East Asia and the new world order

The financial crisis of 2008 and beyond has given a significant boost to the importance of East Asia in the global governance of political and economic affairs. This presents a number of challenges to those who conduct socio-scientific research and teaching on East Asia. The Institute of East Asian Politics at Ruhr-Universität Bochum has chosen to address some of these challenges by conducting a project research seminar in close cooperation with our partners in the People's Republic of China (Fudan University, Shanghai) and Ireland (University College Cork).

The seminar aimed at students on the undergraduate level and wants to integrate reseach and teaching on the topic of "East Asia and the New World Order". Students and teachers participating in the seminar will engange in regular and live exchanges with international partners by making use of eLearning-platforms and eConference-tools. The findings and experiences garnered during the project seminar will then be used to design a concept for a course on the "Analysis of East Asian Transnational Politics" which on a regular basis will offer an integrated approach to research and teaching to our students in the B.A.-programme "East Asian Economics and Politics".

The seminar will give students the opportunity to participate actively in the institute's current research projects. Thus, they will have a chance to develop own research interests and to pursue them in cooperation with fellow students and researchers from our international partner universities. The undergraduate students will be guided by experienced researchers and graduate students, who will introduce them to the theory and praxis of international political research.

The project is funded by the university's rector's office's program on "Research-oriented teaching" (Forschendes Lernen) from March 2012 until March 2013 and will be continued on a permanent basis in case of succesful evaluation.