Asian Languages and Cultures Classes

Spring 2018 Fall 2018 Spring 2019

Spring 2018

Number / Section	Name	Days	Time	Room	Instructor	Avail. / Max.
ASIA 111-01	Introduction to Asian Studies	Days: TR	Time: 01:20 pm-02:50 pm	Room: NEILL 112	Instructor: Rivi Handler-Spitz	Avail./Max.: 13 / 20
Details This course introduces students to foundational legends, epics, novels, and poetry from across Asia. Studying core texts from the Arab World, India, China, Korea, and Japan will provide windows into the ancient cultures that produced these works. We will also examine these tales' enduring power today. We will analyze the many changes these tales underwent as they spread across Asia and appeared in diverse media including theater, visual arts, and television. Texts include: The Journey to the West, The Arabian Nights, The Tale of Genji, The Ramayana, and The Story of Hong Gildong. General Education Requirements: Internationalism Writing WA Distribution Requirements: Course Materials
ASIA 171-01	Art of the East II: Japan	Days: MWF	Time: 01:10 pm-02:10 pm	Room: ARTCOM 102	Instructor: Kari Shepherdson-Scott	Avail./Max.: Closed 2 / 25
Cross-listed with ART 171-01 Details This course examines the art, architecture, and broader visual culture of Japan. We will discuss a diverse array of art and objects from Neolithic Jomon pottery, Shinto shrines, and print media to Buddhist sculpture, postwar art trends, anime (cartoons) and manga (comics); in the process, students will learn methods of formal visual analysis and gain insight into the artistic, social, economic, political, and religious function of each work. Through this course, students will learn to view various artworks, spaces, and objects in their historical contexts and how they influence contemporary practices. Class discussions and projects provide the opportunity to critically reflect on narratives about Japanese culture. General Education Requirements: Internationalism Distribution Requirements: Fine arts Course Materials
ASIA 258-01	Gender and Sexuality in China	Days: MWF	Time: 10:50 am-11:50 am	Room: NEILL 102	Instructor: Xin Yang	Avail./Max.: -1 / 15
Cross-listed with CHIN 258-01 and WGSS 258-01 Details How are masculinity and femininity defined and transformed in modern and contemporary Chinese culture? How is the culturally constructed gender related to a larger social context? Through a rigorous analysis of the content and structure of modern and contemporary novels and films, this course examines the literary representation of gender and sexuality and its relation to the tumultuous social transformations, and engages with a variety of themes including: May Fourth enlightenment, anti-Japanese war, Socialist construction, the Cultural Revolution, and the liberalization of the post-Mao era. This course seeks to help students develop critical views of Chinese society and culture from gendered perspective, and gain familiarity with major authors, genres, and literary movements. This course assumes no prior knowledge of China or Chinese, and all reading materials are in English. General Education Requirements: Internationalism Distribution Requirements: Humanities Course Materials
ASIA 260-01	Narratives of Alienation: 20th Century Japanese Fiction and Film	Days: TR	Time: 03:00 pm-04:30 pm	Room: NEILL 110	Instructor: Arthur Mitchell	Avail./Max.: Closed 4 / 20
Cross-listed with JAPA 260-01 Details The sense of being out of place in one's society or one's nation, estranged from one's self or the world - this is the feeling that has motivated many of the narratives of modern Japanese fiction. Through stories of precocious adolescents, outcast minorities, vagabond women, disillusioned soldiers, and rebellious youth, this course examines the social implications of narrative fiction (including film, anime, and manga) within the context of modern Japanese history. While introducing methods of literary analysis and developing a familiarity with major works of Japanese fiction, the course aims to cultivate an understanding of how stories can be used to engage and think abou the quandaries of modern society. We will explore the way these narratives express marginal experiences, rethink the foundations of human and societal bonds, and articulate new ways of being in the world. Works covered include stories by Tanizaki Jun'ichiro, Kawabata Yasunari, Oe Kenzaburo, Mishima Yukio, and Murakami Haruki, as well as films by Akira Kurosawa, Koreeda Hirokazu, and Otomo Katsuhiro. No knowledge of Japanese required. General Education Requirements: Internationalism Distribution Requirements: Course Materials
ASIA 274-01	The Great Tradition in China before 1840	Days: MWF	Time: 10:50 am-11:50 am	Room: MAIN 001	Instructor: Yue-him Tam	Avail./Max.: 14 / 20
Cross-listed with HIST 274-01 Details A study of the traditional culture and society of China from earliest times to the eighteenth century, when the impact of the West was strongly felt. The course will be based on detailed study of selected significant themes in Chinese history. Lecture/discussion format. General Education Requirements: Distribution Requirements: Humanities Course Materials
ASIA 275-01	The Rise of Modern China	Days: MWF	Time: 01:10 pm-02:10 pm	Room: MAIN 111	Instructor: Yue-him Tam	Avail./Max.: 14 / 20
Cross-listed with HIST 275-01 Details A study of leading institutions and movements of nineteenth- and twentieth-century China. Major emphases include the impact of Western imperialism, the transformation of peasant society through revolution, the rise of Mao Tse-Tung, and the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. Special attention will be given to U.S.-China relations. General Education Requirements: Distribution Requirements: Humanities Course Materials
ASIA 277-01	The Rise of Modern Japan	Days: MWF	Time: 03:30 pm-04:30 pm	Room: MAIN 001	Instructor: Yue-him Tam	Avail./Max.: 8 / 18
Cross-listed with HIST 277-01 Details Japan's rapid industrialization in the latter part of the nineteenth century, and its phenomenal rise as the number two economic power in the world after the devastation wrought by World War II, have led many scholars to declare Japan a model worthy of emulation by all "developing" nations. After an examination of feudal Japan, this course probes the nature and course of Japan's "amazing transformation" and analyzes the consequences of its strengths as a nation-state. Considerable study of Japanese art, literature, and religion will be undertaken and American attitudes toward the Japanese and their history will also be examined. General Education Requirements: Distribution Requirements: Humanities Course Materials
ASIA 294-01	Making Sacred: Religious Images and Spaces in Asia	Days: MWF	Time: 09:40 am-10:40 am	Room: ARTCOM 102	Instructor: Kari Shepherdson-Scott	Avail./Max.: 6 / 15
Cross-listed with ART 270-01 Details What defines Sacred Art or makes a Sacred Space? What roles do material practices play in fostering a religious experience? This course contemplates answers to these questions by focusing on religious visual culture in Asia and examining how intangible concepts of the divine have become tangible in art and architecture. To better understand the multilayered functioning of devotional objects and spaces associated with religious doctrines such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, and Shintoism, the class will explore foundations in iconography and then compare different religious objects and spaces through concepts such as gender, state power, the body, nature, the grotesque, and death. The meaning of such imagery is not static, however. Therefore, we will also reflect on how the significance of religious objects change in the space of a museum. Ultimately, this course allows us to contemplate the multifaceted ways religious beliefs have been visualized and how these manifestations exemplify systems of cultural exchange in Asia. General Education Requirements: Internationalism Writing WA Distribution Requirements: Fine arts Course Materials
ASIA 315-01	U.S. Imperialism from the Philippines to Viet Nam	Days: TR	Time: 03:00 pm-04:30 pm	Room: NEILL 400	Instructor: Karin Aguilar-San Juan	Avail./Max.: 4 / 20
Cross-listed with AMST 315-01 and HIST 315-01; no first year students allowed Details In this discussion-based seminar, we will examine U.S. Global presence through the lenses of empire, diaspora, and transnationalism. We will look specifically at U.S. involvement in the Philippines and Viet Nam from 1898 to 1975 as moments of military occupation and cultural domination, as well as turning points for U.S. nation-building. What is "imperialism" and how is it different from "hegemony"? How did U.S. imperial adventures in Asia help to recreate a Western geographic imaginary of the "East"? How did they reshape or reconfigure "American" positions and identities? Under what circumstances were former imperial subjects allowed to generate racialized communities? To what extent are memories of U.S. conflicts in Asia cultivated, proliferated, twisted, or suppressed? What lessons can be garnered for the contemporary historical moment? Other topics for exploration include: internment, transracial adoption, commemorations of war, and anti-imperialist/anti-war movements. General Education Requirements: U.S. Identities and Differences Distribution Requirements: Humanities Course Materials
ASIA 320-01	Asian Cities	Days: M	Time: 07:00 pm-10:00 pm	Room: CARN 105	Instructor: I-Chun Catherine Chang	Avail./Max.: 5 / 16
Cross-listed with GEOG 320-01; first day attendance required Details Since the last century, Asia has experienced rapid urbanization. It is now home to over half of the world's most populated cities. By 2010, the urban population in the Asia-Pacific region has surpassed the population of the United States and the European Union combined. In this course, we will focus on cities in East, Southeast and South Asia. We will first contextualize the rapid urbanization in the region's changing political economy, and identify urban issues that are unique to this region. We will further explore different theoretical approaches to understand Asian cities; several of them challenge mainstream urban theories rooted in the experiences of West European and North American cities. Upon the completion of this course, students will acquire substantive knowledge on contemporary trends of urban development in Asia, and develop familiarity with related ongoing theoretical debates. In addition, students will conduct individual research projects to develop deeper and more concrete understanding of the contemporary urbanization processes in Asia. General Education Requirements: Internationalism Writing WA Distribution Requirements: Social science Course Materials

Fall 2018

Number / Section	Name	Days	Time	Room	Instructor	Avail. / Max.
ASIA 140-01	Introduction to East Asian Civilization	Days: MWF	Time: 02:20 pm-03:20 pm	Room: MAIN 001	Instructor: Yue-him Tam	Avail./Max.: 11 / 20
Cross-listed with HIST 140-01 Details This course introduces the cultures and societies of China, Japan and Korea from the earliest times to the present day. Primarily an introductory course for beginners in East Asian civilization, this course considers a variety of significant themes in religious, political, economic, social and cultural developments in the region. General Education Requirements: Internationalism Writing WP Distribution Requirements: Humanities Course Materials
ASIA 150-01	Language and Gender in Japanese Society	Days: TR	Time: 09:40 am-11:10 am	Room: NEILL 110	Instructor: Satoko Suzuki	Avail./Max.: 3 / 20
Cross-listed with JAPA 150-01, LING 150-01 and WGSS 150-01 Details Japanese is considered to be a gendered language in the sense that women and men speak differently from each other. Male characters in Japanese animation often use "boku" or "ore" to refer to themselves, while female characters often use "watashi" or "atashi." When translated into Japanese, Hermione Granger (a female character in the Harry Potter series) ends sentences with soft-sounding forms, while Harry Potter and his best friend Ron use more assertive forms. Do these fictional representations reflect reality? How are certain forms associated with femininity or masculinity? Do speakers of Japanese conform to the norm or rebel against it? These are some of the questions discussed in this course. Students will have opportunities to learn about the history of gendered language, discover different methodologies in data collections, and find out about current discourse on language and gender. General Education Requirements: Internationalism Writing WA Distribution Requirements: Social science Course Materials
ASIA 170-01	Art of the East I: China	Days: MWF	Time: 01:10 pm-02:10 pm	Room: ARTCOM 102	Instructor: STAFF	Avail./Max.: 11 / 25
Cross-listed with ART 170-01 Details This course introduces the art and visual culture of China from the Neolithic era to the twenty-first century. Lectures and readings will teach methods of formal visual analysis as well as provide the opportunity for students to think critically about how scholars write the artistic history of the region. Through this class, students will engage with a broad array of media, from jade carvings, Buddhist cave painting, architecture, calligraphy and monumental landscape paintings to ceramics, modern graphic media, and contemporary installations. While examining the specific cultural, social, economic, and political functions of these spaces, images and objects, we will interrogate the multifaceted ways that shifting concepts of hybridity, ethnicity, authority, religion, militarism and politics have informed visual production. General Education Requirements: Distribution Requirements: Fine arts Course Materials
ASIA 254-01	Japanese Film and Animation: From the Salaryman to the Shojo	Days: MWF	Time: 01:10 pm-02:10 pm	Room: NEILL 110	Instructor: Arthur Mitchell	Avail./Max.: 16 / 16
First Year Course only; cross-listed with JAPA 254-01 Details This course surveys the history of Japanese film from the "golden age" of Japanese cinema to the contemporary transnational genre of anime. While introducing methodologies of film analysis and interpretation, it develops knowledge of how major works of Japanese film and animation have expressed and critiqued issues of modern Japanese society. In doing this, we trace the development of two related archetypes: the middle-class salaryman and the adolescent girl (shojo). These figures - as well as their incarnations as cyberpunks and mecha-warriors, sex workers and teen rebels - help us explore Japanese film's engagement with the strictures of middle-class society, the constrained status of women, fantasy and escapism, sexuality and desire. Weekly screenings and discussion will be supplemented by readings in film theory and cultural criticism. Directors include Ozu Yasujiro, Akira Kurosawa, Oshima Nagisa, Miyazaki Hayao, Anno Hideaki, and Hosoda Mamoru. No prior knowledge of Japanese required. General Education Requirements: Internationalism Writing WA Distribution Requirements: Humanities Course Materials
ASIA 275-01	The Rise of Modern China	Days: MWF	Time: 01:10 pm-02:10 pm	Room: MAIN 001	Instructor: Yue-him Tam	Avail./Max.: 15 / 25
Cross-listed with HIST 275-01 Details A study of leading institutions and movements of nineteenth- and twentieth-century China. Major emphases include the impact of Western imperialism, the transformation of peasant society through revolution, the rise of Mao Tse-Tung, and the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. Special attention will be given to U.S.-China relations. General Education Requirements: Distribution Requirements: Humanities Course Materials
ASIA 277-01	The Rise of Modern Japan	Days: MWF	Time: 03:30 pm-04:30 pm	Room: MAIN 001	Instructor: Yue-him Tam	Avail./Max.: 19 / 25
Cross-listed with HIST 277-01 Details Japan's rapid industrialization in the latter part of the nineteenth century, and its phenomenal rise as the number two economic power in the world after the devastation wrought by World War II, have led many scholars to declare Japan a model worthy of emulation by all "developing" nations. After an examination of feudal Japan, this course probes the nature and course of Japan's "amazing transformation" and analyzes the consequences of its strengths as a nation-state. Considerable study of Japanese art, literature, and religion will be undertaken and American attitudes toward the Japanese and their history will also be examined. General Education Requirements: Distribution Requirements: Humanities Course Materials
ASIA 281-01	Dialects, Multilingualism, and the Politics of Speaking Japanese	Days: TR	Time: 01:20 pm-02:50 pm	Room: NEILL 110	Instructor: Satoko Suzuki	Avail./Max.: 8 / 20
Cross-listed with JAPA 281-01 and LING 281-01 Details This course will examine linguistic diversity in Japan as well as issues of identity and politics involved in the act of speaking Japanese in Japan and other parts of the world. Students will be engaged with questions such as the following: How do dialects become revitalized? How does the media portray dialect speakers? Does the Japanese government promote multilingualism? How do multilingual/multicultural individuals manage their identities? How do heritage speakers in Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru deal with the politics of speaking Japanese? What does it mean to speak Japanese as a non-native speaker? No Japanese language ability is required. General Education Requirements: Internationalism Writing WP Distribution Requirements: Social science Course Materials
ASIA 294-01	Literature and Social Change in Modern China	Days: M	Time: 07:00 pm-10:00 pm	Room: NEILL 214	Instructor: Rivi Handler-Spitz	Avail./Max.: 8 / 15
Cross-listed with CHIN 294-01 Details After more than a millennium of dynastic rule, China’s last dynasty fell in 1911. In this period, Chinese intellectuals struggled to modernize their nation: proposed reforms included introduction of Western science, technology, and hygiene, promotion of public education, liberation of women, abolition of the rigid civil service examination, and abandonment of Chinese characters in favor of Western alphabetic script. This course examines Chinese intellectuals' ambivalent attitudes toward the West and toward its own imperial history at this critical juncture in Chinese history. Taught in English. General Education Requirements: Distribution Requirements: Humanities Course Materials
ASIA 353-01	Cyber China: Internet and Contemporary Culture	Days: TR	Time: 09:40 am-11:10 am	Room: NEILL 102	Instructor: Xin Yang	Avail./Max.: 9 / 15
Cross-listed with CHIN 353-01 Details What is the "Great Firewall of China?" What does it say on the symbolic power of the state, the civilians, as well as censorship and resistance politics? The Internet has played an increasingly important role in shaping contemporary Chinese life in many ways. The technology-enabled spaces have expanded to encompass a vast array of cultural forms. They have become an arena of intense contention and contestation among multiple political forces. This senior capstone course explores various aspects of the Internet culture in mainland China, combining close examination of up-to-date online content in original Chinese language with evaluation of scholarly discourse on the Chinese internet. The goal of the seminar is to look at different ways of conceptualizing Chinese internet culture. It will also consider the implications of online communication and cultural production both for contemporary Chinese culture in general, and students' own research in particular. Prerequisite(s): CHIN 204, the equivalent language proficiencty, or permission of instructor General Education Requirements: Internationalism Writing WA Distribution Requirements: Humanities Course Materials

Spring 2019

Number / Section	Name	Days	Time	Room	Instructor	Avail. / Max.
ASIA 124-01	Asian Religions: Dharma/Big Idea from India and China	Days: MWF	Time: 01:10 pm-02:10 pm	Room:	Instructor: James Laine	Avail./Max.: 50 / 50
Cross-listed with RELI 124-01 Details An introduction to the study of Asian religious traditions in South and East Asia (India, China and Japan). Open to everyone but especially appropriate for first and second year students. General Education Requirements: Distribution Requirements: Humanities Course Materials
ASIA 171-01	Art of the East II: Japan	Days: MWF	Time: 01:10 pm-02:10 pm	Room: ARTCOM 102	Instructor: STAFF	Avail./Max.: 25 / 25
Cross-listed with ART 171-01 Details This course examines the art, architecture, and visual culture of Japan, spanning a broad temporal frame from the ancient Neolithic era to our own contemporary moment. We will discuss a diverse array of art and architecture from ancient Jomon pottery, Shinto shrines, and print media to Buddhist sculpture, painting practices during World War II, anime (cartoons) and manga (comics). In addition to learning methods of formal visual analysis, students will gain insight into how these works articulated complex artistic, social, economic, political, and religious trends. Through this course, students will develop skills to reflect critically on the production of narratives of Japanese culture, while considering concepts such as tradition, hybridity, value, authority, authenticity, sexuality, commodity flows, nationalism, and militarism. General Education Requirements: Distribution Requirements: Fine arts Course Materials
ASIA 194-01	Asian Humanities	Days: TR	Time: 01:20 pm-02:50 pm	Room:	Instructor: Rivi Handler-Spitz	Avail./Max.: 20 / 20
Details Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing. General Education Requirements: Distribution Requirements: Course Materials
ASIA 255-01	China on Screen	Days: MWF	Time: 10:50 am-11:50 am	Room:	Instructor: Xin Yang	Avail./Max.: 20 / 20
Cross-listed with CHIN 255-01 Details This course is an overview of China on the silver screen. Adopting the "nation" as its primary structuring device, the course examines how Chinese films represented the national identity, national issues, and the national past. The topics under discussion include how women's virtues became the emblems of a nation that strived for modernity in the early 20th century; how films were politically appropriated for the socialist construction; how the revolutionary past had been cinematically constructed, remembered and critiqued in the post-Mao era; how the national legacy and tradition were consciously or unconsciously re-created and revised as a spectacle to meet the curious gaze from the global market; and how Taiwan and Hong Kong cinema constantly reflected the issue of cultural and national identities. The course starts from the silent film period and extends to the fifth generation directors, underground filmmaking, and the revival of martial arts genre in the greater China area. Feature films from mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong will be screened and discussed. Secondary articles and books are also assigned in conjunction with the films. The course is organized thematically and moves chronologically. No prior knowledge of China or Chinese is required. General Education Requirements: Distribution Requirements: Humanities Course Materials
ASIA 276-01	The Great Tradition in Japan before 1853	Days: TR	Time: 01:20 pm-02:50 pm	Room:	Instructor: Yue-him Tam	Avail./Max.: 25 / 25
Cross-listed with HIST 276-01 Details A survey of the major political, social, religious, intellectual, economic and artistic developments in Japan from earliest times to the opening of Japan in the 1850s. It also examines Japan's relations with its close neighbors, Korea and China. General Education Requirements: Distribution Requirements: Humanities Course Materials
ASIA 315-01	U.S. Imperialism from the Philippines to Viet Nam	Days: TR	Time: 01:20 pm-02:50 pm	Room:	Instructor: Karin Aguilar-San Juan	Avail./Max.: 15 / 15
Cross-listed with AMST 315-01 and HIST 315-01 Details In this discussion-based seminar, we will examine U.S. Global presence through the lenses of empire, diaspora, and transnationalism. We will look specifically at U.S. involvement in the Philippines and Viet Nam from 1898 to 1975 as moments of military occupation and cultural domination, as well as turning points for U.S. nation-building. What is "imperialism" and how is it different from "hegemony"? How did U.S. imperial adventures in Asia help to recreate a Western geographic imaginary of the "East"? How did they reshape or reconfigure "American" positions and identities? Under what circumstances were former imperial subjects allowed to generate racialized communities? To what extent are memories of U.S. conflicts in Asia cultivated, proliferated, twisted, or suppressed? What lessons can be garnered for the contemporary historical moment? Other topics for exploration include: internment, transracial adoption, commemorations of war, and anti-imperialist/anti-war movements. General Education Requirements: Distribution Requirements: Humanities Course Materials
ASIA 378-01	War Crimes and Memory in East Asia	Days: TR	Time: 03:00 pm-04:30 pm	Room:	Instructor: Yue-him Tam	Avail./Max.: 25 / 25
Cross-listed with HIST 378-01 Details This course's main goal is to introduce evidence of the major crimes and atrocities during World War II in East Asia such as the Nanjing Massacre, biochemical warfare (Unit 731), the military sexual slavery ("comfort women") system, the forced labor system, and inhumane treatment of POWs. The course will also help students understand the contemporary geo-political and socio-economic forces that affect how East Asians and Westerners collectively remember and reconstruct World War II. General Education Requirements: Distribution Requirements: Humanities Course Materials

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