131-239/339 The Pacific Rim

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The course provides a thematic overview of the Pacific Rim since the first European intrusions during the sixteenth century. Its core concern is to explore human relations and cultural transmission, as mediated by distance and technology. The course focuses upon European settlement along the Australian eastern seaboard and the western seaboard of North America, and on the relationships of these settler societies with China and Japan. Comparative reference is made to the parallel histories of European settlement in New Zealand, South America, and the Russian Pacific territories. Particular attention is given to the Rim's port cities, to interactions between them, and to their competitive penetration of regional hinterlands. The course aims to develop an informed historical perspective upon Australia's relations with its regional neighbours, by placing an appreciation of Australian history within broader regional, chronological, and thematic contexts.

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