What can East Asian art tell us about a world in turbulent times? This course explores the art of China, Japan, and Korea from the premodern period to the present, examining how artists responded to political upheaval, social transformation, and shifting cultural identities. Through painting, Buddhist art, propaganda, avant-garde practices, popular culture, and contemporary art, we will investigate how visual culture reflected and shaped ideas of tradition, modernity, and globalization. We begin with China, tracing literati painting during the Qing dynasty, the relationship between art and nationalism in the early twentieth century, realist painting in the late twentieth century, and contemporary art in an increasingly globalized world. We then turn to Japan, exploring Buddhist art of the Edo period, encounters between Western artistic practices and traditional Japanese painting, postwar avant-garde movements, and manga and popular culture since the 1990s. Finally, we examine Korea, beginning with modern art under the Japanese colonial rule before considering Socialist Realism in North Korea, artistic developments in postwar South Korea, and the globalization of Korean contemporary art since the 1990s. Throughout, we will consider how artists preserved, challenged, and reimagined cultural traditions in times of change. This course welcomes students with no prior background in East Asia or art history. Through visual analysis, discussion, and critical reading, students will learn to connect artworks to their historical context and examine art's active role in shaping modern East Asia.