Asian Studies
The University offers a broad range of courses dealing with Indian, Chinese and Japanese cultures. The Asian Studies Committee, headed by the director of Asian Studies, oversees both a major in Asian Studies and a minor in Asian Studies. Students with a special interest in Asia are urged to take advantage of opportunities to study, either for a term or a full academic year, in India, China or Japan. (The Asian Studies Program has substantial scholarships available for all Asian Studies majors wishing to study in Asia.) Graduates of the Asian studies program typically go on to employment in business and education or enter professional and graduate schools. In addition to a major or minor in Asian Studies, minors in Japanese and Chinese language are offered. The Asian Studies Committee periodically reviews the list of courses that may be applied to both the Asian Studies major and minor.
Requirements for a major
Asian Studies
Total courses required | Ten |
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Core courses | Three of the following introductory courses: ARTH 133, ARTH 135, ARTH 234, ASIA 140, ASIA 150, ASIA 197, HIST 253, HIST 254, HIST 255, POLS 253, REL 130, REL 253 and ASIA 480. ASIA 480 The Inter-Cultural Competency Requirement (ICCR) can be fulfilled in one of three distinct ways: 1.) Completion of two semesters of a Chinese or Japanese language at DePauw at any level; 2.) Successful completion of an intensive summer language class in Japanese, a Chinese language or an Indian language at an approved program; 3.) Successful completion of a semester-long immersive study abroad experience in India, China or Japan. (Please note that substantial guaranteed funding is available for Asian Studies majors seeking to participate in an accredited study abroad program.) DePauw courses that count toward the ICCR include: CHIN 161, CHIN 162, CHIN 261, CHIN 262, CHIN 361, CHIN 362, JAPN 151, JAPN 152, JAPN 251, JAPN 252, JAPN 351, JAPN 352 The ICCR may be waived for students from Asia or those with extensive knowledge of an Asian language. However, all majors must take the equivalent of 10 courses inclusive of DePauw courses and off-campus study programs. Scholarships are available for all majors wishing to participate in an immersive semester-long cultural experience abroad or in an approved off-campus summer program regardless of linguistic abilities or prior experience in Asia. |
Other required courses | A minimum of four courses from among the following (2 of the 4 courses must be at the 300-400 level): ANTH 290 (when an Asian topic), ARTH 231, ARTH 232, ARTH 233, ARTH 234, ARTH 331, ARTH 332, ARTH 333, ARTH 334, ASIA 250, ASIA 281, ASIA 282, ASIA 290, ASIA 390, ASIA 470, CHIN 261, CHIN 262 CHIN 361, CHIN 362, ENG 265, ECON 330, HIST 252, HIST 290 (when an Asian topic), HIST 351, HIST 353, HIST 490 (when an Asian topic), HIST 491, JAPN 251, JAPN 252, JAPN 351, JAPN 352, JAPN 451, PHIL 210, POLS 253, REL 253, REL 257, REL 258, REL 290 (when an Asian topic), REL 357, REL 359, REL 491 (when Asian topic). - A number of other courses apply toward the Asian Studies program. See the Schedule of Classes each semester for a complete listing. |
Number 300 and 400 level courses | Three including ASIA 480 |
Senior requirement and capstone experience | All Asian Studies Majors must complete the Asian Studies Senior Seminar (ASIA 480) with a grade of "C" or above. A student usually takes ASIA 480 in the fall semester of the senior year; in it, the student will complete a substantial essay, including an oral presentation. |
Additional information |
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Writing in the Major | The writing in the major requirement for Asian Studies includes three components: 1. the evaluation of a student-writing portfolio; 2. the assessment of a major's self-reflective statement to be carried out in the fall before a student undertakes work in the senior seminar; and 3. the evaluation of a student's senior thesis and defense. Declared majors are required to submit a portfolio of written work in Asian Studies courses before beginning work on the Senior Seminar thesis. Students select 3 papers from 3 different courses that count toward the Asian Studies major and that demonstrate the student's intellectual trajectory in the field. The portfolios are reviewed by at least 2 members of the Asian Studies steering committee. The portfolio papers form the basis of a discussion between the student and advisors regarding writing strengths and weaknesses to be addressed as the student undertakes his/her senior-writing project. During the portfolio review students are given an opportunity to identify their authorial voice and to reflect upon how their written work coheres within the major and sets the stage for work in the Senior Seminar. This process is designed to assist students in the identification of an intellectual project for the senior thesis. Subsequent to conversations during the portfolio review and before undertaking their senior seminar projects students are required to submit personal reflections, ranging from 750 to 1200 words, that bridge their portfolios to the topics of their senior theses. In their reflections, students discuss their academic interests and address issues raised in conversations about papers selected for their portfolios. Like the portfolios, the reflections are read by at least two faculty members in Asian Studies. The faculty members provide comments on the reflections before the students embark upon their senior thesis projects. The Asian Studies Senior Seminar is designed to develop and assess the overall writing skills of our majors. It is the capstone course of the Asian Studies program. The seminar utilizes brainstorming, in-class and out-of-class writing, outlining, drafting, peer-review, instructor consultation, and final presentations to accomplish the developmental and assessment goals of the course. The initial proposals and final drafts of senior theses are read by 2 readers: the faculty member who guides the seminar and another faculty member whose special field is related to the thesis topic. Final papers range between 30-40 pages. |
Requirements for a minor
Asian Studies
Total courses required | Five |
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Core courses | Approved courses chosen from those listed for the major, drawn from at least two disciplines |
Other required courses | No more than two courses in Asian language and no more than two courses from an off-campus program may be included in the minor. The 300-400 level course must be taken on campus and may not be an independent study course. |
Number 300 and 400 level courses | One |
Chinese
Total courses required | Five |
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Core courses | None |
Other required courses | Five credits in Chinese language courses at the 200-level or above. Only one of these courses may be taken off-campus. |
Number 300 and 400 level courses | Two |
Japanese
Total courses required | Five |
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Core courses | None |
Other required courses | The minor requires a minimum of five courses in Japanese language at the Elementary Japanese II (JAPN 152) level or above. Only one of the courses toward the minor may be taken off-campus. |
Number 300 and 400 level courses | Two-Three |
Courses in Art History
ARTH 133East Asian Art, Bronze to the Mongols
A survey of the arts of East Asia from 1500 B.C.E to the 14th century, analyzing the major developments in the art and architecture of China, Japan, Korea, and the Ryūkyūs over a range of media. We will study some of the various methodologies that can be applied to East Asian Art as well as key themes in the chronological and historical development of visual cultures against the background of religious, political and social contexts. May count toward Asian Studies.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
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Arts and Humanities-or-Global Learning | 1 course |
ARTH 135
Developments in East Asian Art, Modernity
A survey of the arts of East Asia from the 14th century to the present, analyzing modernity, as well as the march towards modernity, in the art and architecture of China, Japan, Korea, and the Ryūkyūs over a range of media. We will study some of the various methodologies that can be applied to East Asian Art as well as key themes in the chronological and historical development of visual cultures against the background of political, social, and cultural contexts. May count toward Asian Studies.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
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Arts and Humanities-or-Global Learning | 1 course |
ARTH 231
Prints & Print Culture of Early Modern & Modern Japan
This course explores the spectacle and complexity of Japanese urban life in the early modern and modern periods through a study of the eras' visual arts, particularly woodblock prints, paintings, and print culture. Investigation of pre-modern woodblock prints or ukiyo-e yields a rich tapestry of issues and topics relevant to "early modernity." The study of sōsaku hanga or creative prints, which developed in reaction to ukiyo-e in the early 20th century, expands our understanding of Japanese modernity, as well as of the global impact of Japanese art. We will consider the economic currents of the times, the wealth of the commoner class as well as the concomitant blurring of social boundaries in pre-modern Japan, government attempts at control, the powerful entertainment industries of theatre & sex, the visualization of urban literature, concepts of beauty, the "burden" of history, and the demands of modernity. Our interdisciplinary approach will allow us to engage with not only art-historical issues, but also literary, sociological, historical, and religious concerns.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
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Arts and Humanities-or-Global Learning | 1 course |
ARTH 232
Warrior Art of Japan and the Ryūkyūs
This course explores the arts produced for and by the warrior elite of Japan and the Ryūkyū islands (now Japan's Okinawa prefecture) from 1185 until 1868. From the tragic tale of Minamoto Yoshitsune to the mythical, warrior origins of Ryūkyū royalty, the class will concentrate on the arts produced for the men who led these nations through both treacherous and prosperous times. We will study arms & armor, castles & retreat pavilions, various ceremonial performances, including Ryūkyūan investiture and the Japanese tea ceremonies, paintings, Noh theatre, Ryūkyūan dance, and film. Through a careful consideration of translated documents, slide reproductions of art objects, movies, and selected treasures from the DePauw University Art Collection, students will learn about what motivated these powerful men to produce art, how they embraced the arts to better themselves culturally, and what these monuments and artworks conveyed about the culture of Japan's and the Ryūkyūs's medieval and early modern eras.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
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Arts and Humanities-or-Global Learning | 1 course |
ARTH 233
Monumental Art of Japan, 1550-1900: Splendor & Angst
This course explores large-scale art and architecture produced in Japan from 1550 to 1900. These years encompass the last turbulent decades of warfare and the first two centuries of an era of peace, witnessing the construction (and destruction) of resplendent castles, villas, religious complexes, and their accompanying interior decoration. Powerful and pervasive artistic ateliers, which were responsible for the decoration of these structures, also left an indelible artistic stamp on the nation during this period. What role did such resplendent monuments play in the struggle for power, both politically and culturally? For whose eyes was such splendor intended and what hidden, underlying angst pervades these efforts? What aesthetic values are expressed and did they extend beyond the elite, ruling class? Students will consider these questions and more, ultimately investigating the larger role of "art" in society.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
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Arts and Humanities-or-Global Learning | 1 course |
ARTH 234
East West Encounters
This course examines cross-cultural artistic encounters between the Western world (Europe and the United States) and Asia (India, China, and Japan) from ca. 1500 to the mid-twentieth century, concentrating on the role of art objects and visual culture, broadly speaking, in the cultural exchange between East and West over the past five hundred years. Topics include the impact of Western realism on traditional Asian art forms; the role of commodities and empire in artistic production; Japonisme and Chinoiserie in 19th century Europe and America; early photography; collections of Asian art objects in the West; issues of cultural identity in Asian modernism; and post-World War II abstract art.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
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Arts and Humanities-or-Global Learning | None | 1 course |
ARTH 236
Eccentrics & the Exotic in 17th & 18th c. China & Japan
This course explores two major artistic currents arising in both China and Japan in the 17th and 18th centuries. Dubbed "eccentric" by their contemporaries, a number of innovative painters broke the rules, constructed "bohemian" personas, and yet also paid homage to their art historical heritage. Alongside the (re)emerging figure of the eccentric artist, 17th and 18th century China and Japan also encountered Europeans. As a result, both countries grappled with its sense of identity, as a nation and as a people. Contact with Europeans, direct and indirect, led to the representation of "other" and experimentation with unfamiliar artistic techniques. Thus, through this focused study of a specific time period in China and Japan, students examine "diversity" and "inclusion" in a pre-modern, East Asian context. With paintings as our point of departure, we will think deeply about the meanings of terms such as "eccentric" and "exotic," as well as how the associated concerns of artistic freedom and negotiation with "other" still resonate in contemporary society. This class will nurture critical thinking about art and its active role in international relations today, challenging students to approach the subjects of diversity and inclusion from different points of view and to express opinions articulately in verbal, as well as in written, form.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
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Arts and Humanities | 1 course |
ARTH 331
Kyoto: A Cultural Metropolis
This course examines the rich visual culture of Kyoto, the imperial capital of Japan from 794 until 1868. During its long history, the city witnessed astounding growth, cultural flowering first under the emperors and then under various warlords, devastation by wars, fires, and famine, and multiple rebirths. Kyoto presided over some of the nation's greatest artistic achievements including the construction of sumptuous palaces, get-away villas, grand temples, and the production of the paintings and decorative flourishes within these structures. In the early modern period, Kyoto silk weavers, lacquer-ware specialists, book illustrators, calligraphers, and especially, painters commanded the respect of consumers throughout Japan, spreading Kyoto's artistic "style" to other urban centers and to the villages at the peripheries of power. The class will proceed chronologically, beginning with the founding of the city in 794 and ending with the city's role in the restoration of imperial power in 1868. Each week we will focus on specific case studies, monuments, art objects, illustrated works of literature, and maps, as well as translated primary sources and pertinent studies by art historians of Japan. Besides gaining a familiarity with Kyoto's pre-modern visual culture, the class aims to impart an awareness of Kyoto's role in the formation of Japanese 'nationhood' and national identity.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
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Arts and Humanities | 1 course |
ARTH 332
Representation in Japanese Visual Culture
This course examines the concept of "representation" in Japanese visual culture, engaging with subject matter from contemporary times, as well as from Japan's modern and pre-modern periods (12th through the early 20th centuries). We will proceed along thematic lines. Balancing theoretical readings with scholarly articles and a sprinkling of translated primary sources, the class will address issues relating to the representation (or re-presentation) of landscape and the environment, the body and gender roles, canonical narratives as performance, and national identity at three crucial periods in Japan's history. At times we will reference Japanese monuments and works of art produced prior to the early modern era, as well as the Chinese sources that influenced some of the Japanese topics at the locus of our investigation. What lies at the heart of representation--subjectivity, political aims, societal concerns, emotional responses--and the complexity this question reveals are the central concerns of this course.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
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Arts and Humanities | 1 course |
ARTH 333
The Supernatural in Japanese Art
This course explores the theme of the supernatural in Japanese visual culture from the 12th century to the present. With origins in religion, folklore, and literature, otherworldly creatures and their powers have captured the imagination of the Japanese and consequently inspired creative visualizations of them. Students will not only analyze works ranging from traditional painting mediums to contemporary manga, as well as anime, but also will engage with texts that have supernatural worlds and beings as a central element. Moreover, this course will ask students to place these exhilarating and cautionary tales in context: what do these narratives say about the societies that created them, believed in them, and produced visualizations of the supernatural creatures featured within them?
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
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Arts and Humanities-or-Global Learning | 1 course |
ARTH 334
Women and East Asian Art
This course examines the role of women in the arts in pre-modern East Asia and the negotiation of women's concerns, by female artists, in modern and contemporary East Asian art. Did women have no sense of empowerment at all in pre-modern China, Korea, and Japan? What about Chinese, Korean, and Japanese women artists today? What are their interests and agendas? Students will engage with historical works of art and artists, while concurrently gaining an understanding of gendered female roles as determined by religious, philosophical, and societal conceptualizations of the past. Then, students will study feminist discourses originating from the West in their analysis of modern and contemporary East Asian art by and about women. Ultimately, the aim of this course is to demystify and to complicate understandings about women as the subject of art, as well as women as the producers of art, in East Asia. This course counts towards the WIM (Writing in the Major) requirement for art history majors.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
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Arts and Humanities-or-Global Learning | 1 course |
Courses in Asian Studies
ASIA 140Introduction to Chinese Culture
This course introduces the elements of contemporary and traditional Chinese culture. It provides students with a fundamental yet diverse knowledge of China and its culture through examination of its manifestations: political, religious, social, cultural, and economic. Topics include history, traditional belief systems, society, languages, arts and literature, performance traditions, daily life and customs, ethnicity and gender issues, science and technology, business and government.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
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Social Science-or-Global Learning | 1 course |
ASIA 150
Introduction to Taoism
Through a close reading of the classic of Taoism Tao te ching in the context of its antiquity (around the 7th century BCE) and in its contemporary applications in politics, aesthetics, arts, gender relations, violence and peace, and power and authority, students will learn one of the three major schools of thought in China. Particular attention will be paid to the philosophical and cultural issues that influenced not only Chinese but also many other Asian and Western cultures.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
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Arts and Humanities-or-Global Learning | 1 course |
ASIA 190
Topics in Asian Studies
Topics in Asian Studies.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
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1 course |
ASIA 197
First-Year Seminar in Asian Studies
A seminar focused on a theme related to the study of Asia. Open only to first-year students.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
---|---|---|
1 course |
ASIA 250
China on Screen
Through viewing and discussing cinematic films, students will learn to appreciate how China has been presented as a nation and a culture by generations of Chinese directors from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and other cultural enclaves and by current film critics, both Chinese and western. Topics include the history of the Chinese film industry, major genres in Chinese cinema, the issues of cultural hegemony, as well as cinematic constructions of "so-called" Chinese gender, nationhood and individuality.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
---|---|---|
Arts and Humanities | 1 course |
ASIA 251
Classical Chinese Literature
This course outlines Chinese literature from the beginning to the Tang dynasty (618-907). From some of the most beloved and celebrated literary texts, we will glean the ageless enigmas of the Warring States sophists, the whimsical wisdom of Chinese hippies of the Bamboo Grove, and the anomalies and the fantastic from poetesses (both male and female) of China's Golden Age, the Tang dynasty. In seven themes, we will explore major genres and sub-genres of Chinese literature, including poetry (e.g., "the music bureau," "classical poetry,' and 'lyric meters'), prose (e.g., historical and philosophical), and fiction (e.g., 'describing anomalies' and 'romances'). We will learn and experience how politicians and common people in China over 2,500 years ago thought, felt, and lived. How did the ancient Chinese achieve immortality, behave in courtship, eavesdrop on a love affair, express their emotions, and criticize one another? Amazingly enough, many of the answers are as contemporary as scenes in a Hollywood movie today. No knowledge of Chinese is required.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
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Arts and Humanities-or-Global Learning | 1 course |
ASIA 281
Traditional Japanese Literature
A survey of Japanese literature, in English translation, from the eighth to the 18th century. Works from a variety of genres (poetry, plays, novels, diaries) are examined.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
---|---|---|
Arts and Humanities | 1 course |
ASIA 282
Modern Japanese Novelists
A study, in translation, of major Japanese novelists of the 19th and 20th centuries, including Natsume Soseki (Kokoro), the Nobel Prize winner Kawabata Jasunari (Snow Country), Murakami Haruki (Sputnik Sweetheart) and Hoshimoto Banana (Kitchen).
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
---|---|---|
Arts and Humanities | 1 course |
ASIA 290
Topics in Asian Studies
Usually a course on aspects of one of the societies and cultures studied in the Asian Studies program (India, China and Japan) or a comparative treatment of aspects of these cultures.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
---|---|---|
1 course |
ASIA 390
Topics in Asian Studies
Typically examines selected themes, genres or periods in Chinese, Japanese or Indian literature. May also explore issues and/or periods in Chinese, Japanese or Indian cultural and intellectual history. Prerequisite: One of the following courses - ARTH 133, ARTH 134, ARTH 135, ARTH 234, ASIA 140, ASIA 197, HIST 107, HIST 108, POLS 253, REL 130, or REL 253
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
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One of the following courses - ARTH 133, ARTH 134, ARTH 135, ARTH 234, ASIA 140, ASIA 197, HIST 107, HIST 108, POLS 253, REL 130, or REL 253 | 1/2-1 course |
ASIA 470
Directed Readings in Asian Studies
Independent study for majors or, by permission of the instructor, for students with significant coursework in an aspect of Asian Studies.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
---|---|---|
1 course |
ASIA 480
Asian Studies Senior Seminar
Required of majors in Asian Studies. Normally taken in the fall semester of the senior year.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
---|---|---|
1 course |
Courses in Chinese Studies
CHIN 161Elementary Chinese I
The goals for this course are for students to master the pinyin Romanization system and to acquire basic communication skills of speaking, listening, reading, and writing Mandarin Chinese. CHIN 161 is open only to beginners in Chinese or those with two years or less of high school Chinese.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
---|---|---|
Language | 1 course |
CHIN 162
Elementary Chinese II
This course is a continuation of Elementary Chinese I. Students will continue to develop the language skills they acquired in Elementary Chinese I. Prerequisite: CHIN 161 or qualifying score on the placement test.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
---|---|---|
Language | CHIN 161 or qualifying score on the placement test | 1 course |
CHIN 261
Intermediate Chinese I
Course work helps students to develop four linguistic skills (speaking, writing, listening and reading) in Chinese at a more advanced level. Course work emphasizes drills, conversation and grammar. The goals are for students to acquire the following skills: to pronounce modern standard Chinese, to write words using both characters and pinyin Romanization system, to converse in more complicated sentences based on grammatical structures introduced in this course and to write essays. Prerequisite: CHIN 162 or qualifying score on the placement test.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
---|---|---|
Language | CHIN 162 or qualifying score on the placement test | 1 course |
CHIN 262
Intermediate Chinese II
A continuation of CHIN 261. Prerequisite: CHIN 261 or qualifying score on the placement test.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
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Language | CHIN 261 or qualifying score on the placement test | 1 course |
CHIN 269
Topics in Chinese
Topics in the Chinese language. May be repeated with different topics for credit.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
---|---|---|
Language | 1/2-1 course |
CHIN 361
Advanced Chinese I
Reading and discussion of advanced Chinese materials. Exercise in speaking the language and in writing compositions. Prerequisite: CHIN 262 or qualifying score on the placement test.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
---|---|---|
Language | CHIN 262 or qualifying score on the placement test |
CHIN 461
Advanced Readings and Projects in Chinese
Open to advanced students in Chinese. May be repeated for credit.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
---|---|---|
Language | 1/2-1 course |
Courses in Economics & Management
ECON 330Asian Economies
Provides an overview of key economic developments in the Asia-Pacific region. Students will have an opportunity to apply economic theories and models to understand the divergent development paths of countries in this region. Topics include the rise of the East Asian economies, the challenges that emerged from the Asian financial crisis, development obstacles of East and South Asian economies and prospects for regionalization. Prerequisites: Econ 100, Econ 295
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
---|---|---|
Global Learning | Econ 100, Econ 295 | 1 course |
Courses in Literature
ENG 265Asian Pacific American Voices
Since Asian American and Pacific Islander writing is typically presented from the perspective of race, our topics will focus on cultural identity, immigration experience, displacement, gender identities, and language. The goal of this class is not to suggest a cohesive tradition of Asian American communities, but rather to explore the different histories and origins of Asian American writers and how their backgrounds inform their work.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
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Arts and Humanities-or-Privilege, Power And Diversity | 1 course |
Courses in History
HIST 253The Creation of East Asia: Transformations and Traditions
This is a survey of the history of East Asia, c. 1300 BCE to 900 CE, focusing on China with additional consideration of Japan and Inner Asia. The course starts with the beginning of the region's written past in the 2nd millennium BCE and concludes with a consideration of the emergence of a multipolar region after the collapse of the Tang empire in China in the 10th century. Some of the topics explored: the creation of a continental empire; the spread and indigenization of religious traditions; the world of aristocrats and the peasant society they ruled; the values of this aristocratic milieu, especially in so far as they have shaped many of the cultural touchstones of East Asia today.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
---|---|---|
Arts and Humanities-or-Global Learning | 1 course |
HIST 254
The Emergence of East Asia: Scholars, Warriors, and Empires
This is a survey of the history of East Asia, c. 900 CE to 1800 CE, focusing on China and Japan, with some consideration of Korea and Vietnam. The course begins with the emergence in the 10th century of a multipolar region following the collapse of the Tang empire in China, and ends c. 1800 with the global repercussions of the industrial revolutions. The period is characterized by transformations in state and society broadly associated with Neo-Confucianism, commercialization, and steppe-based imperial formations. Topics explored in the course include: formation of elite status groups (scholar-officials, samurai), women & gender, empires, trade, environment.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
---|---|---|
Arts and Humanities-or-Global Learning | 1 course |
HIST 255
East Asia in the Modern World
This is a survey of the history of East Asia, c. 1800 to the present. The course begins with the mature states and societies of China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam at the end of the eighteenth century and finishes with a consideration of the post-Cold War era. We cover the dissolution of early modern states, encounters with global industrialization and imperialism, the rise of nation-states, social and cultural modernity, postwar/Cold War revolution and developmentalism, and late 20th century globalization. Some topics explored in the course: feminism, colonialism, imperialism, modernity, ideologies, war, cities.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
---|---|---|
Arts and Humanities-or-Global Learning | 1 course |
HIST 359
Partition and Memory
This course examines the history of partition, its representations, memories and legacy in Israel-Palestine and Pakistan-India in a broadly comparative manner. The course not only engages with the events leading up to partition, but how partition and partition memories and narratives continue to inform the construction of national identities, and how the conflicts within those narratives continue to fuel current clashes in these regions. Using an interdisciplinary approach, the course grapples with the differing memories of key events to flesh out their ethical and political implications. The course also engages with films on and about partition and memory. It assesses the limits and capabilities of this genre for refining cultural memories, coping with memories of violence, as well as challenging the status quo of collective memories and national histories.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
---|---|---|
1 |
Courses in Japanese Studies
JAPN 151Elementary Japanese I
Introduction to the Japanese language with emphasis on development of proficiency in speaking, listening, reading, and writing. JAPN 151 is open only to beginners in Japanese or those with two years or less of high school Japanese.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
---|---|---|
Language | 1 course |
JAPN 152
Elementary Japanese II
A continuation of the study of JAPN 151. Open to students who have successfully completed Japanese I or who are placed into this level by test results. Prerequisite: JAPN 151 or qualifying score on the placement test.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
---|---|---|
Language | JAPN 151 or qualifying score on the placement test | 1 course |
JAPN 251
Intermediate Japanese I
Further study of Japanese language and practice in speaking, listening, reading and writing. Prerequisite: JAPN 152 or qualifying score on the placement test.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
---|---|---|
Language | JAPN 152 or qualifying score on the placement test | 1 course |
JAPN 252
Intermediate Japanese II
A continuation of JAPN 251. Prerequisite: JAPN 251 or qualifying score on the placement test.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
---|---|---|
Language | JAPN 251 or qualifying score on the placement test | 1 course |
JAPN 351
Advanced Japanese I
Readings and discussion of advanced Japanese materials. Exercise in speaking the language and in writing compositions. Prerequisite: JAPN 252 or qualifying score on the placement test.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
---|---|---|
Language | 1 course |
JAPN 451
Advanced Readings and Projects in Japanese
Open to advanced students in Japanese. May be repeated for credit.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
---|---|---|
Language | 1/2-1 course |
Courses in Political Science
POLS 253China and India in the 21st Century
Why do the two Asian giants, India and China, with more than 38 percent of the population of the world, matter to the rest of the world at the beginning of the 21st century? What are China's superpower prospects? Will nuclear India attain great power status? What is the future of communism and the prospect of political freedom and democracy in China? Is Indian democracy stable? What are the sources of instability of Indian government? The dynamics of ethnic minorities in China? The future of secularism in India? The nuclear dynamics in Sino-Indian relations? These questions and many others will be explored in this course.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
---|---|---|
Social Science-or-Global Learning | 1 course |
Courses in Religious Studies
REL 130Introduction to Religions
A cross-cultural survey course of major religious traditions, with emphasis upon the theoretical and methodological issues at stake in the discipline of Religious Studies. The course provides a balanced treatment of Asian and Western/Abrahamic traditions in order to explore the concept of 'religion' within a comparative humanistic context. Most important will be a close reading and discussion of primary texts in English translation. By the end of the course students will have developed a vocabulary for understanding religious phenomena cross-culturally and a sensibility for engaging with religious others in our globalizing world.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
---|---|---|
Arts and Humanities-or-Global Learning | 1 course |
REL 253
Religions of India
This course provides an introduction to the many religious traditions which have found a home in India. In this comprehensive introduction we survey the history, thought, and practices of the major Indian religious traditions in order to come to a better understanding of the ways in which people in South Asia have found meaning and purpose in their lives through religion over several millennia. India (by which we mean not just the present-day nation-state of India but the cultural complex of South Asian civilization from Sri Lanka to Tibet and from Afghanistan to Myanmar from 2500 BCE to the present) gave birth to the three great religious traditions which now blanket Asia: Hinduism in modern-day India, Nepal, and Indonesia; Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia and Laos; and Mahayana Buddhism in Tibet, China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. So, too, the religions of Jainism and Sikhism were born on Indian soil. And in the present day, the majority of the world's Muslims live in South Asia, thus making Islam a thoroughly 'Indian' religion by adoption. In this introductory class we concentrate on the practices and worldviews of Indian religions classical and modern.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
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Arts and Humanities-or-Global Learning | 1 course |
REL 257
Hinduism
In this course students examine religious experience and expression in Hindu India in all of their diversity and regional variation with special emphasis on the contemporary persistence of traditional values and practices. Relevant historical background information is surveyed in order to help assess continuity and change in learned and vernacular Hindu religious practices with particular attention paid to the values that both influence and are displayed by them.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
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Arts and Humanities-or-Global Learning | 1 course |
REL 258
Buddhism
Examines the development of Buddhist thought, scriptures, practices and institutions in India and the religion's spread to China and Japan.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
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Arts and Humanities-or-Global Learning | 1 course |
REL 259
East Asian Religions
This course serves as an introduction to the religious beliefs and practices of East Asia. The course proceeds in chronological order, but it will also focus on broader themes of East Asian religions. Emphasis will be placed on the diversity and unity of religious expressions in China, Korea, and Japan, with readings drawn from a wide-range of texts: religious scriptures, philosophical texts, popular literature, and ethnographic studies. Special attention will be given to those forms of religion common to both the elite and popular culture: cosmology, afterlife, morality, and mythology. The course also raises more general questions concerning gender, class, political patronage, and differing concepts of religion.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
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Arts and Humanities | 1 |
REL 357
Modern Hinduism
In this course we examine the rise of Hindu modernity from the colonial period to the present day. Our main objective is to come to an understanding of the embedded nature of modern Hinduism within the historical matrices of culture, society, politics, and economics in India. Through the close reading of primary and secondary interpretive texts dealing with the transformation of religion in modern South Asia students learn how to apply the critical hermeneutical techniques specific to the discipline of the history of religions. At the same time they gain a better understanding of contemporary Hinduism as they learn about the challenges which Hindus have faced and negotiated in the modern period. By doing so students are able to understand more thoroughly the situation of religious belief and practice across the globe in the modern and post-modern periods.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
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Arts and Humanities-or-Global Learning | 1 course |
REL 359
Religion in Modern Japanese Society
Examines religion within the context of Japanese society from the 17th to the 20th century. Attention given to the rise of Confucianism in the 17th century, the Shinto revival of the 18th century, Buddhism in early modern Japan, the appearance of the new religions, and the relationship of religion to modernization and nationalism. Prerequisite: an introductory course in the department, East Asian history or permission of the instructor.
Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
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Arts and Humanities | An introductory course in the department, East Asian history or permission of the instructor | 1 course |