The students will undertake the following activities:

1. Pre-departure preparation: Interested students will take the following course in the spring of 2016:
Seminar: East Asia: Foreign Policy, Trade, and Security (4 units)*
In the class, the student will develop a research proposal (5 double-spaced pages) on some issue for which she/he will collect materials during the field research trip to Tokyo and Beijing and write a research paper upon return (see below). The proposal should include: (a) a research question; (b) a preliminary literature survey; (c) a discussion of the methodology and data/information to be used to answer the research question; (c) a preliminary list of references; and (d) a draft outline of the research paper.
* Students wishing to take this course but not participate in the field trip may do so in the first half of the semester and will receive 2 credits.

2. Field research in Tokyo and Beijing (Dates: March 16-24): The students will participate in a one-week and half week trip to Tokyo and Beijing and spend 4 days in each city, and undertake the following activities:
a. Discuss with graduate students at Waseda University and International Christian University, Tokyo and at Peking University, Beijing, about major issues in international relations in Northeast Asia, with a particular focus on Japanese and Chinese perspectives and policies;
b. Listen to lectures by experts in Tokyo and Beijing, including but not limited to politicians, foreign and security policy makers, academic researchers, and journalists;
c. Listen to briefings by foreign and security policy makers in Tokyo and Beijing; and,
d. Visit historic and cultural sites in Tokyo and Beijing;
e. Keep detailed notes of the above activities, including personal observations; and,
f. Visit bookstores and libraries to obtain materials for the research paper assignment (see below).

3. Research paper (20-25 double-spaced pages): Upon return from the field trip, the students will write either a group paper or an individual paper on the topic proposed and approved prior to the field trip.