia in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries? What are the central features the majority of the most popular “new religions” of East Asia shares?

Style and Submission Methods:

The essay should be on 2-3 pages (double-spaced), and is supposed to be based upon the obligatory literature, supplementary (non-obligatory) reading and lecture notes. It should include a literature list and references to the sources, which are expected to follow either Chicago or Harvard style (see the guidebooks here: http://www.hf.uio.no/sitat/stiler.html).

Two copies of the essay should be submitted to the Institute’s office (4th fl., PAM) between 12.30 and 15.00 o’clock on March 27, 2009 or at an earlier date. Otherwise, alternatively an electronic copy of the essay may be submitted through Classfronter (https://fronter.uio.no/) by 15.00 o’clock on March 27, 2009.

An obligatory “declaration concerning cheating” should be submitted together with the essay (http://www.hf.uio.no/studier/eksamen/oblig-statement.rtf).

The essays should not be submitted by fax or e-mail, and all submissions after 15.00 on March 27, 2009, will not be accepted.