Taiwan and the Making of the World
This course uses Taiwan as a lens to examine global history from the early modern period to the present. Taiwan has been, variously, a node in Pacific and Asian trade networks, a site of colonial encounter, a Cold War flashpoint, a pioneer of export-led development, and the indispensable source of the semiconductors that power the modern economy. Each unit moves between Taiwan's domestic story and its connections to larger world-historical processes.
The course pursues three interconnected goals:
• To give students a comprehensive overview of Taiwanese history from the pre-colonial period to the present day.
• To connect that history to major global events — empire, war, the Cold War, industrialization, and globalization.
• To explore Taiwan's active role in shaping world history, rather than treating it merely as an object of external forces.
This course uses Taiwan as a lens to examine global history from the early modern period to the present. Taiwan has been, variously, a node in Pacific and Asian trade networks, a site of colonial encounter, a Cold War flashpoint, a pioneer of export-led development, and the indispensable source of the semiconductors that power the modern economy. Each unit moves between Taiwan's domestic story and its connections to larger world-historical processes.
The course pursues three interconnected goals:
• To give students a comprehensive overview of Taiwanese history from the pre-colonial period to the present day.
• To connect that history to major global events — empire, war, the Cold War, industrialization, and globalization.
• To explore Taiwan's active role in shaping world history, rather than treating it merely as an object of external forces.
- Teacher: Dayton Joseph LEKNER