A-H 311 - ARTS AS SOFT POWER: JAPANESE TEA CEREMONY

College of Fine Arts

Credit(s): 3

The term ‘soft power’ was coined by Joseph Nye, a U.S. scholar of international relations. It is used to describe forms of influence used as alternatives to ‘hard power’ â€” coercive acts such as war, threats, or economic sanctions. This course will investigate how soft power was used as a tool of diplomacy thousands of years before the term was invented, and explore examples of how it is used at the beginning of the 21st century. The course then will examine the Japanese tea ceremony (known as chanoyu or chado) and its domestic use as soft power among Japanese warlords in the late sixteenth century, its adoption as a way to modernize Japanese women in the nineteenth century, and its role in shaping Japanâ€™s international image in the twentieth century.

Prereq: Sophomore standing or permission of instructor.
Meets UK Core: Global Dynamics.