East Asian Course Descriptions

The so-called "Silk Road" was the world's first superhighway, linking East Asia to the Mediterranean. The peoples along the way not only traded luxury goods, but also ideas, technology, and more. This course offers a thematic examination of the dynamic, cross-cultural interactions along the ancient and medieval Silk Road. (G & C)

An introduction to artistic traditions in China, Japan, and Korea, from prehistory to the 21st century, including tomb and temple sites, gardens, calligraphy, ink painting, woodblock prints, tea ceremony vessels, and contemporary art. Through a balance of broader art historical readings, primary texts, scholarly essays, and close-looking at objects, students will explore how an object’s visual and material properties contribute to its function.

Directed study follows a syllabus set primarily by the instructor to meet the needs or interests of an individual student or small group of students. The main goal of directed study is knowledge or skill acquisition, not research or creative work. PREREQUISITES: To register student must complete the Student Initiated Course Form with consultation of supervising instructor.

An introductory survey of premodern East Asia. Focus on multi-disciplinary approaches to understanding the diverse cultures in the region and the historical processes that bound those cultures together. (EA)

An introductory survey of modern East Asia. Focus on the ways in which East Asian cultures overlapped and interconnected with distinct experiences of modernity, empire, colonization, and semi-colonization. (EA)

An introductory survey of Buddhist thought and practice in China and Japan. The history of key Buddhist concepts and schools in East Asia is the primary focus. Readings include translations from East Asian Buddhist canonical works.

A survey introducing major characteristics of Japanese language with reference to the structure of Japanese society. Topics include honorifics, use of pronouns, loan words, age and gender differences in the language. The course will also familiarize students with various aspects of traditional and contemporary Japanese culture. PREREQUISITES: Sophomore standing; CHJA 112 recommended

A survey of topics in Chinese Philosophy, which may include Classical Chinese philosphy, Buddhism and religion and comparative philosphy. We will discuss how the quickly changing historical and political climates affect the major schools of thought and influence pertinent philosphical questions for the region or topic. Assignments include papers and in-class assignments/presentations. PREREQUISITES: Sophomore standing or consent of instructor

This course will focus on the diverse artistic production and consumption practices within Edo-period Japan (1603-1868). Topics include the revival of classical Heian narratives like The Tale of Genji, the rise of an urban bourgeois culture, the prints and paintings depicting kabuki actors, courtesans, and ghosts, the reification of the tea ceremony and encounters with the West through trade. PREREQUISITES: ARHI 101 or 175 or sophomore standing

This course explores the transformation of the cityscape in Tokyo, Seoul, and Shanghai. Topics include the emergence of the modern artist, the search for an “avant-garde” of the East, the modernization of public and private spaces, the introduction of film and photography and the rise of the “modern girl.” PREREQUISITES: ARHI 101 or 175 or sophomore standing

Over the past century, China has witnessed the arrival of Western Imperialism, mass rebellion, revolution, and radical reconstruction under the Communist regime. This class will trace how artists attempted to intervene in social life to change its course of development and how art continues to affect radical social change. PREREQUISITES: ARHI 101 or 175 or sophomore standing

This course will be a close reading, looking, and writing course on the 11th century text, the Tale of Genji, written by one of the earliest female novelists, Murasaki Shikibu. We will closely read the text throughout the term while also examining the art works, theatrical performances, parodies, and later pop culture adaptations as well as the major secondary scholarship that have been generated by this work in the last three centuries. The aim will be to cultivate both skills in visual formal analysis but also literary formal analysis through continuous writing exercises and revision, in order to help students consider how a sustained engagement with one text can evolve with a deeper and more intimate study.

This course examines important questions about the lives of women in the last thousand years of Chinese history. Through an exploration of primary sources in translation, classic works of fiction, film, memoirs, and oral histories, we will address theoretical questions fundamental to both women’s studies and Chinese history. (G & C) PREREQUISITES: Sophomore standing or consent of instructor

Survey of genetic, regional, and typological classification of East Asian languages; writing systems for Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Tibetan languages; descriptive and comparative analyses of phonological, morphological, and syntactic structures of East Asian languages. More than one language may be investigated in detail. PREREQUISITES: LING 150 and sophomore standing

An examination of a particular topic in East Asian art history. Students are expected to carry out independent research through a series of guided assignments. The topic will change periodically. Course may be repeated when the topic is different. Not open to students who have previously received or need to receive credit for ARHI 430.

This course explores how the female body and the gendering of space has been addressed in murals, paintings, performance, film, and popular culture during the course of East Asian art history. We will discuss how social and political issues were defined through images of bodies in Japan, Korea, and China in the context of national identity formation, historical reconstruction, subjectivity, and sexuality. Students will also work to develop and refine the quality of their communication skills by presenting and debating their ideas throughout the course. PREREQUISITES: Sophomore standing

A survey of 20th-century Chinese fiction and cinema. Iconoclastic works of modern Chinese vernacular fiction from 1919 through the post-Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) will be juxtaposed alongside films dealing with the same period, such as Red Sorghum (1987) and Farewell, My Concubine (1992) made by the so-called Fifth Generation of film directors (born after 1949, when the People’s Republic was founded). Class conducted in English. No knowledge of Chinese required. PREREQUISITES: Sophomore standing; EAST 150 recommended

This course covers the history of the Chinese language, including the structural characteristics of the language, invention and evolution of the writing system, general survey of the major dialects, dichronic changes, spread and influence of the Chinese lexicon in East Asia, birth of the common language putonghua, evaluation of traditional versus simplified characters, and challenges of the language in the modern era. PREREQUISITES: Sophomore standing; one year of Chinese recommended

Using feature films and documentaries from the so-called Fifth [1982-] and Sixth Generations [beginning in the 1990s] of film directors in China, this course provides a visual record of the immense political, economic, and social changes in China since the Reform and Opening up period at the end of the Cultural Revolution. Taught in English. PREREQUISITES: Sophomore standing; EAST 150 or EAST 420 recommended

This course examines Western encounters with China since the thirteenth century, from Marco Polo to contemporary journalists, such as Peter Hessler. Students will analyze and assess Western perceptions and misperceptions of China through a variety of primary sources in translation and relevant secondary studies. (G & C or E) PREREQUISITES: Sophomore standing

A critical and comparative examination of key areas of sociocultural change in present-day East Asia. Focusing on China, we address new areas of research in East Asian anthropology such as demographic change, modernization, urbanization and stratification, gender and the body politic, sexuality, pop culture, consumption, ethnic minorities and national cultural identities. PREREQUISITES: ANTH 110 or sophomore standing

Critical examination of social and cultural (re)presentations of Japan from the postwar to the postmodern. Exploration of diversities of lived reality and social change in contemporary Japan. Topics include: nationalism and historical consciousness, family and gender ideologies, invisible and visible others, sexuality, pop culture, and the Heisei recession. PREREQUISITES: ANTH 110 or sophomore standing

An introduction to the texts and schools comprising traditional Chinese literature and thought. Reading across time and genre, from ancient classics such as Shijing to Tang poetry, to later Ming novels Water Margin and Romance of the Three Kingdoms, students will explore the breadth of the Chinese literary tradition while engaging with primary texts from the Confucian, Buddhist and Daoist traditions that shaped it. Lecture, discussion and exams.

With lectures and discussion, the course introduces students to the canon of texts comprising classical Japanese literature and thought. Reading across time and genre, we look at myth-histories, poetry compilations, Chinese-inspired literature, the birth of fiction and women's literature. Monks and warriors expand our scope into the areas of religion, philosophy, and military theory and we culminate with an introduction to the dramatic arts of the Muromachi.

This course explores the history of the Japanese language, including theories of its origin, the importation of the Chinese characters, Kanji, the invention of the Japanese syllabaries, Kana, the development of the writing system, lexical influence of loan words, and the evolution of both written and spoken forms in modern Japanese. The course also investigates two other lanuages in Japan, the Ainu and the Ryukyu languages. PREREQUISITES: Sophomore standing; one year of Japanese recommended

This course will focus on the history of women and feminism in Asia, with an emphasis on Indian and East Asian women's histories. Past and present religious, political, economic, and artistic thought and practices of women will be examined to analyse how they have responded to and resisted patriarchal cultures. This course can be counted as the equivalent of GEST 280. PREREQUISITES: GEST 100 or consent of instructor

This discussion course offers an overview of the early modern history of Japan. Through an analysis of literature, woodblock prints, documents, and secondary historical studies we will explore selected issues in the social and cultural history of the Tokugawa. (G & C) PREREQUISITES: Sophomore standing or consent of instructor

Individualized advanced study under regular staff direction on topics not covered in lower-level courses. PREREQUISITES: To register student must complete the Student Initiated Course Form with consultation of supervising instructor.

Directed study follows a syllabus set primarily by the instructor to meet the needs or interests of an individual student or small group of students. The main goal of directed study is knowledge or skill acquisition, not research or creative work. PREREQUISITES: To register student must complete the Student Initiated Course Form with consultation of supervising instructor

Individualized advanced research under staff guidance to prepare a substantial paper. PREREQUISITES: To register student must complete the Student Initiated Course Form with consultation of supervising instructor.

Using fiction, feature films, and historical texts, this course provides an in-depth introduction to modern Korean history, from the end of the Chŏsun dynasty in 1910 to contemporary North and South Korea. Students will gain an understanding of Korea’s colonial experience, civil war, dictatorships, development, democratization, and gender politics. PREREQUISITES: EAST 150 or consent of instructor

A course on selected issues in the history of contemporary China. Major themes include the formation of the modern state, national identity, political (dis)unity, population constraints, environmental sustainability, international relations, and global outreach. A variety of primary and secondary sources will be examined and analyzed. PREREQUISITES: Sophomore standing or consent of instructor;

An examination of a particular topic in East Asian art history. Students are expected to carry out independent research through a series of guided assignments. The topic will change periodically. Course may be repeated when the topic is different. Not open to students who have previously received or need to receive credit for ARHI 331.

This course offers an interdisciplinary exploration of the history of Chinese medicine. Students will study the canonical literature of the discipline, and analyze the ways in which those texts and ideas have been reshaped in modern and contemporary practice. Topics include: forensic medicine, gender, religion, and public health. PREREQUISITES: Junior standing

Zen Buddhism is perhaps the most widely known form of Buddhism in the West and also the most widely misunderstood. This course provides a detailed look at the history and doctrines of Zen Buddhism in China and Japan. Combining the use of original source materials (in translation) with an emphasis on intellectual history, the course covers specific doctrines that have differentiated the major schools of Zen. PREREQUISITES: RLST 220 or RLST 216

Individualized advanced study under regular staff direction on topics not covered in lower-level courses. PREREQUISITES: To register student must complete the Student Initiated Course Form with consultation of supervising instructor.

Directed study follows a syllabus set primarily by the instructor to meet the needs or interests of an individual student or small group of students. The main goal of directed study is knowledge or skill acquisition, not research or creative work. PREREQUISITES: To register student must complete the Student Initiated Course Form with consultation of supervising instructor.

Individualized advanced research under staff guidance to prepare a substantial paper. PREREQUISITES: To register student must complete the Student Initiated Course Form with consultation of supervising instructor.

Individualized advanced study under regular staff direction on topics not covered in lower-level courses. PREREQUISITES: To register student must complete the Student Initiated Course Form with consultation of supervising instructor.

Directed study follows a syllabus set primarily by the instructor to meet the needs or interests of an individual student or small group of students. The main goal of directed study is knowledge or skill acquisition, not research or creative work. PREREQUISITES: To register student must complete the Student Initiated Course Form with consultation of supervising instructor.

The academic component of the internship includes readings related to the substance of the internship, discussions with the faculty supervisor, and a written report appropriate to the discipline. Course grades are based on this academic work.

Individualized senior-level advanced research under staff guidance to prepare a substantial paper for the senior experience, or for submission for honors. PREREQUISITES: To register student must complete the Student Initiated Course Form with consultation of supervising instructor.