Asian Studies 216 - Making is Thinking: Craft Cultures in East Asia

This course examines the changing ideas and media practices of "craft" from pre-modern to the contemporary era, and from the British Art and Craft Movement to folkcraft promotion in East Asia. We will navigate intellectual writings, games, documentaries, novels, paintings, films, design manuscripts and products, and video blogs. We will also engage in DIY activities. Topics include "craft and ecology," "craft and industrialization," "craft and gender," and "the future of work." By delving into the discourses of craft shaped by various technological, cultural, and political forces, we aim to foster a critical awareness of the ethics and condition of labor, long dominated by technoscientific rationality and elitist fine art, and to reimagine the future of work.