ASIA 111-01 |
Cultural Anthropology: Introduction to Asian Societies and Cultures |
Days: MTWRF
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Time: 09:30 am-10:45 am
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Room: CARN 06A
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Instructor: Arjun Guneratne
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Avail./Max.: Closed 7 / 35
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*Cross-listed with ANTH 111-02*
Details
The culture concept is the most important item in anthropology's theoretical tool kit; it is the organizing concept underlying the discipline's holistic approach, which seeks to understand the human condition in the broadest possible context. As a discipline, anthropology seeks to document and explain the innumerable ways in which it is possible to be human, and by to understanding other cultural logics to hold up a critical mirror to our own assumptions, beliefs and ways of acting. This course introduces students to Cultural Anthropology through a comparative study of Asian societies and cultures, with a particular emphasis on the three main regions of Asia that are currently taught at Macalester: India, China, and Japan. It also serves to introduce students to the study of Asia by grounding them in the essential features of Asian societies, cultures, and religions.
General Education Requirements:
Writing WP
Internationalism
Distribution Requirements:
Social science
Course Materials
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ASIA 171-01 |
Art of the East II: Japan |
Days: MTWRF
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Time: 01:45 pm-03:00 pm
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Room: ARTCOM 102
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Instructor: Kari Shepherdson-Scott
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Avail./Max.: Closed 0 / 17
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*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. This is a stand-alone course which does ot require ASIA 170 - Art of the East I: China as a prerequisite.
General Education Requirements:
Internationalism
Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts
Course Materials
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ASIA 194-01 |
The Body in Japanese Culture |
Days: MTWRF
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Time: 03:15 pm-04:30 pm
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Room: HUM 102
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Instructor: Michael Toole
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Avail./Max.: 11 / 20
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*First day attendance required; cross-listed with JAPA 194-01*
Details
How do representations of bodies influence our perceptions of ourselves? How have bodies been represented in Japanese culture over the past thousand years? How does the “Japanese body” impact perceptions of Japan and Japanese people? These questions will become the guideposts for the course as we travel through a thousand years of representations and think through the work these representations do. In particular, we will examine how the body becomes a battleground subject to multiple and changing norms and ideals. Each new representation teaches viewers how we should interact with other bodies and how we should view our own bodies. Topics to be studied include: Sexuality and the Body; the Environment and the Body; Death, Dying, and the Body; and Technologies of the Body. No prior knowledge of Japanese required.
General Education Requirements:
Distribution Requirements:
Course Materials
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ASIA 277-01 |
The Rise of Modern Japan |
Days: MTWRF
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Time: 01:45 pm-03:00 pm
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Room: MAIN 009
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Instructor: Yue-him Tam
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Avail./Max.: Closed 3 / 20
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*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
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ASIA 294-01 |
Bruce Lee, His Life and Legacy |
Days: MTWR
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Time: 07:00 pm-08:45 pm
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Room: HUM 112
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Instructor: Karin Aguilar-San Juan
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Avail./Max.: Closed -1 / 30
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*Cross-listed with AMST 281-01 and MCST 281*
Details
This discussion-based course is entirely focused on Bruce Lee, the actor and leading martial arts icon of the 20th century. Using American Studies and Critical Race Studies frames to examine the construction of racialized and gendered bodies, we will discuss Bruce Lee in terms of his biography, identities, politics, philosophy, and filmography. We will take time to appreciate the entertainment value and athleticism that Bruce Lee brought to his work, but we will also learn to distinguish the commercialized, commodified Bruce Lee (from t-shirts to posters to action figures) from the serious historical figure who symbolized the spirit of cultural independence and political sovereignty around the world. Among the required books and movies: The Tao of Jeet Kune Do, and "Way of the Dragon" (1972).
General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences
Distribution Requirements:
Social science
Course Materials
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ASIA 294-02 |
Death and Dying in Modern Chinese Literature |
Days: MTWRF
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Time: 09:30 am-10:45 am
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Room: HUM 111
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Instructor: Andrew Kauffman
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Avail./Max.: 6 / 20
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*Cross-listed with CHIN 294-01*
Details
The modern Chinese experience has been marked and marred by warfare, violent revolution, and death on an unimaginable scale. For many, how to come to terms with the ubiquity of death and how to find meaning in the untold carnage and bloodshed were among the most excruciating and important questions. In this course, we will explore the manifold ways Chinese writers have confronted—and continue to confront—the trauma, violence, and death of China’s modern experience. We will examine fictional works written by canonical and emergent authors whose writings span a variety of genres. Through discussions and abbreviated lectures, we will analyze the texts themselves, situate them within their socio-cultural context, and connect their depictions of violence and death to notions of (post)modernity, self, gender, sexuality, history, and the nation.
General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Internationalism
Distribution Requirements:
Humanities
Course Materials
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ASIA 320-01 |
Asian Cities |
Days: MTWR
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Time: 07:00 pm-08:45 pm
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Room: CARN 105
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Instructor: I-Chun Catherine Chang
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Avail./Max.: Closed -1 / 16
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*First day attendance required; cross-listed with GEOG 320-01*
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:
Writing WA
Internationalism
Distribution Requirements:
Social science
Course Materials
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ASIA 494-01 |
Translating Japanese Literature: Theory and Practice |
Days: MTWRF
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Time: 01:45 pm-03:00 pm
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Room: HUM 214
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Instructor: Arthur Mitchell
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Avail./Max.: 11 / 20
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*First day attendance required; cross-listed with JAPA 488-01 and LING 488-01*
Details
This workshop for advanced students of Japanese explores the craft and cultural implications of Japanese-to-English literary translation. It aims to give students not only a facility and sophistication in translating Japanese, but also a closer familiarity with the Japanese language itself. Through weekly translation assignments, we will examine the expressive qualities of the Japanese language, tracing major developments of prose style in the modern period and studying the socio-historical context manifested in those linguistic innovations. Our work will be informed and enhanced by engagements with theories of translation as well as essays on Japanese-to-English translation specifically. We will cover a broad range of genres, including essays, poetry, manga, and film (subtitles). The course will culminate in an original project translating a Japanese work of one's choice. Prerequisite(s): JAPA 305 - Third Year Japanese I or higher.
General Education Requirements:
Distribution Requirements:
Humanities
Course Materials
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