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The British Empire in East Asia: Victorian and Neo-Victorian Perspectives I
(AY 2023/2024, Semester 1)

Download course syllabus here: Advanced Seminar in World Lit I syllabus.pdf

Week 1. Introduction

Britain and China: Empires Entwined

Lecture slides: W1. Introduction (for students).pptx

Week 2. Tea and Opium I

Reading: Le Fanu, "Green Tea"

Lecture slides: W2. Tea opium.pptx

PDF: Green Tea scan.pdf

PDF: Green Tea notes.pdf

Week 3. Tea and Opium II

Reading: Le Fanu, "Green Tea"

Lecture slides: W3. Tea opium.pptx

Week 4. Planting opium in Bengal: Farmers

Reading: extracts from Ghosh, Sea of Poppies

Lecture slides: W4. Planting opium in Bengal farmers.pptx

PDF: Ghosh. Sea of Poppies scan.pdf

Week 5. Shipping opium from Calcutta to Canton: Sailors and Overseers

Reading: extracts from Ghosh, Flood of Fire

Lecture slides: W5. Shipping opium sailors overseers.pptx

Week 6. Shipping opium from Calcutta to Canton: Lascars

Reading: extracts from Ghosh, Flood of Fire

Lecture slides: W6. Shipping opium lascars.pptx

Week 7. Trading opium in Canton: The British

Reading: extracts from Ghosh, Flood of Fire

Lecture slides: W7. Trading opium in Canton Brit.pptx

Week 8. Trading opium in Canton: The Parsis

Reading: extracts from Ghosh, Flood of Fire

Lecture slides: W8. Trading opium in Canton Parsis.pptx

Week 9. The Opium War: British Indian Soldiers

Reading: extracts from Ghosh, Flood of Fire

Lecture slides: 

Week 10. The Opium War: The Manchu government

Reading: extracts from Ghosh, Flood of Fire

Lecture slides: 

Week 11. The Opium War: Hong Kong Island

Reading: extracts from Ghosh, Flood of Fire

Lecture slides: 

Week 12. Opium in the imperial metropolis

Reading: extracts from Dickens, The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Reading: images of opium dens in 19th-century London

PDF: Dickens. Mystery of Edwin Drood.pdf

Luke Fildes, "In the Court": Fildes illustration.jpg

Gustave Doré, “Opium Smoking – the Lascar’s Room in ‘Edwin Drood’”, from London: A Pilgrimage (1872) by William Blanchard Jerrold and Gustave DoréDore illustration.jpg

Week 13. Research skills workshop

How to conduct research for your assignment

Lecture slides: 

Week 14. Conclusion

Lecture slides: 

Week 15. Essay due

Assignment instructions: Assignment instructions.pdf

Recommended reading list.pdf

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