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FALL 2005 COURSES
FALL 2005 ASIAN LANGUAGES COURSES
ASIANLAN 101 - First Year Chinese I
Undergraduate Credits: 5
Credit Exclusions: Native or near-native speakers of Chinese are not eligible for this course. No credit granted to those who have completed or are enrolled in ASIANLAN 103.
ASIANLAN 101 is an introductory course for students who do not understand or speak any Chinese. (If you speak Chinese, the right course for you is ASIANLAN 104, Reading and Writing Chinese I.) In this course, students are expected to achieve control of the sound system (especially the 4 tones), basic sentence patterns, aural comprehension, daily conversations and writing characters. 374 characters will be introduced in this course. Students are required to perform skits in front of the class almost every week. A written quiz or test will be given every Tuesday and Thursday. This is a 5-credit course. Students have class one hour per day. Tuesdays and Thursdays are lectures; Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are recitations. Students are required to register for both a lecture section and a recitation section. Attendance is taken everyday. Textbooks: (1) Integrated Chinese (Level One, Part I) — Textbook, Workbook, Character Workbook (all in Traditional Character Edition); (2) Getting Around in Chinese—Chinese Skits for Beginners.
ASIANLAN 125 - First Year Japanese I
Undergraduate Credits: 5
Credit Exclusions : Native or near-native speakers of Japanese are not eligible for this course. No credit granted to those who have completed or are enrolled in ASIANLAN 127 or 129.
This course is designed for students who have less than the equivalent of one year's study of Japanese at the University of Michigan. The goal of the course is the simultaneous progression of four skills (speaking, listening, writing, and reading) as well as becoming familiar with aspects of Japanese culture which are necessary for language competency. Recitation sessions are conducted in Japanese emphasizing speaking/reading in Japanese contexts at normal speeds. Analyses, explanations, and discussions involving the use of English are specifically reserved for lectures. It is expected that, by the end of the academic term, students will have basic speaking and listening comprehension skills, a solid grasp of basic grammar, reading and writing skills in Hiragana and Katakana, and will be able to recognize and produce approximately 58 Kanji in context. Texts: Genki Vol.1. Tokyo: The Japan Times, 1998.
ASIANLAN 129 - Intensive Japanese I
Undergraduate Credits: 10
Primary Instructor:Sato, Tetsuya
This course is designed for students who have less than the equivalent of one year's study of Japanese at the University of Michigan. The goal of the course is the simultaneous progress of four skills (speaking, listening, writing, and reading) as well as becoming familiar with aspects of Japanese culture that are necessary for language competency. Recitation session is conducted in Japanese, emphasizing speaking/reading in Japanese contexts at normal speeds. Analyses, explanation, and discussions involving the use of English are specifically reserved for lectures. It is expected that, by the end of the year, students will have basic speaking and listening comprehension skills, a solid grasp of basic grammar, reading, and writing skills in Hiragana and Katakana, and will be able to recognize and produce approximately 145 Kanji context.
ASIANLAN 135 - First Year Korean I
Undergraduate Credits: 5
Credit Exclusions: Native or near-native speakers of Korean are not eligible for this course. No credit granted to those who have completed or are enrolled in ASIANLAN 137.
This first-year course is for those who have no or minimal proficiency in Korean. This course will introduce the basic structure of Korean while focusing on the development of reading, writing, and speaking skills. Class regularly meets five times a week — two hours of lecture and three hours of aural/oral practice — and daily attendance is expected. In addition, students are required to do additional hours of work for practice on their own in the computer lab. Through lectures, students will learn Korean characters, be able to read sentences with considerable fluency, and understand the basic grammatical structures of Korean. Based on the knowledge obtained through lectures, recitation classes will help the students develop an ability to use basic conversational expressions freely. The checkpoints for evaluation include homework assignments, weekly quizzes, vocabulary quizzes, oral interviews, midterm and final exam. The textbook for the course is You Speak Korean by Soohee Kim et al. (ParadigmBusters). Those who successfully complete the course will gain sustained control of basic conversation.
SECTIONS 005 EMPHASIS ON ORAL PRACTICE. (GEARED TOWARDS NON-HERITAGE LEARNERS)
SECTIONS 003, 004 & 006 — EMPHASIS ON BASIC WRITING SKILLS (GEARED TOWARDS HERITAGE LEARNERS).
ASIANLAN 165 - First Year Tibetan I
Undergraduate Credits: 4
Credit Exclusions : Graduate students should elect BUDDHST 501.
Primary Instructor:Sparham, Gareth
In this course, students will learn how to speak, read, and write Tibetan. Pronunciation will follow Central Tibetan dialect, but not slavishly. The course is designed to meet the needs of those interested in speaking modern colloquial Tibetan and those interested in future textual studies in classical Tibetan. The Tibetan script will be used during the class. After the introduction to the script and pronunciation, we will go through the lessons of the textbook. Students will be expected to spend considerable time using the CD to familiarize themselves with Tibetan pronunciation and sentence structure.
Grading: Grading is based on weekly homework and quizzes and on class attendance and participation.
Textbook: We will be using Nicolas Tournadre's Manuel de Tibetain Standard in English translation. Because it will not be published until later this year the publisher has allowed us to photocopy the manuscript. The cost to us is not yet determined but will probably be between 50 and 75 dollars.
ASIANLAN 201 - Second Year Chinese I
Undergraduate Credits: 5
Credit Exclusions: No credit granted to those who have completed or are enrolled in ASIANLAN 203.
 To take this course, students should have command of the language material in the first-year textbook Integrated Chinese (Level One). The goals of ASIANLAN 201 are to help students
- improve their listening and speaking proficiency;
- achieve a solid reading level with the roughly 500 new vocabulary entries introduced over the ten lessons; and
- learn to express themselves clearly in writing on a variety of covered topics using learned grammar patterns and vocabulary.
These goals are approached through grammar lectures, in-class drills and listening/speaking activities, oral presentations, and regular quizzes/tests, collectively covering all four proficiency areas (listening, speaking, reading, writing). An underlying theme of the course is that, insofar as language is a systematic reflection of culture, understanding the link between language and culture can make the language easier—and more fascinating—to learn. The text for the course is Integrated Chinese (Level Two) — Textbook and Workbook. Students who are native or near-native Mandarin Chinese speakers are not eligible for this course; they should enroll in ASIANLAN 204, Reading and Writing Chinese II, offered in the winter academic term.
ASIANLAN 205 - Mandarin Pronunciation
Undergraduate Credits: 2
Primary Instructor:Grande, Laura Ann Smith
Designed as a supplement to core Chinese courses, and offered both Fall and Winter, this course gives students at varying proficiency levels the opportunity to fine-tune their production of standard Chinese consonants, vowels, and tones. By learning principles of Mandarin syllable structure and articulation, students will learn how to recognize and correct their own pronunciation/tone errors. Rigorous in-class drills and regular mini-quizzes, as well as several oral assignments (recordings submitted on-line), will build students’ competence from word- to phrase- to discourse-level accuracy. A semester-initial assessment will identify each student’s needs (so that the course can be customized accordingly), while a semester-final evaluation will assess each student’s progress. Knowledge of Pinyin Romanization is presumed. Note: This is strictly a pronunciation course; students aiming to improve their overall proficiency should consider core courses or (to strengthen conversational fluency) ASIANLAN 305 and ASIANLAN 306. Native speakers of Cantonese with advanced literacy should opt for ASIANLAN 307 (which targets pronunciation problems unique to Cantonese speakers and presumes no knowledge of Pinyin) or ASIANLAN 308 (which focuses on Mandarin conversational fluency).
ASIANLAN 225 - Second Year Japanese I
Undergraduate Credits: 5
Credit Exclusions : No credit granted to those who have completed or are enrolled in ASIANLAN 227 or 229.
 Further training is given in all four language skills (speaking, reading, listening, and writing) for students who have acquired a basic language proficiency. The aim of the oral component is to provide the student with the speaking and comprehension skills necessary to function effectively in more advanced practical situations in a Japanese-speaking environment. In the reading and writing component, emphasis is on reading elementary texts, developing an expository style, and writing short answers/essays in response to questions about these texts. Approximately 110 of the essential characters are covered. Discussions on the social and cultural use of language are provided through various video tapes. Students are required to attend five hours of class per week: two hours of lecture and three hours of recitation. Recitation sessions emphasize speaking/reading in Japanese at normal speed with near-native pronunciation, accent, and appropriate body language and are conducted entirely in Japanese. Analyses, explanations, and discussions involving the use of English are reserved for lectures. Texts: Genki Vol.2. Tokyo: The Japan Times, 2000.
ASIANLAN 228 - Japanese Calligraphy
Undergraduate Credits: 1
Primary Instructor:Suzuki, Masae
The goals of the course are to help you learn how to practice Japanese calligraphy and cultivate your mind through the practice. Six subjects, including Kanji and Hiragana, will be introduced with the focus on basic skills such as the manner of using brushes, balancing characters, etc. Throughout the course, students will work on clarity of thought throughout the writing of characters in a tranquil setting, concentrating on maintaining correct posture and behavior throughout the writing process.
ASIANLAN 235 - Second Year Korean I
Undergraduate Credits: 5
Credit Exclusions: No credit granted to those who have completed or are enrolled in ASIANLAN 237.
This is an intermediate course in spoken and written Korean. It will emphasize the aural/oral skill, but attention will also be given to grammatical structure. Class regularly meets five times a week — two hours of lectures and three hours of aural/oral practice — and daily attendance is expected. Through lectures, students will learn relatively complex structural patterns of Korean, build up their vocabulary, and get acquainted with various aspects of Korean culture and society. Based on the knowledge obtained through lectures, recitation classes will help the students develop an ability to carry on survival-level conversation. In evaluation, weight will be placed on homework assignments, biweekly quizzes, and oral interviews.
ASIANLAN 265 - Second Year Tibetan
Undergraduate Credits: 4
Primary Instructor:Sparham, Gareth
Students taking ASIANLAN 265 should have taken ASIANLAN 165 and 166 or an equivalent. They should have a basic vocabulary of about 400 words and be able to read and engage in basic conversation. The goal of ASIANLAN 265 is to greatly improve (a) both aural comprehension and speaking ability and (b) reading skill. The course will consist of continual in-class drilling of more complex constructions and set passages for reading and comprehension. These passages will form the basis for in-class discussion and conversation. Students will be graded on regular class attendance, homework assignments, quizzes, and written tests. Textbook: Melvyn C. Goldstein, Modern Spoken Tibetan (Available through the instructor.)
ASIANLAN 301 - Third Year Chinese I
Undergraduate Credits: 5
This course, designed for students who have completed two years of Chinese study, is the start of a transition from narrative style to written style. It continues with a balanced requirement in all the four basic skills—listening, speaking, reading and writing. The class meets five hours per week. The textbook A New Text for a Modern China covers five main aspects of contemporary Chinese society and culture, and enhances cultural awareness in terms of language training. Student work is evaluated on the basis of daily attendance, exercises, homework, an oral presentation, a writing project, quizzes, and tests. The class is conducted mainly in Chinese. Native or near-native speakers of Chinese who want to improve their reading and writing skills should take ASIANLAN 304, Reading and Writing Chinese III.
ASIANLAN 304 - Reading and Writing Chinese III
Undergraduate Credits: 4
This course is designed for students of Chinese with native or near-native oral performance. The emphasis of training is in reading and writing although oral activities remain part of the course requirement. The textbook, China Scene: An Advanced Chinese Multimedia Course, carries authentic articles reflecting various aspects of life in contemporary China. Students will be exposed to advanced-level language structures, expressive styles, and cultural knowledge relevant to selected topics. It is expected that, assisted by web searches for up-to-date information as well as classroom discussions, students will build their vocabulary and sentence patterns from each lesson, and learn to recognize and use a variety of linguistic registers in both their oral and writing practice.
ASIANLAN 305 - Advanced Spoken Chinese I
Undergraduate Credits: 2
This course, designed as a spoken supplement to post-second-year Chinese core courses, is intended to help non-native-speaking students strengthen their oral/aural competence. Students will have two hours a week to talk, talk, and talk. Class sessions are structured around semi-weekly themes, with one day devoted to theme introduction/discussion, and two days devoted to student presentations and question/answer exchanges. Evaluation is based on oral assignments (recordings submitted online), presentations, and in-class participation. Native or near-native speakers of Mandarin cannot earn credit for this course.
ASIANLAN 325 - Third Year Japanese I
Undergraduate Credits: 5
Developing reading skills is one of the focus of this course, therefore, complex sentences from reading materials in the textbook, and also a few additional reading materials outside of the textbook, will be introduced and analyzed. In association with the reading materials, you will be also introduced to numerous aspects of Japanese culture, new grammar, new vocabulary and new expressions. The focus is also placed on orally exchanging thoughts and opinions after practicing the use of new and old expressions, vocabulary, and grammatical patterns that are related to each 'Dialogue' and reading. Texts: An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese Tokyo: Japan Times, 1997.
ASIANLAN 335 - Third Year Korean I
Third-Year Korean will help students improve their skills, both spoken and written, up to intermediate-high level. Class meets five hours per week — two hours of lecture and three hours of recitation. In lecture classes, the students will learn Chinese characters, and thereby build up their vocabulary and heighten reading ability. The reading materials will inform the students of various cultural aspects of Korea. Through weekly writing assignments, the students will also learn more accurate syntax, pragmatic ways of expression, and logical ways of thinking in Korean. In recitation classes, strengthened aural/oral training will be given. The students will tell a short story, have free group-discussion, and learn songs. Evaluation will be based on attendance, homework assignments, exams, class activities, and various oral performances.
ASIANLAN 401 - Fourth Year Chinese I
This course, the first part of the fourth-year Chinese language core course, is intended to help students with three years of Chinese studies to further develop their language ability in modern Chinese. All aspects of the language — listening, speaking, reading, and writing — are emphasized by way of carefully selected texts and meticulously developed exercises in the textbook Advanced Chinese: Intention, Strategy, and Communication. Through various forms of language practice, students are expected not only to read original materials with less reliance on a dictionary and at a faster speed, but also to improve their productive skills, oral and written, at the discourse and rhetorical levels. Another objective of the course is to enhance students’ cultural awareness. Classes are conducted in Chinese. Assessment will be based on attendance, participation, homework, tests, and exams. Students of ASIANLAN 401 are encouraged (but not required) to take ASIANLAN 305 Advanced Spoken Chinese I simultaneously. Native-speaking Chinese students interested in improving their comprehensive foundation in the language can also benefit from this course.
Course Attributes
Advisory Prerequisites: Native or near-native speakers of Korean are not eligible for this course.
ASIANLAN 405 - Chinese for Professions I
Undergraduate Credits: 3
Graduate Credits: 3
The course focuses on language study with regard to China’s fast-changing economic situation and business environment. Through intensive practice in listening, speaking, reading and writing in business contexts, students will not only acquire vocabulary, phrases and sentence patterns commonly used in contemporary Chinese business communications, but also become familiar with China’s current business practices and trends. Materials cover 25 topics in seven units, namely, open door policy, development of finance, marketing, management, foreign trade, pillar industries, and hot topics. Activities and assignments around these topics are designed to facilitate actual language use in the real business world as well as further studies for this special purpose. Classes are conducted in Chinese. This course is intended to form a series with ASIANLAN 406, Chinese for the Professions II, which is task-based and computer-oriented with an emphasis on “learning by doing,” usually offered in the winter academic term.
ASIANLAN 409 - Literary Chinese I
Section 001
Undergraduate Credits: 4
Graduate Credits: 4
For more than three thousand years, down to the early 20th century, the vast majority of Chinese texts were written in Literary Chinese (wenyan). For a considerable period of history, Literary Chinese also served as the international written language for the countries of East Asia. Wenyan literature is an important part of the cultural heritage of all humankind.
Although after the May Fourth Movement (Wu-si yundong) of the early twentieth century, baihua or colloquial-style language replaced wenyan as the literary norm, wenyan expressions and constructions are still frequently encountered in written and even spoken Chinese, and it is difficult to go far beyond the basic level in modern Chinese without some knowledge of wenyan. The purpose of the course sequence 'Literary Chinese I - II' (ASIANLAN 409-410) is to help students gain access to this heritage.
In Literary Chinese I, our goal is to build a foundation in the grammatical structures, basic vocabulary, and rhetorical patterns of Literary Chinese, all of which are significantly different from those of modern Chinese. Completion of second-year Chinese (ASIANLAN 202 or 203) or the equivalent is a prerequisite for the course. Both English and Chinese may be used in class, and the use of Chinese is encouraged; generally, oral translations may be done into either English or modern Chinese. Some written assignments will require Chinese-English translation, however.
ASIANLAN 425 - Fourth Year Japanese I
Undergraduate Credits: 4
Graduate Credits: 4
The course consists of two two hour lecture/recitation classes a week, and aims to cultivate an advanced level of linguistic, pragmatic, and socio-cultural language competence. In order to facilitate the simultaneous development of all four skills t advanced level, a TV drama that includes a natural conversation is used as supplemental materials. The course is focused on increasing the number of complex sentences and expressions to build up to a coherent paragraph, and also increasing the understanding and knowledge of Japanese culture. The acquired knowledge should be reflected in students' opinions and impressions described in both speaking and writing.
ASIANLAN 429 - Business Japanese I
Undergraduate Credits: 4
Graduate Credits: 4
This course focuses on Japanese as used in business contexts, emphasizing appropriate ways of speaking in real-life situations. Materials include video clips, textbooks and many supplemental materials. Students will practice 'KEIGO' and special expressions used in the Japanese business scene and learn Japanese business culture. Students will also read a large number of articles dealing with historical and current topics in Japanese business, and gain skill in reading newspaper, magazine and internet articles. Required projects (all in Japanese) include presenting articles, interviewing a Japanese businessman and reporting on the interview to the class, participating in a simulated job interview, making commercials, writing Japanese-style resumes, and so on. Students will receive one-on-one guidance for some projects, supplementing the class time with individual attention to enable students at all levels to keep up and benefit from the course. In addition, at least one Japanese guest speaker will come to class and provide opportunities for discussions.
ASIANLAN 433 - Classical Japanese I
Undergraduate Credits: 4
Graduate Credits: 4
An introduction to the classical language aimed at mastery of the basic vocabulary, grammar, and syntax necessary to read all Japanese writing, literary or otherwise, before the twentieth century. A reading knowledge of modern Japanese (equivalent to three years of study) is a prerequisite. Class meetings are devoted to close syntactic analysis and translation of samples from various classical texts, with particular emphasis on poetry and narrative from the Heian and medieval periods. This course is required of all graduate concentrators in Japanese and is a prerequisite with ASIANLAN 434 (Classical Japanese II) to advanced work in pre- and early modern Japanese texts. It is also highly recommended to graduate students of premodern Japanese history, art history, Buddhism, etc. It may also be taken by undergraduate students with sufficient preparation in the modern language.
ASIANLAN 465 - First Year Classical Tibetan I
Undergraduate Credits: 3
Graduate Credits: 3
Primary Instructor:Sparham, Gareth
An introduction to the classical language as it is encountered in translations and original Tibetan literary works. This is a course designed for students with a good comprehension of basic spoken Tibetan. Passages from classical texts from different periods of Tibetan history will be read. Students will be expected to prepare translations from the assigned texts which will be presented in class. Considerable time will be given to the analysis of syntax. Students will be expected to gain mastery of the basic vocabulary, grammar, and syntax necessary to read classical Tibetan. During the course some passages from traditional Tibetan works on grammar and poetics will be assigned for memorization.
ASIANLAN 469 - Advanced Classical Tibetan I
Undergraduate Credits: 3
Graduate Credits: 3
Primary Instructor:Sparham, Gareth
Designed to train students in basic skills necessary for reading Tibetan literature. Much time is spent reading Buddhist literature (autochthonous as well as in translation from Indic languages). The course offers explanations and exercises in the phonology of literary Tibetan ('Lhasa Dialect'), nominal derivation, syntax of the nominal particles, verbal conjugation and suffixes, and the standard script ( dbu-can).
FALL 2005 ASIAN STUDIES COURSES
ASIAN 204 - East Asia: Early Transformations
Section 001
Primary Instructor:Tonomura, Hitomi
This course introduces the histories, cultures, and societies of East Asia, including China, Japan, and Korea from the archaeological phases through early modern times, ca 1700. It provides an overview of the transformations in the region's society, politics, economy, and culture by emphasizing international exchanges of knowledge and technology, Confucian style governments, gender relations, popular religions, peasant rebellions, technological.
ASIAN 230 - Introduction to Buddhism
Section 001
Primary Instructor:Gomez, Luis Oscar
Introductory lectures and readings on the history and literature of Buddhism in India and Tibet, followed by a discussion of the basic problems of Buddhist religion and philosophy in the light of selected Buddhist texts in translation.
ASIAN 235 - Introduction to the Study of Asian Cultures
Section 001
Primary Instructor:Zwicker, Jonathan E
Instructor:Merrill, Christi Ann
This course introduces students to a variety of cultural texts (literature, art and film) from East, South and Southeast Asia and looks at the ways these forms have traveled within Asia and beyond. While not an exhaustive survey, students will be introduced to the diversity of cultures in Asia through close readings of important classical and modern texts, through the consideration of "keywords" — what do we mean when we speak of " Asia" and "Culture"? — and by considering a range of art objects, maps and artifacts drawn from the University's own collections.
All readings will be in English and no prior knowledge of any Asian language or culture is necessary.
ASIAN 251 - Undergraduate Seminar in Chinese Culture
Section 001: Looking at Traditional China through its Most Famous Novel: The Story of the Stone
Primary Instructor:Rolston, David Lee
In this first-year seminar class we will try together to get a better understanding of traditional Chinese culture by reading and discussing a novel that has both been praised as a veritable encyclopedia of Chinese life, and which has mattered deeply to countless Chinese readers, some of whom read it year after year. Because the novel focuses on life within the household and the majority of its major characters are female, one of the foci of the course will be on the life of Chinese women during the time the novel was written. Class meetings will feature a number of different activities. One of these will be class debates on specific topics. The main goal of the various debates will be to permit us to get a wider and richer view of the novel and the culture that produced it, but we will also be interested in relating what we see in the novel to life around us and material we have learned in other contexts. The procedure of debating topics from different points of view will also help us be more critical about our own beliefs and predilections.
ASIAN 252 - Undergraduate Seminar in Japanese Culture
Section 001: Food, Community, and Identity in Modern Japan
Primary Instructor:Ito, Ken K
Students will explore the place of food in a community's understanding of itself and of others. Using modern Japanese fiction and film as our main texts, we will examine how the discourse of food defines regional and national identities, and how communities are represented through patterns of consumption or deprivation. We will probe the tension between the role of certain foods as markers of cultural authenticity and the reality of cuisine as a historically dynamic, hybrid enterprise. We will investigate the connections of gender and class to food and its preparation, and study how the sharing of food affects human alliances. In short, we will be asking what it means to eat sushi.
ASIAN 260 - Chinese Culture to the Mongols
Section 001
Primary Instructor:Brown, Miranda D
This course is intended to introduce students to major issues and controversies in pre-modern Chinese History. The course covers the political, cultural, social, and material history from the Neolithic to the Mongol conquest (in the 13th century), with focus on themes, rather than standard political chronology. Some of the questions we will address: Is " China" the oldest continuous civilization? Was it culturally and ethnically homogenous? Were the pre-modern Chinese insular, xenophobic, or racist? Was Chinese traditional culture and society "patriarchal"? To what extent was the state authoritarian and successful in penetrating into the daily lives of individuals? Course assignments will focus on primary sources (unofficial and official histories, political polemics, philosophical writings, gossip, sex manuals, and legal cases). In addition, students will be asked to analyze visual sources, which provide clues about the daily life of the peasants and elite. The final grade will be based on 2 take-home exams. All welcome. No assumed knowledge of Chinese history, culture, or language required.
ASIAN 300 - Love and Death in Japanese Culture
Section 001
Using the central existential questions of love, death, and beauty as thematic foci, this course examines the premodern history of the human being in Japan with the aim of exploring a different past and an other site for the study of the humanities than the one in which technology and profit maximization have now led to the virtual demise of the human as a viable measure of civil life. In the course of reading literature, both canonical and popular, which portray the thematics of love and death, we will analyze key concepts in Japanese cultural history that address issues of good and evil, truth, and "the beautiful." Attention will be paid to questions of interpretation that arise in reading the works of a culture different from the West in its philosophies and religions; in the non-logocentrism of its linguistic usages and artistic expressions; its emphasis on form and ritual as a crucial component of the moral human being. We will also note the existence of various separate cultures — courtly, merchant, craftsman, samurai and priest, actor and geisha, each with its own hierarchy and code of ethics and aesthetics. Class materials will include, apart from the literary works, secondary sources from criticism, history, philosophy and religion, sociology, as well as visual media like painting and film.
ASIAN 325 - Buddhism in Zen Perspective
Section 001
Primary Instructor:Robson, James
An introduction to the Buddhism of the Far East, as viewed through the perspective of Zen (Ch'an) thought and institutions in China, Korea, and Japan.
ASIAN 361 - The Pursuit of Happiness in the Chinese Tradition
Section 001
Primary Instructor:Lin, Shuen-Fu
The thematic focus of this course is what the philosopher-psychologist William James observed a century ago:
"How to gain, how to keep, how to recover happiness is in fact for most men at all times the secret motive of all they do, and of all they are willing to endure."
Although the idea of the "pursuit of happiness" has a privileged place in American thinking, reflections on the happiness question can readily be found in many other cultures through the ages as well. In this course, we will study texts from Chinese civilization as their creative and thinking authors pondered this age-old question and the meaning of life. We will discuss such issues as the generally life-affirming world views of the Chinese; the debates on how to construct a perfect society; what constitutes a good life; the fulfillments of spiritual cultivation, love and marriage, having a family and friends, work and play, and public service and/or private artistic and scholarly pursuit; and attitudes towards fate, suffering, evil, war, and death. Texts selected will be works of literature in the broad sense of the word, including philosophical, historical, and religious texts as well as belles-lettres. The course covers mainly the period from early times to the 12th century, but several works from later eras will also be included. Sample readings are: texts in Confucianism, Taoism, Legalism, and Buddhism; the historical account of the First Emperor of Qin who created the Chinese empire in 221 BCE; the works of China's greatest recluse-poet Tao Qian (365 - 427); the song lyrics of the woman poet Li Qingzhao (1084 - ca. 1151); The Plum in the Golden Vase, an anonymous 16th-century novel that passionately depicts the dying of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) through the main characters' relentless indulgence in the four vices of "wine, lust, greed, and anger"; and Six Chapters of a Floating Life by Shen Fu (1763 - after 1809), a true story about an ordinary artistic couple who were ostensibly failures in life, but happy in their failures.
The format of the course consists of three lectures and one recitation session per week. A few brief reaction papers, three short papers (four or five pages each), and a final examination are required. A distinctive feature of the course is the inclusion, along with printed texts, of material from visual culture such as film, painting, and illustration.
ASIAN 362 - Writer and Society in Modern China
Section 001
Primary Instructor:Liu, Lydia
The rise of China has impacted contemporary world politics and economy in significant ways. How did it happen? What can we learn from it? This course introduces a special angle of interpretation suggested by Chinese writers and intellectuals themselves. We will read a selection of influential works (all in English translation) by Chinese writers from the early twentieth century to the present, focusing on the interplay of literature, history, and politics. Topics of discussion include cultural identity, affective energies, gender and social bonding, nationalism and internationalism, as well as the role of storytelling in the making of the self and others. Our goal is to develop critical reading skills and to gain a deep knowledge of modern Chinese society and its outlook on the world. Course requirements include two papers and a creative project.
ASIAN 365 - Science in Premodern China
Section 001
Primary Instructor:Brown, Miranda D
This course is intended as an introduction to the basic problems and issues in pre-modern Chinese medicine, astronomy, chemistry, and mathematics. In addition to examining the content of Chinese science, we will also explore religious, philosophical, social, political, and cultural factors that contributed (or hampered) the development of science. Some questions that we will pursue: What were Chinese attitudes towards nature and the past and how did they differ from those in the West? Why did the Science Revolution not happen in China (or did it)? Readings will focus on primary source materials (in translation). Students will give oral presentations and write several short papers. No knowledge of Chinese or Chinese history is required.
ASIAN 428 - China's Evolution Under Communism
Section 001
Primary Instructor:Lieberthal, Kenneth G
An analysis of China's remarkable evolution to develop an understanding of the present system's capacity to deal with the major challenges that confront it in the political, economic, social, environmental, and security arenas.
ASIAN 455 - Topics in Asian Studies
Section 001: Self-Fashioning in Greater China
Primary Instructor:Li, Tuo
This course introduces contemporary literature, film, and popular culture from Greater China. We will focus on the ongoing processes of self-fashioning through the use of language, media, tradition, and storytelling in the Mainland, Taiwan, and Hong Kong in light of their interactions with Japan and Korea. We will read Yu Hua, Su Tong, Wang Anyi, Bei Dao, Jin Yong, Zhu Tianwen, Ping Lu, Xi Xi and others. The film directors we discuss will include Edward Yang, Zhang Yimo, Chen Kaige, and Stanley Kwan. Topics of investigation are cultural memory, literary topoi, cinematic narrative, gender, ethnicity, regional speech, and nationalism. This class is conducted in Mandarin Chinese.
Prerequisite: three years of modern Chinese or equivalent reading knowledge.
Requirement: Bi-weekly journal and a final paper in Chinese or English.
ASIAN 455 - Topics in Asian Studies
Section 002: Reading in the Cultural History of Early-Modern Japan
Primary Instructor:Zwicker, Jonathan E
This course will be a seminar on early-modern Japan (1600-1900) focusing on the overlapping fields of visual, material, and print culture. Readings will be drawn both from recent work on Japanese history (Berry, Botsman, Ikegami, Pflugfelder) as ell as from methodological and theoretical work on the history of culture (Adorno, Benjamin, Bourdieu, Gramsci, Kracauer) and we will be making extensive use of the University’s collections of early-modern maps, prints, and books. Readings will be primarily in English and no knowledge of Japanese is required.
ASIAN 455 - Topics in Asian Studies
Section 003: Japanese Cinema
Primary Instructor:Nornes, Mark H
From kabuki films to anime, Japanese cinema has come a long way in the past century. This course traces the history of Japanese cinema from the silent era, with their extraordinary benshi performances, to the recent work showing at international film festivals and university dorm rooms. Along the way, we will consider the avant-garde and student radical films, fascist entertainments, artsy gangster films, animation, and even some Kurosawa. Japan has always enjoyed one of the most vibrant cinemas in the world. This course will introduce the riches to be found in every era, as well as the important role Japanese cinema played in the development of film studies itself.
ASIAN 472 - The Korean War
Section 001
Primary Instructor:Em,Henry H
In the United States the Korean War (1950-1953) is often referred to as The Forgotten War. Yet, American troops are still stationed in South Korea, and North Korea is still considered a dangerous enemy. Through the interpretive framework of war and memory, then, we will examine the historical origins, and ways of remembering, the Korean War.
ASIAN 485 - Chinese Buddhism
Section 001
Primary Instructor:Robson, James
A critical survey of the main themes in the history of Chinese Buddhism, as these are treated by modern scholarship. The course will engage issues such as: the transmission of Buddhism to China from India and Central Asia; the development in China of indigenous schools of Buddhist doctrine and practice; the organization and function of Buddhist monastic institutions in Chinese society; and religious practices and ritual forms that have been important throughout the history of Chinese Buddhism (meditation, devotion, ancestor worship, etc.). The perennial issue of what is uniquely "Chinese" about Chinese Buddhism will also be addressed by examining the influence on Buddhism of native traditions, chiefly Taoism and Confucianism. The course makes use of primary materials ("Buddhist texts") in English translation, and the latest secondary scholarship in English (or English translation).
ASIAN 501 - Social Scientific Studies of Historical and Contemporary China
Section 001
Primary Instructor:Gallagher, Mary E; homepage
Instructor:Lee, Ching Kwan
CCS 501 is part of a two-semester Interdisciplinary Seminar in Chinese Studies intended for M.A. and Ph.D. students from all disciplines. Disciplinary departments create barriers between shared problems, methods, and sources. ISCS is designed to recover and highlight the connecting links of Chinese Studies: the multidimensional study of China encompassing all social groups and the entire range of human experience, from literature and the visual arts to politics and economics. There are no formal prerequisites, except permission of the instructors.
CCS 501 will introduce graduate students to current issues in social scientific studies of China, emphasizing different methodological approaches drawn from multiple disciplines. The course will address four common themes — family and social organization, poverty, social stratification and social mobility, and political economy — that intersect the multiple social science disciplines. Each class will discuss one or more disciplinary approaches to a common subject through class discussion of exemplary studies of China. We will discuss the existing state of the field on each subject and emphasize the different research design and data available for such studies.
ASIAN 533 - Seminar in Chinese Criticism and Aesthetics
Section 001: Song Lyric (Ci) from the late Tang (618-907) through the end of the Song (960-1279)
Primary Instructor:Lin, Shuen-Fu
This course will be devoted to close reading and interpretation of the Song Lyric (Ci) from the late Tang (618-907) through the end of the Song (960-1279) periods. Readings consist of both poetry in the original selected to illustrate the historical development of the genre and criticism (in both Chinese and English) by traditional and recent scholars to sample the range of approaches and interpretation. Some attention will be given to issues especially pertinent to the genre such as: the changing cultural and aesthetic contexts of the end of Tang through the Song (9th through the 13th centuries); women and the Song Lyric; the obsession with remembrances of things past; dream and awakening; the Ci’s new aesthetics in contrast with that of the shi; the reification of emotion; time-logic and space-logic. Students interested in taking the course must have proficiency in reading classical and modern Chinese, some background in Chinese poetry and literature, and some training in doing Sinological research. Willingness to do quite a bit of reading, active participation in discussion, oral reports, and a substantial term paper are required.
ASIAN 550 - Seminar in Cultural and Comparative Studies of Asia
Section 001
Primary Instructor:Florida, Nancy K
Instructor:Nornes, Mark H
This course is designed to introduce a set of theoretical topics that are relevant to the comparative and critical study of Asia. To that end, we have selected readings from important theoretical texts that can offer different strategies of understanding Asian culture. It is our hope that students will thereby gain a purchase in critical theory and the best ways of using it in the study of cultures across national and/or disciplinary boundaries.
ASIAN 554 - Modern Japanese Literature
Section 001: Meiji fiction
Primary Instructor:Ito, Ken K
The seminar in modern Japanese literature for Fall 2005 will focus upon Meiji fiction. We will read examples of canonical fiction written toward the end of the Meiji period (1868-1912) by such writers as Natsume Soseki, Mori Ogai, Tayama Katai and Shimazaki Toson. And we will trace the standard literary history that ties such writing to Tsubouchi Shoyo's call for a new national fiction. But we will also read writing that is excluded from such a literary history, in particular popular melodramatic novels from the 1890s. Our aim will be to locate works, both canonical and non-canonical, in larger Meiji discourses, and to determine how patterns of exclusion and inclusion reflect vigorous Meiji debates regarding national and cultural identity, modernization, sexuality and gender. The seminar will be organized so that assignments may be read either in English or Japanese. Requirements include participating in discussions, making presentations on assigned texts, and a final seminar paper.
ASIAN 625 - Readings in Buddhist Literature
Section 001
Primary Instructor:Gomez, Luis Oscar
A critical survey of the field of Chinese Buddhism, focusing on seminal works in the field, as well as on new approaches to the study of Chinese Buddhist history, institutions, ritual, and doctrine. The course is intended for graduate students working in any area of East Asian history, literature, art history, religion, and so on.
FALL 2005 BUDDHIST COURSES
BUDDHST 501 - Beginning Modern Tibetan I
Graduate Credits: 4
Primary Instructor:Sparham, Gareth
This course is an introduction to Modern Tibetan. Students will learn to speak colloquial Tibetan, as well as learn to read and write the script.
Course Attributes
Advisory Prerequisites: Graduate standing.
Repeatability: May not be repeated for credit.
Undergraduate and Graduate
ASIANLAN 165 - 1st Yr Tibetan I, Section 001
BUDDHST 511 - Intermediate Modern Tibetan I
Graduate Credits: 4
Primary Instructor:Sparham, Gareth
Students taking BUDDHST 511 should have taken BUDDHST 501 and 502 or an equivalent. They should have a basic vocabulary of about 400 words and be able to read and engage in basic conversation. The goal of BUDDHST 511 is to greatly improve (a) both aural comprehension and speaking ability and (b) reading skill. The course will consist of continual in-class drilling of more complex constructions and set passages for reading and comprehension. These passages will form the basis for in-class discussion and conversation. Students will be graded on regular class attendance, homework assignments, quizzes, and written tests. Textbook: Melvyn C. Goldstein, Modern Spoken Tibetan (Available through the instructor.)
Course Attributes
Advisory Prerequisites: BUDDHST 502. Graduate standing.
Repeatability: May not be repeated for credit.
FALL 2005 CENTER FOR CHINESE STUDIES COURSES
CCS 501 - Social Scientific Studies of Historical and Contemporary China
Section 001
Graduate Credits: 3
Primary Instructor:Gallagher, Mary E; homepage
Instructor:Lee, Ching Kwan
CCS 501 is part of a two-semester Interdisciplinary Seminar in Chinese Studies intended for M.A. and Ph.D. students from all disciplines. Disciplinary departments create barriers between shared problems, methods, and sources. ISCS is designed to recover and highlight the connecting links of Chinese Studies: the multidimensional study of China encompassing all social groups and the entire range of human experience, from literature and the visual arts to politics and economics. There are no formal prerequisites, except permission of the instructors.
CCS 501 will introduce graduate students to current issues in social scientific studies of China, emphasizing different methodological approaches drawn from multiple disciplines. The course will address four common themese - family and social organization, poverty, social stratification and social mobility, and political economy - that intersect the multiple social science disciplines. Each class will discuss the multiple social science disciplines. Each class will discuss one oro more disciplinary approaches to a common subject through class discussion of exemplary studies of China. We will discuss the existing state of the field on each subject and emphasize the different research design and data.
FALL 2005 CHINESE COURSE
CHIN 668 - Studies in Early Chinese History
Section 001
Undergraduate Credits: 4
Graduate Credits: 3
Primary Instructor:Chang, Chun-Shu
This is a proseminar in premodern Chinese history before 1800. The main focus of the course is on the examination of the development of the field, the current state of research, and the various methodological approaches in the studies of premodern Chinese history.
CHIN 668 - Studies in Early Chinese History
Section 001
Undergraduate Credits: 4
Graduate Credits: 3
Primary Instructor:Chang, Chun-Shu
This is a proseminar in premodern Chinese history before 1800. The main focus of the course is on the examination of the development of the field, the current state of research, and the various methodological approaches in the studies of premodern Chinese history.
CHIN 695 - Topics in the Theory and Criticism of Chinese Art
Section 001: The Construction of Asia in Modern Art
Graduate Credits: 3
Primary Instructor:Powers, Martin J
This seminar aims to explore ways in which “Asia” has been configured, interpreted or constructed in writings about art, culture and modernity in Europe and the U.S. The focus will be upon China, with occasional references to Japan. In orientation the course is pragmatic: we will seek to identify and critically examine major arguments, narrative strategies and tropes employed for situating China and Asia in relation to a discourse of “modern culture,” from the French/English debate over credit for the “natural garden” to postcolonial pieties. Chronologically the course will begin with eighteenth c. writings about Chinese garden theory and politics. Then we’ll turn to the late 19th c. and Japonisme, moving on rapidly to the early 20th c., Roger Fry, and then on to Clement Greenberg and Zen in the mid-20th century. Thematically, the course will focus on four areas in which references to China and Asia have been historically significant, namely:
- the “natural” garden and the rhetoric of liberty;
- Japonisme;
- the “gestural brush stroke” and the rhetoric of authorial uniqueness;
- “Zen,” and fundamental claims about language and epistemology informing European theories of “Western”culture. Methodologically the readings will highlight several recent approaches to cultural encounter so as to explore alternatives to traditional East/West binarisms.
We will come to understand such binarisms themselves as products of international competition originating in the geopolitical situation of the 17th and 18th centuries. Students should walk away with a fresh and more critical understanding of the grand narrative of modern art and it’s role in international power relations from the 18th through mid-20th centuries. Apart from vigorous participation in discussion, two, short, oral presentations and a seminar paper will be required.
*The course is primarily about China; the title uses “Asia” because (1) we discuss Japonisme and (2) historically, Europeans did not always distinguish clearly between China and Asia.
FALL 2005 CENTER FOR JAPANESE STUDIES COURSE
CJS 450 - Minicourse in Japanese Studies
Section 002: Sociology of Japan. Meets Mondays and Wednesdays September 7-October 12
Undergraduate Credits: 1-2
Graduate Credits: 1-2
Primary Instructor:Ishida, Hiroshi
This mini-course examines Japanese society from a sociological perspective. The topics covered in the course include education, family, work, and social inequality. The course will introduce the Japanese version of the General Social Surveys (JGSS), large-scale national surveys conducted in Japan, so that the students will have a chance to examine opinions and attitudes of Japanese people. Class meets Mondays and Wednesdays, September 7 through October 12.
FALL 2005 COMPARATIVE LITERATURE COURSE
COMPLIT 490 - Comparative Cultural Studies
Comparative Cultural Studies:Global Networks
Tu Th 10:00AM -11:30AM
Undergraduate Half-Term Credits:3-3
Undergraduate Full-Term Credits:3-3
Graduate Full-Term Credits:3-3
Primary Instructor:Liu,Lydia
This course explores the global networks of knowledge, technology, cultural exchange, and image making int he contemporary world. We will read modernist fiction, experimental poetry, ethnography, and theoretical reflections on primitivism, science, media, romance, migration, and cultural encounter. Readings include Mallarmé, Pound, Nabokov, Rushdie, Vargas Llosa, Walter Benjamin, McLuhan, Haraway, Kittler, Mattelart, and others. These texts will help us explore the extraordinary entanglements between literature and science and raise some new questions about how ideas travel and connect generally through global networks. We will consider, in particular, how travel narratives, print and illustrated books, typewriter, Morse code, radio, gramophone, and telecommunication have fashioned the self-understanding of modern subjects in negotiation with the shifting geopolitical boundaries and how these global networks might affect our own understanding of recent colonial and imperial histories.
Requirements: biweekly exercises and two papers
Advisory Prerequisite: Junior standing
FALL 2005 CORPORATE STRATEGIES AND INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS COURSES
CSIB 584 – Business in Asia
Credit Hours: 3
Prerequisites: CSIB 503/510
This 14-week course deals with business in 12 Asian economies – Japan; the East Asian newly-industrialized economies (NIEs) of South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong; the Southeast Asian (ASEAN) countries of Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam; and the large emerging economies of China and India. Together, these economies include nearly half of the world’s population and (excluding Japan) over half of the population in emerging markets.
Course material is organized into four broad categories:
(1) Regional and national business environments,
(2) Business enterprises and strategies,
(3) Industry cases and trends,
(4) Management and social issues/disputes/problems.
CSIB 593 – World Economy
Credit Hours: 3
Prerequisites: Global MBA students
The World Economy provides students with concepts, analytical tools and institutional knowledge needed to understand the impact of international and comparative politics, economic systems, and culture in the contemporary business environment.
FALL 2005 FILM AND VIDEO STUDIES COURSE
FILMVID 441 - National Cinemas
Section 003: Japanese Cinema
Undergraduate Credits: 3
Graduate Credits: 3
Primary Instructor:Nornes, Mark H
From kabuki films to anime, Japanese cinema has come a long way in the past century. This course traces the history of Japanese cinema from the silent era, with their extraordinary benshi performances, to the recent work showing at international film festivals and university dorm rooms. Along the way, we will consider the avant-garde and student radical films, fascist entertainments, artsy gangster films, animation, and even some Kurosawa. Japan has always enjoyed one of the most vibrant cinemas in the world. This course will introduce the riches to be found in every era, as well as the important role Japanese cinema played in the development of film studies itself.
FALL 2005 HISTORY COURSES
HISTORY 250 - China from the Oracle Bones to the Opium War
Section 001
Undergraduate Credits: 3
Requirements & Distribution: HU
Primary Instructor:Chang, Chun-Shu
This course consists of a survey of early Chinese history, with special emphasis on the origins and development of the political, social, and economic institutions and their intellectual foundations. Special features include class participation in performing a series of short dramas recreating critical issues and moments in Chinese history, slides especially prepared for the lectures, new views on race and gender in the making of China, intellectual and scientific revolutions in the seventeenth century, and literature and society in premodern China.
93 (Reprint: Prentice Hall 2002)<$90;>. Readpak.
HISTORY 252 - Chinese Culture to the Mongols
Section 001
Undergraduate Credits: 3
Requirements & Distribution: RE, HU
Primary Instructor:Brown, Miranda D
This course is intended to introduce students to major issues and controversies in pre-modern Chinese History. The course covers the political, cultural, social, and material history from the Neolithic to the Mongol conquest (in the 13th century), with focus on themes, rather than standard political chronology. Some of the questions we will address: Is " China" the oldest continuous civilization? Was it culturally and ethnically homogenous? Were the pre-modern Chinese insular, xenophobic, or racist? Was Chinese traditional culture and society "patriarchal"? To what extent was the state authoritarian and successful in penetrating into the daily lives of individuals? Course assignments will focus on primary sources (unofficial and official histories, political polemics, philosophical writings, gossip, sex manuals, and legal cases). In addition, students will be asked to analyze visual sources, which provide clues about the daily life of the peasants and elite. The final grade will be based on 2 take-home exams. All welcome. No assumed knowledge of Chinese history, culture, or language required.
HISTORY 339 - Science in Premodern China
Section 001
Undergraduate Credits: 3
Requirements & Distribution: HU
Primary Instructor:Brown, Miranda D
This course is intended as an introduction to the basic problems and issues in pre-modern Chinese medicine, astronomy, chemistry, and mathematics. In addition to examining the content of Chinese science, we will also explore religious, philosophical, social, political, and cultural factors that contributed (or hampered) the development of science. Some questions that we will pursue: What were Chinese attitudes towards nature and the past and how did they differ from those in the West? Why did the Science Revolution not happen in China (or did it)? Readings will focus on primary source materials (in translation). Students will give oral presentations and write several short papers. No knowledge of Chinese or Chinese history is required.
HISTORY 351 - Modern China
Section 001
Undergraduate Credits: 3
Requirements & Distribution: SS
Primary Instructor:Li, Bozhong
The history of China from the height of Ch'ing imperial power and the advent of Western forces in East Asia until the present day. Topics include state and society in the late empire, the impact of the West, the crisis of Confucian China, rebellion and reform, republican politics, warlordism, Communist revolution, and the People's Republic.
HISTORY 353 - Asians in American Film and Television
Section 001
Undergraduate Credits: 4
Requirements & Distribution: ID, RE
Primary Instructor:Kurashige, Scott T; homepage
How have the movies and TV shaped American conceptions of Asians? How were stereotypes of Asians as “coolies,” “savages,” “yellow peril,” “dragon ladies,” “gooks,” and “model minorities” created and reproduced in American popular culture?
What impact have these stereotypes had upon American wars and foreign policy, race relations, hate crimes, and Asian American self-identity? Have features by Asian Hollywood stars like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Margaret Cho served to breakdown stereotypes or to create new ones? How have independent filmmakers generated new and more complicated conceptions of Asian American identity and culture?
These are some of the many questions we will explore in this course. Our investigation will survey the powerful impact that racialized images of Asians have had upon American history. From silent movies featuring white actors in “yellowface” to recent selections from the Sundance festival, this course will examine how film and television have both reflected and shaped Asian culture and identity in the U.S. Film viewings will be complemented by lecture and readings designed to place our studies into historical context and provide deeper bases for critical analysis of film and video content.
Students will develop analytical tools to dissect and critique media representations of both Asia and Asian Americans. Examples of topics examined include:
- the role of racial stereotypes in shaping discriminatory laws and restrictions on Asian immigration
- the dehumanization of Asians as an “enemy race” during the Philippine-American War, World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War
- the relationship between images of Asian Americans and African Americans
- representations of women and masculinity
- community activism, multiethnic coalition-building and resistance to racism.
4 credits: 3 hours of lecture and 1 hour of discussion No prerequisites
HISTORY 484 - The Korean War
Section 001
Undergraduate Credits: 3
Graduate Credits: 3
Primary Instructor:Em, Henry H
In the United States the Korean War (1950-1953) is often referred to as The Forgotten War. Yet, American troops are still stationed in South Korea, and North Korea is still considered a dangerous enemy. Through the interpretive framework of war and memory, then, we will examine the historical origins, and ways of remembering, the Korean War.
HISTORY 549 - Social Scientific Studies of Historical and Contemporary China
Section 001
Graduate Credits: 3
Primary Instructor:Gallagher, Mary E; homepage
Instructor:Lee, Ching Kwan
CCS 501 is part of a two-semester Interdisciplinary Seminar in Chinese Studies intended for M.A. and Ph.D. students from all disciplines. Disciplinary departments create barriers between shared problems, methods, and sources. ISCS is designed to recover and highlight the connecting links of Chinese Studies: the multidimensional study of China encompassing all social groups and the entire range of human experience, from literature and the visual arts to politics and economics. There are no formal prerequisites, except permission of the instructors.
CCS 501 will introduce graduate students to current issues in social scientific studies of China, emphasizing different methodological approaches drawn from multiple disciplines. The course will address four common themes — family and social organization, poverty, social stratification and social mobility, and political economy — that intersect the multiple social science disciplines. Each class will discuss one or more disciplinary approaches to a common subject through class discussion of exemplary studies of China. We will discuss the existing state of the field on each subject and emphasize the different research design and data available for such studies.
HISTORY 668 - Studies in Early Chinese History
Section 001
Undergraduate Credits: 4
Graduate Credits: 3
Primary Instructor:Chang, Chun-Shu
This is a proseminar in premodern Chinese history before 1800. The main focus of the course is on the examination of the development of the field, the current state of research, and the various methodological approaches in the studies of premodern Chinese history.
HISTORY 671 - Studies in 20th-Century Chinese History
Section 001
Undergraduate Credits: 4
Graduate Credits: 3
Primary Instructor:Li, Bozhong
Topical studies in Chinese history in the 20th century.
HISTORY 826 - Seminar in Pre-Modern Japanese History
Section 001: Gender in Japanese History
Graduate Credits: 3
Primary Instructor:Tonomura, Hitomi
The study of gender history of Japan has advanced greatly as scholars have defined new issues, located new sources and interpreted them from exciting interdisciplinary perspectives. Unfortunately, much of this impressive gain is inaccessible to the English-language audience. This course will taste some of this Japanese scholarship and examine how recent works on women and gender have helped to clarify the correlation between the changing structure of dominant institutions and the gendered experiences of women and men in various classes.
The bulk of the assigned material is in Japanese. In addition to books and articles, we will examine some primary sources in Japanese.
The course requirements include: weekly class attendance and discussion, a weekly entry in a journal (for keeping track of your observations), and a paper which may be
- a review of a book or two or more articles in Japanese which deal with aspects of women’s or gender history;
- an exploratory essay covering a specific area of gender (or women’s) history in Japan (for example, “Marxism and Feminism,” “gendered diary/narrative,” “production/reproduction,”; please be sure to use Japanese sources); or
- an annotated bibliography covering a specific topic (for example, “masculinity and domesticity” “war and women”).
It is fine to incorporate the readings assigned for this class. Other ideas are also welcome. Please get my approval for the project of your choice.
FALL 2005 HISTORY OF ART COURSES
HISTART 292 - Introduction to Japanese Art and Culture
Section 001
Undergraduate Credits: 3
Primary Instructor:Carr, Kevin Gray
This lecture course takes an interdisciplinary approach to the history of Japanese visual culture, introducing the history of the art of the Japanese archipelago from ancient times through the present day. Although primarily a chronological examination of key artistic monuments, the class will also discuss issues such as the materiality of art, cultural exchange, the meaning of nature, and the relationships between artistic production and religion, class, and society. Two brief quizzes, three writing exercises, and a final exam will be required. All are welcome.
The following book will be required: Mason, Penelope. History of Japanese Art.
HISTART 386 - Painting and Poetry in China
Section 001
Undergraduate Credits: 3
Primary Instructor:Powers, Martin J
Many Chinese paintings can be “read” as visual poetry. Every image resonates with centuries of poetic writing, where each poem addresses human issues of interest to most of us even today: poverty, childhood, the loss of loved ones, individual against the establishment, family fights, unrequited love, injustice… Each of these topics was addressed in both the painting and the poetry of China. Teaching students to understand the human drama underlying such paintings and poems is one major goal of this course. As a pedagogical aid, we will read a fair amount of modern American poetry, especially by authors who refer to or admire the Chinese tradition, including Wendell Berry, Hayden Carruth, and Gary Snyder.
At another level, the relationship of pictures to words is a more general art historical problem that occupied some of the finest minds in both Europe and China. The problem continues to generate new and insightful writings by contemporary students of these cultural traditions, and so we will sample some Chinese critical literature on painting and poetry as well as some more contemporary approaches to work/image issues. By the end of the course, students should have a store of analytical methods for relating pictures and poetry generally, but will also understand a good deal about how to read a Chinese painting. There will be a midterm, a final, and two short papers (roughly 7 pages). Cost: 2 WL: 1
HISTART 394 - Special Topics
Section 003: Narrative Art in Japan
Undergraduate Credits: 3
Primary Instructor:Carr, Kevin Gray
This class draws on theories of narrative from Western and Asian art and literature to explore various exemplars of Japanese narrative art. Lectures will survey the history of visual storytelling in Japan from the seventh to twentieth centuries, emphasizing close visual and textual analysis. Lively class discussions explore a range of issues concerning narrative in Japan, including visual modes of storytelling in the scroll format, concepts of literary and pictorial genres in the premodern period, and the functions of picture scrolls as tools of persuasion, repositories for nostalgic visions of the classical past, vehicles for the mythologization of religious institutes, and sites for satiric representation. The objects to be analyzed range from twelfth-century Genji scrolls to modern animation, with special emphasis on illustrated texts. All are welcome to attend.
HISTART 690 - Topics in the Theory and Criticism of Chinese Art
Section 001: The Construction of Asia in Modern Art
Graduate Credits: 3
Primary Instructor:Powers, Martin J
This seminar aims to explore ways in which “Asia” has been configured, interpreted or constructed in writings about art, culture and modernity in Europe and the U.S. The focus will be upon China, with occasional references to Japan. In orientation the course is pragmatic: we will seek to identify and critically examine major arguments, narrative strategies and tropes employed for situating China and Asia in relation to a discourse of “modern culture,” from the French/English debate over credit for the “natural garden” to postcolonial pieties. Chronologically the course will begin with eighteenth c. writings about Chinese garden theory and politics. Then we’ll turn to the late 19th c. and Japonisme, moving on rapidly to the early 20th c., Roger Fry, and then on to Clement Greenberg and Zen in the mid-20th century. Thematically, the course will focus on four areas in which references to China and Asia have been historically significant, namely:
- the “natural” garden and the rhetoric of liberty;
- Japonisme;
- the “gestural brush stroke” and the rhetoric of authorial uniqueness;
- “Zen,” and fundamental claims about language and epistemology informing European theories of “Western”culture. Methodologically the readings will highlight several recent approaches to cultural encounter so as to explore alternatives to traditional East/West binarisms.
We will come to understand such binarisms themselves as products of international competition originating in the geopolitical situation of the 17th and 18th centuries. Students should walk away with a fresh and more critical understanding of the grand narrative of modern art and it’s role in international power relations from the 18th through mid-20th centuries. Apart from vigorous participation in discussion, two, short, oral presentations and a seminar paper will be required.
*The course is primarily about China; the title uses “Asia” because (1) we discuss Japonisme and (2) historically, Europeans did not always distinguish clearly between China and Asia.
FALL 2005 MUSICOLOGY COURSE
MUSICOL 458 - Music in Culture
Section 001
Undergraduate Credits: 3
"Music In Culture" will examine court ritual and music in historical and contemporary contexts. Lectures will revolve around the court and ritual traditions of China (yayue), Japan (gagaku), Korea (A-ak), and Vietnam (Nha Nhac). Discussions will highlight issues of transmission, music and identity/cultural politics, historical music and global tourism.
FALL 2005 POLITICAL SCIENCE COURSES
POLSCI 339 - China's Evolution Under Communism
Section 001
Undergraduate Credits: 4
Primary Instructor:Lieberthal, Kenneth G; homepage
An analysis of China's remarkable evolution to develop an understanding of the present system's capacity to deal with the major challenges that confront it in the political, economic, social, environmental, and security arenas.
POLSCI 389 - Topics in Contemporary Political Science
Section 003: Politics of the Two Koreas
Undergraduate Credits: 1-3
Primary Instructor:Woo-Cumings, Meredith; homepage
In this course we will examine the politics of Korea, divided into the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) since 1945. The main focus will be on three areas: domestic politics and political institutions, economic development, and international relations. In these areas, the ROK and the DPRK are reverse images of each other. Thus, for the ROK we will examine its struggle for democracy and the evolving structure of democratic governance: capitalist development in the context of open world economy: and its foreign policy in the context of the Cold War and the post 9/11 period. For the DPRK, we will examine the problem of totalitarian monarchy: socialist development that imploded: and its struggle for sovereignty through nuclear diplomacy.
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