Teaching and Syllabi

At the University of Washington, I teach courses on Taiwan Studies every year, as well as East Asia and global thematic courses on development, capitalism, environment, science and technology studies, political economy, and foreign relations.

Global History of Capitalism

Undergraduate seminar, University of Washington, Jackson School of International Studies, 2023

Capitalism, sometimes used to describe an economic system and other times used to describe an ideology, is arguably one of the most important influences on modern society. From class, gender, race, and politics, capitalism intersects with all aspects of human and even non-human life. Yet, despite almost universal agreement that we live in a capitalist era, there is disagreement and diversity in understandings of capitalism and its value to society. What is capitalism? Why are its meanings debated? How did we arrive at the current capitalist moment?

Making Modern Taiwan (Interdisciplinary Taiwan Studies)

Graduate seminar, University of Washington, Jackson School of International Studies, 2023

Making Modern Taiwan is an interdisciplinary graduate reading seminar designed to introduce MA and PhD students to Taiwan Studies. Drawing upon history, political science, economics, literature, anthropology, geography, and sociology, it offers a broad overview of recent and classic scholarship on Taiwan.

History of Modern Taiwan

Undergraduate lecture course, University of Washington, Jackson School of International Studies and History, 2023

This course covers the history of modern Taiwan from approximately 1600 to the present. It aims to grapple with key issues of politics, society, and culture pertinent to Taiwan as well as contextualize Taiwan’s history within larger, global historical frames. How has Taiwan been shaped by its colonialism, peoples, and capitalism? How have these forces affected key issues today such as identity, democracy, and cross-Strait relations? Lecture, in-class discussion, and readings will address key issues such as migration, empire, ethnic identity, urban spaces, the Cold War, development, capitalism, memory, religion, labor, and gender.

Global History of Development

Undergraduate seminar, University of Washington, Jackson School of International Studies, 2023

Development–the practice of improving society, growing economies, and expanding state capacity–overtook states and societies across the world during the 20th century. How did its attempts to propel economic growth and create better societies shape the world as we know it today? This course focuses on the rise, consequences, and critiques of development globally and historically.

The United States in the World

Undergraduate lecture course, University of Washington, Jackson School of International Studies, 2022

The US in the World covers the history of US interactions with the rest of the world from 1898 to present. It spans both traditional foreign relations narratives, including US overseas colonies, informal empire, and interventionism, as well as broader perspectives of culture, race, labor, migration, political economy, religion, and environment.

Science, Environment, and Society in East Asia

Undergraduate seminar, University of Washington, Jackson School of International Studies, 2021

How do humans affect the natural environment, and how does the environment affect society? How does society affect scientific knowledge, and vice versa? How do interactions between all three complicate our understandings of major global issues such as disease pandemics, food security and sovereignty, climate change, pollution, etc.? This course explores questions of agency, including how non-human actors such as plants, animals, microbes, minerals, and water interact with humans to create complicated networks of dependencies and influences. Objects of study include sugar, rubber, trees, viruses, fungi, whales, dust, rivers, and, of course, humans. We will also deal with human-generated structures, i.e. capitalism, politics, and public health, that are key to understanding major environmental and scientific issues such as resource exploitation, pandemic controls, and vaccination campaigns.

James Lin