CEAS Courses 2023-2024

This course explores the role of memory as a social, cultural, and political force in contemporary society. How societies remember difficult pasts has become a contested site for negotiating the present. Through the lens of memory, we examine complex roles that our relationships to difficult pasts play in navigating issues we face today. This course explores this politics of memory that takes place in the realm of popular culture and public space. The class asks such questions as: How do you represent difficult and contested pasts? What does it mean to enable long-silenced victims’ voices to be heard? What are the consequences of re-narrating the past by highlighting past injuries and trauma? Does memory work heal or open wounds of a society and a nation? Through examples drawn from the Holocaust, the atomic bombing in Hiroshima, the Vietnam War, genocide in Indonesia and massacres in Lebanon, to debates on confederacy statues, slavery, and lynching in the US, this course approaches these questions through an anthropological exploration of concepts such as memory, trauma, mourning, silence, voice, testimony, and victimhood. 

Historical and contemporary movements of people, goods, and cultural meanings that have defined Asia as a region. Reexamination of state-centered conceptualizations of Asia and of established boundaries in regional studies. The intersections of transregional institutions and local societies and their effects on trading empires, religious traditions, colonial encounters, and cultural fusion. Finance flows that connect East Asia and the Indian Ocean to the Middle East and Africa. The cultures of capital and market in the neoliberal and postsocialist world.

An exploration of the Chinese identity as it has been reworked over the centuries. Major works in Chinese anthropology and their intellectual connections with general anthropology and historical studies. Topics include kinship and marriage, marketing systems, rituals and popular religion, ethnicity and state making, and the cultural nexus of power.

Analysis of urban life in historical and contemporary societies. Topics include capitalist and postmodern transformations; class, gender, ethnicity, and migration; and global landscapes of power and citizenship.

This seminar critically explores how anthropologists use contemporary social theories to formulate the junctures of meaning, interest, and power. It thus aims to integrate symbolic, economic, and political perspectives on culture and social process. If culture refers to the understandings and meanings by which people live, then it constitutes the conventions of social life that are themselves produced in the flux of social life, invented by human activity. Theories of culture must therefore illuminate this problematic of agency and structure. They must show how social action can both reproduce and transform the structures of meaning, the conventions of social life. Even as such a position becomes orthodox in anthropology, it raises serious questions about the possibilities for ethnographic practice and theoretical analysis. How, for example, are such conventions generated and transformed where there are wide differentials of power and unequal access to resources? What becomes of our notions of humans as active agents of culture when the possibilities for maneuver and the margin of action for many are overwhelmed by the constraints of a few? How do elites—ritual elders, Brahmanic priests, manorial lords, factory-managers—secure compliance to a normative order? How are expressions of submission and resistance woven together in a fabric of cultural understandings? How does a theory of culture enhance our analyses of the reconstitution of political authority from traditional kingship to modern nation-state, the encapsulation of pre-capitalist modes of production, and the attempts to convert “primordial sentiments” to “civic loyalties”? How do transnational fluidities and diasporic connections make instruments of nation-states contingent? These questions are some of the questions we immediately face when probing the intersections of culture, politics and representation, and they are the issues that lie behind this seminar. 

This seminar critically explores how anthropologists use contemporary social theories to formulate the junctures of meaning, interest, and power. It thus aims to integrate symbolic, economic, and political perspectives on culture and social process. If culture refers to the understandings and meanings by which people live, then it constitutes the conventions of social life that are themselves produced in the flux of social life, invented by human activity. Theories of culture must therefore illuminate this problematic of agency and structure. They must show how social action can both reproduce and transform the structures of meaning, the conventions of social life. Even as such a position becomes orthodox in anthropology, it raises serious questions about the possibilities for ethnographic practice and theoretical analysis. How, for example, are such conventions generated and transformed where there are wide differentials of power and unequal access to resources? What becomes of our notions of humans as active agents of culture when the possibilities for maneuver and the margin of action for many are overwhelmed by the constraints of a few? How do elites—ritual elders, Brahmanic priests, manorial lords, factory-managers—secure compliance to a normative order? How are expressions of submission and resistance woven together in a fabric of cultural understandings? How does a theory of culture enhance our analyses of the reconstitution of political authority from traditional kingship to modern nation-state, the encapsulation of pre-capitalist modes of production, and the attempts to convert “primordial sentiments” to “civic loyalties”? How do transnational fluidities and diasporic connections make instruments of nation-states contingent? These questions are some of the questions we immediately face when probing the intersections of culture, politics and representation, and they are the issues that lie behind this seminar.

Historical and contemporary movements of people, goods, and cultural meanings that have defined Asia as a region. Reexamination of state-centered conceptualizations of Asia and of established boundaries in regional studies. The intersections of transregional institutions and local societies and their effects on trading empires, religious traditions, colonial encounters, and cultural fusion. Finance flows that connect East Asia and the Indian Ocean to the Middle East and Africa. The cultures of capital and market in the neoliberal and postsocialist world.

An exploration of the Chinese identity as it has been reworked over the centuries. Major works in Chinese anthropology and their intellectual connections with general anthropology and historical studies. Topics include kinship and marriage, marketing systems, rituals and popular religion, ethnicity and state making, and the cultural nexus of power.

Analysis of urban life in historical and contemporary societies. Topics include capitalist and postmodern transformations, class, gender, ethnicity, migration, and global landscapes of power and citizenship.

This seminar explores the variety of archaeological methods and theoretical approaches that have been employed to investigate the development and nature of social complexity in ancient China. The session meetings focus on the later prehistoric and early historic periods, and several geographic regions are included. They also consider how developments in ancient China compare to other areas of the world. Most of the readings emphasize archaeological remains, although relevant information from early historical texts is considered.

Intended for students with no background in Chinese. An intensive course with emphasis on spoken language and drills. Pronunciation, grammatical analysis, conversation practice, and introduction to reading and writing Chinese characters.

First level of the advanced learner sequence. Intended for students with some aural proficiency but very limited ability in reading and writing Chinese. Training in listening and speaking, with emphasis on reading and writing.

Continuation of CHNS 110.

Continuation of CHNS 112.

An intermediate course that continues intensive training in listening, speaking, reading, and writing and consolidates achievements from the first year of study. Students improve oral fluency, study more complex grammatical structures, and enlarge both reading and writing vocabulary.

The second level of the advanced learner sequence. Intended for students with intermediate oral proficiency and elementary reading and writing proficiency. Students receive intensive training in listening, speaking, reading, and writing, supplemented by audio and video materials. The objective of the course is to balance these four skills and work toward attaining an advanced level in all of them.

Continuation of CHNS 130. To be followed by CHNS 150.

Continuation of CHNS 132.

Third level of the standard foundational sequence of modern Chinese, with study in speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Use of audiovisual materials, oral presentations, skits, and longer and more frequent writing assignments to assimilate more sophisticated grammatical structures. Further introduction to a wide variety of written forms and styles. Use of both traditional and simplified forms of Chinese characters.

Continuation of CHNS 150.

This course is intended for heritage speakers with intermediate high to advanced low speaking and listening skills and with intermediate reading and writing skills. The class follows CHNS 142 in the heritage track. The goal of the course is to help students effectively expand their skills in reading and writing while concurrently addressing the need to improve their listening and oral skills in formal environments. The materials cover a variety of topics relating to Chinese culture, society, and cultural differences, supplemented with authentic video materials. 

This course is intended for heritage speakers at the low advanced level with advanced low speaking and listening skills and with intermediate high to advanced low reading and writing proficiency. This course follows CHNS 152 in the heritage track. The goal of the course is to help students effectively expand their skills in reading and writing while concurrently addressing the need to improve their listening and oral skills in formal environments. The materials cover a variety of topics relating to Chinese culture, society, and cultural differences, supplemented with authentic video materials.

This course is designed to consolidate students’ grasp of the language through the use of films, TV programs, videos on social media, and authentic written materials. Activities include presentations, group discussions, written assignments, and projects. Open to heritage learners with intermediate to advanced oral proficiency and intermediate-low reading and writing proficiency. 

This course is designed to consolidate students’ grasp of the language through the use of films, TV programs, videos on social media, and authentic written materials. Activities include presentations, group discussions, written assignments, and projects. Open to heritage learners with intermediate to advanced oral proficiency and intermediate-low reading and writing proficiency. 

Fourth level of the standard foundational sequence of modern Chinese, with study in speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Readings in a wide range of subjects form the basis of discussion and other activities. Students consolidate their skills, especially speaking proficiency, at an advanced level. Materials use both simplified and traditional characters.

Continuation of CHNS 158.

This course is intended for both heritage and non heritage learners with advanced proficiency. Students develop sophisticated language skills through working with authentic written materials, images, and videos concerning historical events, historical figures, artists, writers, and philosophers. Activities include working with translation tools, discussions, debates, presentations, oral and written exercises on platforms such as Playposit and Perusall, and collaborative projects. 

This course is intended for both heritage and non heritage learners with advanced proficiency. Students develop sophisticated language skills through working with authentic written materials, images, and videos concerning historical events, historical figures, artists, writers, and philosophers. Activities include working with translation tools, discussions, debates, presentations, oral and written exercises on platforms such as Playposit and Perusall, and collaborative projects.

Selected readings in Chinese fiction of the 1980s and 1990s. Development of advanced language skills in reading, speaking, and writing for students with an interest in literature and literary criticism.

We read and discuss modern short stories, most written prior to 1949, for the purpose of developing advanced language skills in reading, speaking, and writing. 

Advanced language course with a focus on speaking and writing in formal styles. Current affairs are used as a vehicle to help students learn advanced vocabulary, idiomatic expressions, complex sentence structures, news writing styles and formal stylistic register. Materials include texts and videos selected from news media worldwide to improve students’ language proficiency for sophisticated communications on a wide range of topics. 

Advanced language course with a focus on speaking and writing in formal styles. Current affairs are used as a vehicle to help students learn advanced vocabulary, idiomatic expressions, complex sentence structures, news writing styles and formal stylistic register. Materials include texts and videos selected from news media worldwide to improve students’ language proficiency for sophisticated communications on a wide range of topics. 

Advanced language course with a focus on Chinese business terminology and discourse. Discussion of China’s economic and management reforms, marketing, economic laws, business culture and customs, and economic relations with other countries. Case studies from international enterprises that have successfully entered the Chinese market.

Advanced language course with a focus on Chinese business terminology and discourse. Discussion of China’s economic and management reforms, marketing, economic laws, business culture and customs, and economic relations with other countries. Case studies from international enterprises that have successfully entered the Chinese market.

Reading and interpretation of texts in various styles of literary Chinese (wenyan), with attention to basic problems of syntax and literary style.

Continuation of CHNS 170.

This course aims to bring students to advanced competence in all aspects of modern Chinese, and prepare students for advanced research or employment in a variety of China-related fields. Materials include readings on contemporary social, cultural, and political issues, which are written by prominent scholar writers in related fields. This level is suitable for students who have had four years of college Chinese prior to attending, or who have taken three years of an accelerated program meant for heritage speakers. 

Reading and interpretation of texts in various styles of literary Chinese (wenyan), with attention to basic problems of syntax and literary style.

Continuation of CHNS 570.

An introduction to the literature, culture, and thought of premodern China, from the beginnings of the written record to the turn of the twentieth century. Close study of textual and visual primary sources, with attention to their historical and cultural backdrops.

Du Fu has for the last millennium been considered China’s greatest poet. Close study of nearly one-sixth of his complete works, contextualized by selections from the tradition that defined the art in his age. Exploration of the roles literature plays in interpreting human lives and the ways different traditional forms shape different ethical orientation. Poetry as a vehicle for moral reflection. 

This course is an introduction to Japanese literature written in the last fifty years, with a focus on women writers. We read poetry and prose featuring mothers, daughters, and lovers, novels that follow convenience and thrift store workers, and poetry about factory girls. Our reading takes us from the daily grind of contemporary Tokyo to dystopian futures, from 1970s suburbia to surreal dreamscapes. We attend carefully to the ways in which different writers craft their works and, in particular, to their representation of feelings and affects. Whether the dull ache of loneliness, the oppression of boredom or the heavy weight of fatigue, it is often something about the mood of a work–rather than its narrative–that leaves a distinct impression. We develop the tools to analyze and discuss this sense of distinctness, as well as discover ways to stage connections and comparisons between the works we read. 

This course is an introduction to Japanese literature from the 1880s to 1980s. Our reading is guided by a different “ism” each week, from 19th-century eroticism and exoticism, through mid-century cosmopolitanism and colonialism, to second-wave feminism and existentialism in the wake of World War II. These distinct moments in the development of Japanese modernism (modanizumu) are shaped by encounters with foreign cultures, and by the importing of foreign ideas and vogues. All the same, we question—along with modernist writer Yu Ryutanji—the “critique that says modanizumu is nothing more than the latest display of imported cosmetics” (1930). We seek to develop a correspondingly nuanced picture of the specific and changing ways in which Japan understood and figured its relationship to the rest of the world through the course of a century.

Critical inquiry into the myth of a homogeneous Japan through analysis of how Japanese film and media historically represents “others” of different races, ethnicities, nationalities, genders, and sexualities, including blacks, ethnic Koreans, Okinawans, Ainu, undocumented immigrants, LGBT minorities, the disabled, youth, and monstrous others like ghosts. 

This course offers an interdisciplinary introduction to the study of the complex cultural and political paradigms of late socialism from a transnational perspective by focusing on the literature, cinema, and popular culture of the Soviet Union and China in 1980s. How were intellectual and everyday life in the Soviet Union and China distinct from and similar to that of the West of the same era? How do we parse “the cultural logic of late socialism?” What can today’s America learn from it? Examining two major socialist cultures together in a global context, this course queries the ethnographic, ideological, and socio-economic constituents of late socialism. Students analyze cultural materials in the context of Soviet and Chinese history. Along the way, we explore themes of identity, nationalism, globalization, capitalism, and the Cold War.

A research course in Chinese studies, designed for students with background in modern and literary Chinese. Explore and evaluate the wealth of primary sources and research tools available in China and in the West. For native speakers of Chinese, introduction to the secondary literature in English and instruction in writing professionally in English on topics about China. Topics include Chinese bibliographies; bibliophiles’ notes; specialized dictionaries; maps and geographical gazetteers; textual editions, variations and reliability of texts; genealogies and biographical sources; archaeological and visual materials; and major Chinese encyclopedias, compendia, and databases.

Comparative survey of the embodiment and performance of wisdom by ancient sages. Distinctive features and common themes in discourses about wisdom from China, India, the Near East, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Topics include teaching, scheming, and dying.

Examines traditions of musical thought across ancient cultures with a particular focus on Greece (LeVen) and China (Hunter). How did ancient thinkers understand the place of music within society, the ideal state, and the cosmos? What role did musical training and connoisseurship play in education? What is the relationship between music and wisdom? And how do the answers to these questions inform comparative study? As the 2023–24 Archaia core seminar, this course is offered in conjunction with Archaia’s year-long Ancient Studies Workshop, through which students have the opportunity to learn from various experts in ancient musical thought.

Du Fu has for the last millennium been considered China’s greatest poet. Close study of nearly one-sixth of his complete works, contextualized by selections from the tradition that defined the art in his age. Exploration of the roles literature plays in interpreting human lives and the ways different traditional forms shape different ethical orientation. Poetry as a vehicle for moral reflection. 

This course is an introduction to Japanese literature written in the last fifty years, with a focus on women writers. We read poetry and prose featuring mothers, daughters, and lovers, novels that follow convenience and thrift store workers, and poetry about factory girls. Our reading takes us from the daily grind of contemporary Tokyo to dystopian futures, from 1970s suburbia to surreal dreamscapes. We attend carefully to the ways in which different writers craft their works and, in particular, to their representation of feelings and affects. Whether the dull ache of loneliness, the oppression of boredom, or the heavy weight of fatigue, it is often something about the mood of a work—rather than its narrative—that leaves a distinct impression. We develop the tools to analyze and discuss this sense of distinctness, as well as discover ways to stage connections and comparisons between the works we read. Comparative and creative perspectives are especially welcome, and assignments can accommodate a range of media and presentation formats to suit. No knowledge of Japan or Japanese is required, nor is any prior grounding in literature. For those wishing to work with Japanese-language materials, please contact the instructor directly to organize additional Japanese-language workshops.

This course is an introduction to Japanese literature from the 1880s to 1980s. Our reading is guided by a different “ism” each week, from 19th-century eroticism and exoticism, through mid-century cosmopolitanism and colonialism, to second-wave feminism and existentialism in the wake of World War II. These distinct moments in the development of Japanese modernism (modanizumu) are shaped by encounters with foreign cultures and by the importing of foreign ideas and vogues. All the same, we question—along with modernist writer Yu Ryutanji—the “critique that says modanizumu is nothing more than the latest display of imported cosmetics” (1930). We seek to develop a correspondingly nuanced picture of the specific and changing ways in which Japan understood and figured its relationship to the rest of the world through the course of a century. Creative and comparative perspectives are especially welcome, and assignments can accommodate a range of media and presentation formats to suit.

In this course, students read key works of Korean literature in English translation from the early twentieth century to the present day. The specific course topic varies by term. Primary sources include long-form novels, short stories, poetry, and nonfiction writing by representative authors, as well as literary scholarship on themes and historical context relevant to the materials. The readings in this course are arranged in roughly chronological order, requiring us to examine Korea’s colonial modernization process in the first half of the twentieth century, the authoritarian regimes of South Korea from 1948 to 1987, and South Korea’s integration into the neoliberal world order after democratization. 

A critical inquiry into the myth of a homogeneous Japan through analyzing how Japanese film and media historically represent “others” of different races, ethnicities, nationalities, genders, and sexualities, including blacks, ethnic Koreans, Okinawans, Ainu, undocumented immigrants, LGBT minorities, the disabled, youth, and “monstrous” others like ghosts.

A research course in Chinese studies, designed for students with background in modern and literary Chinese. Students explore and evaluate the wealth of primary sources and research tools available in China and in the West. For native speakers of Chinese, introduction to the secondary literature in English and instruction in writing professionally in English on topics about China. Topics include Chinese bibliographies; bibliophiles’ notes; specialized dictionaries; maps and geographical gazetteers; textual editions, variations, and reliability of texts; genealogies and biographical sources; archaeological and visual materials; and major Chinese encyclopedias, compendia, and databases.

Comparative survey of the embodiment and performance of wisdom by ancient sages. Distinctive features and common themes in discourses about wisdom from China, India, the Near East, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Topics include teaching, scheming, and dying.

This class considers documents pertaining to the intellectual history of medieval China, roughly from the end of the Han dynasty in 220 CE to the end of the Tang dynasty in 907. 

During the Cold War, interdisciplinary artists were crisscrossing the pacific between Japan and the US, presenting their works in exhibitions, participating in performance festivals, and engaging in experimental collaborations. These crossings and crossovers took place with varying degrees of state involvement as the US government worked to promote its version of American culture abroad. In this course, we discover a series of transpacific performances and events against the backdrop of Cold War cultural politics, from collaborations between Japanese modern dancers and American jazz musicians in the early 60s to immersive works of Japanese video art presented in New York in the 90s. 

Theorizations of film and culture in Japan from the 1910s to the present. Through readings in the works of a variety of authors, the course explores both the articulations of cinema in Japanese intellectual discourse and how this embodies the shifting position of film in Japanese popular cultural history.

This is an advanced graduate course geared toward preparing students to gain a specific range of expertise in different periods of modern Chinese literature. It is held as a seminar-colloquium with weekly discussions and informal presentations. 

This course explores the religious and political interactions among the Chinese, Tibetans, Mongolians, and Muslims living in today’s northwest China from the fourteenth to the twentieth century. Focusing on parallel spatial arrangements and historical narratives of these ethnoculturally diverse peoples, the first part of this course investigates the evolving political systems, religious institutions, and social structures in China, Xinjiang and Tibet. Shifting from the center-periphery perspective to the bottom-up perspective, the second part examines major issues associated with interethnic relations. We critically read both primary and secondary sources. Key themes include Chinese imperialism and colonialism, Tibetan Buddhist expansion, Mongolian conquest, Islamization and Muslim resettlement, transregional trade, frontier militarization, ethnic violence, and inter-ethnocultural accommodation.

This course is a broad introduction to the history, doctrine, and culture of the Buddhism of Tibet. We begin with the introduction of Buddhism to Tibet in the eighth century and move on to the evolution of the major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhist literature, ritual and monastic practice, the place of Buddhism in Tibetan political history, and the contemporary situation of Tibetan Buddhism both inside and outside of Tibet.

Political psychology seminars typically focus on American political behavior, and most comparative politics seminars do not directly address political psychology. This seminar aims to bridge that gap by examining the important role of psychology within the broader context of comparative politics. The goal of the seminar is to develop your knowledge and understanding of how political attitudes and behaviors are shaped, how they evolve, and the ways they may influence behavioral outcomes. We explore why people engage in politics, what factors help them form or revise their political beliefs and perspectives, and how those attitudes are manifest (or not) through political action. The role of individual personality traits, human cognition, and both individual and collective identity are considered–in relation to both the general public as well as political insiders. (We also discuss whether making a distinction between the two is relevant and necessary.) Since the course focuses on comparative politics, it closely examines ways that diverse institutions, cultural values, and social environments affect individual political attitudes. We also explore whether there are universal political behaviors and attitudes–and if so, how they should be identified and studied.

Law is not only a practical instrument but has also shaped East Asian civilization. In implementing the governance blueprints of rulers and thinkers, law formulated the operations of East Asian empires and kingdoms, as well as their people’s life in nearly all aspects. This course introduces students to the law and legal systems in premodern East Asia. Starting with early legal theories, it explores the traditional East Asian ideas of ‘justice’ and how the law attempted to achieve them under imperial rule and major religious beliefs. By careful and critical reading of premodern codes and court cases, we also seek to trace the life experiences of commoners under such laws and systems. We try to understand the conflicts and tensions among the people through their frustrations in disputes, their pains in different kinds of violence, and other issues.

This course examines the ways nuclear disasters are depicted in contemporary Japanese cinema. More specifically, we look at atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1945), and the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster (2011), and how the dormant trauma towards nuclear power has influenced Japanese cinema/media. As the artists portraying disasters often face the limits of representation, their works raise the following questions: how can cinema depict disasters that are indescribable in nature? How might cinema cause or resist tendencies towards post-catastrophic nationalism? In what ways can cinema address disaster that other forms of media cannot? What filmic techniques can be used to dramatize disastrous moments? Can cinema “foresee” unfolding or upcoming disasters? While considering these questions, this course also introduces the methodologies to write/discuss about film as an art form by examining different cinematic elements such as visual, sound, narrative, performance, and touch.

This course focuses on Buddhism and violence in the modern world, with a particular emphasis on Korean Buddhism. Buddhism is often perceived to be a pacifist religion; however, all across the modern Buddhist world, from Japanese Zen Buddhists during World War II, to Vietnamese Buddhists during the Vietnam War, to Buddhists in the contemporary United States, Buddhists have been complicit in and even supported state-sanctioned violence. Can Buddhism be deemed less (or more) violent than other major religions? We cover introductory topics on Buddhism, going back in history to see the fundamental philosophical debates on violence and killing in the tradition. Using Korean Buddhism as a case study, we explore in what ways, if any, these ancient debates relate to the modern world.

This class offers an overview of modern Japanese literature with a focus on detective fiction. Through detective fiction we can examine key concepts in literature such as narrative voice, point of view, genre, modernism and postmodernism, and learn about debates in Japanese literature, the distinction between highbrow and popular fiction, and the relation between Japanese literature and translated fiction. Detective fiction also allows for the exploration of key issues in Japanese history and society such as consumerism, colonialism, class, gender, and sexuality. Readings include a wide range of texts by canonical and popular writers, as well as theoretical texts on genre and detective fiction. 

For over a thousand years, women in East Asia profoundly influenced the development of the visual arts, yet their formidable presence remains largely hidden. This seminar explores the critical roles women played as patrons, artists, and collectors of the arts in China, Korea, and Japan. We cover periods from the sixth through the nineteenth centuries and discuss a wide array of mediums including bamboo paintings, bijinga woodblock prints, bronze Buddhist sculptures, bojagi textiles, and even embroidered lotus shoes. This seminar focuses particularly on art objects made by anonymous women as a means to rethink and problematize the traditionally elite and male-dominated art historical canon. We also contextualize artistic production in light of emergent theorizations and readings on femininity, feminism, and the sexual politics of representation. Major themes of inquiry include subjectivity and intentionality; representations of women and the male gaze; and postcolonial definitions of female agency. 

For students with advanced Chinese, Japanese, or Korean language skills who wish to pursue a close study of the East Asia region, not otherwise covered by departmental offerings. May be used for research, a special project, or a substantial research paper under faculty supervision. A term paper or its equivalent and regular meetings with an adviser are required. Ordinarily only one term may be offered toward the major or for credit toward the degree. 

For students with advanced Chinese, Japanese, or Korean language skills who wish to pursue a close study of the East Asia region, not otherwise covered by departmental offerings. May be used for research, a special project, or a substantial research paper under faculty supervision. A term paper or its equivalent and regular meetings with an adviser are required. Ordinarily only one term may be offered toward the major or for credit toward the degree. 

Preparation of a one-term senior essay under the guidance of a faculty adviser. Students must receive the prior agreement of the director of undergraduate studies and of the faculty member who will serve as the senior essay adviser. Students must arrange to meet with that adviser on a regular basis throughout the term.

Preparation of a one-term senior essay under the guidance of a faculty adviser. Students must receive the prior agreement of the director of undergraduate studies and of the faculty member who will serve as the senior essay adviser. Students must arrange to meet with that adviser on a regular basis throughout the term.

Two-term directed research project under the supervision of a ladder faculty member. Students should write essays using materials in East Asian languages when possible. Essays should be based on primary material, whether in an East Asian language or English. Summary of secondary material is not acceptable.

Two-term directed research project under the supervision of a ladder faculty member. Students should write essays using materials in East Asian languages when possible. Essays should be based on primary material, whether in an East Asian language or English. Summary of secondary material is not acceptable.

Directed reading and research on a topic approved by the DGS and advised by a faculty member (by arrangement) with expertise or specialized competence in the chosen field. Readings and research are done in preparation for the required master’s thesis.

Directed reading and research on a topic approved by the DGS and advised by a faculty member (by arrangement) with expertise or specialized competence in the chosen field. Readings and research are done in preparation for the required master’s thesis.

By arrangement with faculty and with approval of the DGS.

By arrangement with faculty and with approval of the DGS.

This is a course about when governments borrow from foreign lenders and the political causes and consequences of the decision to borrow. To enable us to focus on politics, some training in economics is required. We begin by reviewing the internal determinants of China’s external lending behavior. Next, we study how international finance collides with domestic politics creating both opportunities and challenges for borrowers. The second half of the course surveys topics of contemporary importance: how effective is Chinese economic statecraft? Can China expect to be repaid in full? Will the renminbi become a global reserve currency?

In the decades after 1979, China’s adherence to key tenets of the U.S.-backed liberal international economic system enabled it to achieve middle income status. After the 2008-9 global financial crisis, however, weaknesses in the U.S. model combined with China’s own sustained growth increased Beijing’s confidence in an alternative, state-oriented model that increasingly underpins China’s foreign economic engagement. This course examines the Global Security and Belt and Road initiatives, trade, investment, and development policies, international organization advocacy, business practices, and other aspects of China’s growing international economic footprint. These factors are analyzed from the perspective of China’s internal dynamics, competition with the United States, and overall foreign policy goals, and are evaluated for their impact on the prevailing global economic order. The course is taught by a practitioner who spent over a decade managing U.S. Government economic policy in and on China. 

Four centuries of Japan’s history explored through the many incarnations, destructions, and rebirths of its foremost city. Focus on the solutions found by Tokyo’s residents to the material and social challenges of concentrating such a large population in one place. Tensions between continuity and impermanence, authenticity and modernity, and social order and the culture of play.

A survey of Japan’s transformation over the course of the nineteenth century from an isolated, traditional society on the edge of northeast Asia to a modern imperial power. Aspects of political, social, and cultural history.

Few pre-industrial societies anywhere in the world have bequeathed us a body of historical documents as varied and plentiful as those Tokugawa Japan (1600-1867). This class offers students who already have a solid command of modern Japanese an introduction to these remarkable sources, focusing particularly on what they can teach us about life in the great cities of Edo (now Tokyo), Osaka, and Kyoto—three of the largest urban centers anywhere in the pre-industrial world.

Underlying causes of current issues facing China traced back to their origins in the premodern period. Topics include economic development, corruption, environmental crises, gender, and Pacific island disputes. Selected primary-source readings in English, images, videos, and Web resources.

Today’s China is one of the world’s great powers, and the relationship between the United States and China is one of the most consequential of our times. Yet we cannot understand China without examining the historical context of its rise. How have the Chinese searched for modernity in the recent past? How were the dramatic changes of the late imperial period, the twentieth century, and after experienced by the Chinese people? This introductory course examines the political, social, and cultural revolutions that have shaped Chinese history since late imperial times. The emphasis of this course is on the analysis of primary sources in translation and the discussion of these texts within the context of the broader historical narrative. It assumes no prior knowledge of Chinese history.

A survey of the historical genres of premodern China: the dynastic histories, other chronicles, gazetteers, literati notes, and Buddhist and Daoist canons. How to determine what different information these sources contain for research topics in different fields. 

This graduate research seminar introduces students to archival and other sources used in PRC history. Students learn how to read and use such sources and complete an independent research paper. 

This seminar is an introduction to the logistics, strategy, and rationale of the China’s late empires. Readings on the political economy, organization, and administration of the Ming Empire and former Ming territories later ruled by the Qing will introduce participants to the general considerations of the last two dynasties to rule over the territory now known as China. 

A critical introduction to debates in the history of Japan up to about 1900, with particular emphasis on the Tokugawa period but some coverage of earlier times as well. 

Study of China’s maritime history focusing on the period 1000–1500, culminating with the Zheng He voyages and their cancellation. English-language readings in secondary sources and primary sources in translation; examination of relevant maps in Beinecke’s collection.

Japan is not only home to the largest and, by some measures, most livable, city in the world today, but also it boasts one of the richest archives for the study of urban history.  The Urban Japan Workshop offers graduate students and advanced undergraduates the opportunity to explore the rich scholarly literature on Japanese cities across time, while also developing their own individual research projects.

This course offers students an opportunity to explore recent English-language scholarship on the history of modern Japan (post-1868).

This course focuses on important works of Chinese painting and major painters from the fourth century CE to the twentieth century. Through close readings of the pictorial contents and production contexts of such works of art, this course investigates the works’ formats, meanings, and innovations from social, historical, and art-historical perspectives. In this course, students become familiar with the traditional Chinese world and acquire the knowledge necessary to be an informed viewer of Chinese painting. Discussions of religion, folkloric beliefs, literature, relationships between men and women, the worship of mountains, the laments of scholars, and the tastes of emperors and wealthy merchants also allow students to understand the cultural roots of contemporary China.

Arts of China is a window to the nation’s history, culture, society, and aesthetics. This course introduces the visual arts of China from the prehistoric period to the twentieth century. We look at the archaeological findings (including pottery, jade, and bronze vessels) as well as ancestor worship and belief in posthumous souls and immortal mountains. We look at the art and architecture inspired by Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. We investigate the place of Chinese painting and calligraphy in court and elite cultures and explore how these arts intertwine with politics, printing culture, and popular culture. Lastly, we investigate the decorative arts, like ceramics, textiles, and furniture, as well as the art and architecture that reflect foreign tastes.

Continuation of HSAR 363, covering the fourteenth through the twentieth centuries.

This seminar uses artwork as a means of understanding the various skin problems faced by contemporary Chinese people. Divided into four modules, this seminar first traces how the “ideal skin” as a complex trope of desire, superficiality, and deception has evolved over time through the ghost story, Painted Skin (Huapi), and its countless spin-offs. Second, the course explores how artists have overcome a variety of social distances and barriers through touch; we look at artworks that highlight the healing power and erotic associations of cleansing, massaging, and moisturizing the skin. Third, we explore the relationship between feminism and gender stereotypes through artworks and performances that involve skincare, makeup and plastic surgery. Fourth, the course investigates the dynamics between “Chineseness,” colorism, and racial tensions through the artworks produced by Chinese-American and diasporic artists. Each module is comprised of one meeting focusing on theoretical frameworks and two meetings focusing on individual artists and close analysis of artworks. Readings include Cathy Park Hong’s Minor Feelings, Nikki Khanna’s Whiter, and Leta Hong Fincher’s Leftover Women.  

Introductory language course for students with no previous background in Japanese. Development of proficiency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing, including 50 hiragana, 50 katakana, and 75 kanji characters. Introduction to cultural aspects such as levels of politeness and group concepts. In-class drills in pronunciation and conversation. Individual tutorial sessions improve conversational skills.

Continuation of JAPN 110, with supplementary materials such as excerpts from television shows, anime, and songs. Introduction of 150 additional kanji.

Continued development in both written and spoken Japanese. Aspects of Japanese culture, such as history, art, religion, and cuisine, explored through text, film, and animation. Online audio and visual aids facilitate listening, as well as the learning of grammar and kanji. Individual tutorial sessions improve conversational skills.

Continuation of JAPN 130.

Advanced language course that further develops proficiency in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Reading and discussion materials include works by Nobel Prize winners. Japanese anime and television dramas are used to enhance listening and to develop skills in culturally appropriate speech. Writing of essays, letters, and criticism solidifies grammar and style. Individual tutorial sessions improve conversational skills.

Continuation of JAPN 150.

Close reading of modern Japanese writing on current affairs, social science, history, and literature. Development of speaking and writing skills in academic settings, including formal speeches, interviews, discussions, letters, e-mail, and expository writing. Interviews of and discussions with native speakers on current issues. Individual tutorial sessions provide speaking practice.

Continuation of JAPN 156.

Introduction to the grammar and style of the premodern literary language (bungotai) through a variety of texts.

Close analytical reading of a selection of texts from the Nara through the Tokugawa periods: prose, poetry, and various genres. Introduction to kanbun.

Introduction to the grammar and style of the premodern literary language (bungotai) through a variety of texts.

Close analytical reading of a selection of texts from the Nara through Tokugawa period: prose, poetry, and various genres. Introduction of kanbun.

A beginning course in modern Korean. Pronunciation, lectures on grammar, conversation practice, and introduction to the writing system (Hankul).

Continuation of KREN 110.

Continued development of skills in modern Korean, spoken and written, leading to intermediate-level proficiency.

Intended for students with some oral proficiency but little or no training in Hankul. Focus on grammatical analysis, the standard spoken language, and intensive training in reading and writing.

Continuation of KREN 130.

Continuation of KREN 132.

An advanced language course with emphasis on developing vocabulary and grammar, practice reading comprehension, speaking on a variety of topics, and writing in both formal and informal styles. Use storytelling, discussion, peer group activities, audio and written journals, oral presentations, and supplemental audiovisual materials and texts in class.

This course is content and project-based to further develop integrated language skills-spoken and written, including grammar and vocabulary, as well as intercultural competence through Korean media. Through a variety of media, such as print media, publishing, digital media, cinema, broadcasting (radio, television, podcasting), and advertising, students explore and reflect on a wide range of topics and perspectives in Korean culture and society. The course learning activities include interactive, interpretive, and presentational communication; critical analysis; creative and authentic language applications in formal/informal contexts. 

This course is an advanced language course designed to further develop language skills through topics related to contemporary Korea, including lifestyle, society, culture, and literature, supplemented with authentic media materials. This course aims to expand students’ understanding of Korea while enhancing their multiliteracy. 

This course is an interdisciplinary content-based advanced course in modern Korean. It aims to advance language skills in all four areas and cultural competence to communicate with fluency and accuracy. Students build up wide-ranging vocabulary and grammar, while registering and deepening their understanding of cultural aspects through authentic materials and communicative tasks across a variety of topics, such as social, academic, or career interests.

Analysis of contemporary Chinese politics, with focus on how the country has become a major power and how the regime has endured. Topics include China’s recent history, state, ruling party, economy, censorship, elite politics, and foreign policy.

This course examines select readings from Chinese church and academic theologians (including Hong Kong writers and diaspora voices) to explore the nature of Chinese Christian thought. The readings cover late imperial Roman Catholic writers, early republican Protestant thinkers, high communist-era church theologians, and contemporary Sino-Christian academic theologians. Students read primary materials in English, supplemented by background studies and lecture material to help make sense of the theological constructions that emerge. The course encourages reflection on the challenges for Christian mission in a communist context, on the tensions between church and state in the production of theologies, and on the challenges that Chinese Christianity poses for global Christian thought.

A critical examination of atheism and religions (Buddhism), with a focus on intellectual, religious, philosophical, and scientific debates about God, the origin of the universe, morality, evolution, neuroscience, happiness, enlightenment, the afterlife, and karma. Readings selected from philosophical, scientific, and religious writings. Authors include some of the following: Charles Darwin, Bertrand Russell, Christopher Hitchins, Richard Dawkins, Deepak Chopra, Sam Harris, Owen Flanagan, Stephen Batchelor, and the Dalai Lama. 

Introduction to Shamanism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, Christianity, and new religions in Korea from ancient times to the present. Examination of religious traditions in close relationships with social, economic, political, and cultural environments in Korean society. Examination of religious tensions, philosophical arguments, and ethical issues that indigenous and foreign religions in Korea have engaged throughout history to maximize their influence in Korean society.  

This class introduces the fundamentals of Buddhist thought, focusing on the foundational doctrinal, philosophical, and ethical ideas that have animated the Buddhist tradition from its earliest days in India 2500 years ago down to the present, in places such as Tibet, China, and Japan. Though there will be occasional discussion of the social and practical contexts of the Buddhist religion, the primary focus of this course lies on how traditional Buddhist thinkers conceptualize the universe, think about the nature of human beings, and propose that people should live their lives. Our main objects of inquiry are therefore the foundational Buddhist ideas, and the classic texts in which those ideas are put forth and defended, that are broadly speaking shared by all traditions of Buddhism. In the later part of the course, we take up some of these issues in the context of specific, regional forms of Buddhism, and watch some films that provide glimpses of Buddhist religious life on the ground. 

Ever since the establishment of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in 1948 and the Korean War (1950–1953), North Korea has been depicted by the media as a reclusive, oppressive, and military country, its leaders as the worst dictators, and its people as brainwashed, tortured, and starving to death. The still ongoing Cold War discourse, intensified by the North Korea’s recent secret nuclear weapons program, furthers these negative images, and outsiders have passively internalized these images. However, these simplistic characterizations prevent one from gaining a balanced understanding of and insight into North Korea and its people on the ground. Topics other than political, military, and security issues are rarely given attention. On the whole, even though North Korea’s land area is larger than South Korea and its population of 25 million accounts for a third of all Koreans, North Korea has been neglected in the scholarly discussion of Korean culture. This class tries to make sense of North Korea in a more comprehensive way by integrating the political and economic with social, cultural, and religious dimensions. In order to accomplish this objective, students examine leadership, religious (especially cultic) aspects of the North Korean Juche ideology, the daily lives of its citizens, religious traditions, the Korean War, nuclear development and missiles, North Korean defectors and refugees, human rights, Christian missionary organizations, and unification, among others. Throughout, the course places North Korean issues in the East Asian and global context. The course draws upon recent scholarly books, articles, journals, interviews with North Korean defectors, travelogues, media publications, and visual materials.

This seminar introduces the literary sources relevant for the earliest era of Chinese Buddhism, during the (Eastern) Han and Three Kingdoms period, which primarily consist of early translations of Indian Buddhist literature and a few pioneering Chinese commentaries to them. Largely unstudied by modern scholars owing to their archaic language and vocabulary, these sources document the first recorded intellectual encounters between the Indian and East Asian worlds. Together with a careful reading of a selection of the relevant primary sources, we also take up secondary readings on the history of early Chinese Buddhism and broader works on the problematics of translation and commentary, in the context of China and elsewhere.

This course situates modern Korean Buddhism in the global context of the late nineteenth century to the present. Through critical examination of the dynamic relationship between Korean Buddhism and the Buddhisms of key East Asian cities—Shanghai, Tokyo, Taipei, and Lhasa—the course seeks to understand modern East Asian Buddhism in a transnational light. Discussion includes analyzing the impact of Christian missionaries, pan-Asian and global ideologies, colonialism, Communism, capitalism, war, science, hypermodernity, and atheism.