Chinese Language and Literature Courses

Chinese 1A

1A. Elementary Chinese. Elementary Chinese. A beginning (Mandarin) Chinese class developing basics in listening, speaking, reading, and writing in Modern Standard Chinese, using pinyin and simplified characters. Five hours in class, two hours in the language laboratory, and one required half-hour tutorial meeting every week. Prerequisites: None.    

Please note: Chinese 1A is for students who: 1) are of non-Chinese origin and were not raised in a Chinese-speaking environment; or 2) are of Chinese origin but do not speak any dialect of Chinese and whose parents do not speak any dialect of Chinese. Students are responsible for enrolling in the appropriate level and section. They must also accurately inform instructors about their language proficiency level. Any student who enrolls in a class below his/her level will be dropped from the class. The required tutorial sections will be scheduled once classes begin.

Chinese 1X

1X. Elementary Chinese for Mandarin Speakers. This course is designed specifically for heritage Chinese students who possess speaking skill but little or no reading and writing skills in Chinese. It introduces functional vocabulary and provides a systemic review of grammar through various cultural related topics. The course teaches and uses pinyin and traditional/simplified characters. Prerequisites: Consent of instructor.

Chinese 1Y

1Y. Elementary Chinese for Dialect Speakers. This course is designed for students who have had exposure to a non-Mandarin Chinese dialect but cannot speak Mandarin and possess little or no reading and writing skills in Chinese. Students will gain fundamental knowledge of Mandarin Chinese. While there is training in listening, speaking, reading, and writing, prominence is given to listening and speaking. This course will help students meet their basic needs in functioning in Mandarin-speaking environments, while exploring aspects of their Chinese heritage. Prerequisites: Consent of instructor.

Chinese 7A

7A. Introduction to Chinese Literature and Culture-Premodern. Chinese 7A is the first semester in a year long sequence introducing students to the literatures and cultures of China. We will read many of the major authors, works, and literary genres from the beginnings of Chinese civilization to the Song dynasty, look at aspects of Chinese visual and material culture, and place these artifacts in their historical and cultural contexts. This course does not assume or require any previous exposure to or coursework in Chinese literature, history, or language. The course surveys the expansive literary and cultural topography of early China, while at the same time helping students to develop the reading and writing skills needed to engage critically and imaginatively with that historical terrain. Prerequisites: None.

Chinese 10A

10A. Intermediate Chinese. This course is designed to develop student's reading, writing, listening and speaking abilities in Mandarin Chinese. It teaches both simplified and traditional characters. Additional time is required for tutorials and language lab. Prerequisites: Chinese 1A/B; or consent of instructor.

Chinese 100A

100A. Advanced Chinese. Advanced Chinese. This course takes students to a higher level of communicative competence and language social interaction. Students learn to differentiate between written and spoken discourses and between different types of spoken discourse. Students are exposed to the speech of native speakers in real situations and develop sensitivity to communicative strategies. The course trains students to interpret subtle textual meanings and to describe, narrate, and write about opinions using connected paragraph length discourse. A half-hour tutorial meeting is required every week. Prerequisites: Chinese 10B; or consent of instructor.

Chinese 100XA

100XA. Advanced Chinese for Heritage Learners. This course helps students to further develop their Chinese language competence. More sophisticated linguistic forms are used and reinforced while dealing with various socio-cultural topics. Close reading knowledge and skills, formal and informal registers, discourses in speaking and writing, and different genres of Chinese reading and writing are introduced and practiced. Students learn to recognize a second version of Chinese characters. Prerequisites: Chinese 10X or 10Y; or consent of instructor.

Chinese 101

101. Readings in Modern Chinese - Literature. The goal of the course is to assist students in attaining high levels of proficiency in listening, speaking, reading and writing. The primary instructional tool will be comparative studies of contemporary works of Chinese literature in conjunction with the movies that are based upon them. This multimedia approach serves to cultivate skills in all four areas listed above. Three hours of lecture/discussion per week. Prerequisites: Chinese 100B or 100BX; or consent of instructor.

Chinese 110A

110A. Introduction to Literary Chinese. This course is the first semester in a yearl-long sequence that introduces the basic grammatical structures and core vocabulary of literary Chinese, also commonly known as "classical Chinese". During this semester, students will focus on reading excerpts of key pre-Han philosophical texts. Emphasis is on grammatical analysis and careful explication of classical usage; in addition, students will acquire some introductory background on the formation of the “Confucian Classics” and the texts of the “Taoist Canon.” Prerequisites: Chinese 10B is recommended.

Chinese 111

111. Fifth-Year Chinese A. Fifth-Year Chinese A. This course is designed to bring up the students to advanced-high competence in all aspects of modern Chinese; it aims to prepare students for research or employment in a variety of China-related fields. Materials are drawn from native-speaker target publications, including modern Chinese literature, film, intellectual history, and readings on contemporary issues. Radio and TV broadcasts will also be included among the teaching materials. Texts will be selected, in part, according to the students' interests. With the instructor's guidance, students will conduct their own research projects based on specialized readings in their own fields of study. The research projects will be presented both orally and in written form by the end of the semester. Prerequisites: Chinese 102; or consent of instructor.

Chinese 120

120. Ancient Chinese Prose. This course will read key prose accounts from early imperial and medieval China that deal with the cycles and stages of history from both a descriptive and prescriptive perspectives. Early Chinese writers used different historical schemata to describe history, from that of a 500-year cycle between the appearance of sage kings, to the "three stages" of society culminating in an age of "Great Peace," to the periodic intercessions of the Way or Lord Lao, to the Buddhist eras of the True, Semblance and Final Dharmas. How do these views of the stages of history mesh with political and philosophical theories of the time? Prerequisties: Chinese 110B or equivalent; or consent of instructor.

Chinese 155

155. Readings in Vernacular Chinese Literature: "The Story of the Stone." Intensive reading of the most beloved of Chinese novels, The Story of the Stone (Hong lou meng). We will pay particular attention to the novel's representation of literary subjects and literary objects, asking how it creates characters who seem to be full psychological entities, and how it depicts a richly sensual material world. Students will be expected to be able to read the original text, though a translation of the entire novel will also be available. Students interested in taking the course would be well served to read as much of the novel over the summer as possible, either in translation (use David Hawkes' Story of the Stone) or in the original. Prerequisites: Chinese 100A/100AX (may be taken concurrently); or consent of instructor.

East Asian Languages and Cultures Courses

EA Lang C50

EA Lang 106

EA Lang C120

EA Lang C122

EA Lang C128

EA Lang 200

EA Lang C220

Japanese Language and Literature Courses

Japanese 1A

1A. Elementary Japanese. Japanese 1A is designed to develop basic speaking skills and to learn hiragana, katakana, and approximately 150 kanji. At the end of the course, the students should be able to describe themselves, their family and friends, and to talk about everyday events with basic vocabulary and structures. They also should be able to read simple passages in Japanese. Prerequisites: None.

Japanese 1AL

Japanese 1AS

Japanese 7A

7A. Introduction to Premodern Japanese Literature and Culture. This course surveys many of the best recognized works of poetry, prose and theater of premodern Japan between the 8th through 17th centuries. The poetic tradition is traced from its early origins in the Ancient Period around the time of the first major collection, the Collection of Ten-thousand Leaves, through the development of the 31-syllable waka (tanka), Middle Period renga (linked-verse) sequences and the short haiku form of premodern Japan. For prose, the two canonical classics of premodern Japan, The Tale of Genji and The Tale of the Heike will be read in some depth. Other prose texts include early poem-tales of romance, personal journals by both men and women from both the High Classical and Middle Periods, and stories of romance set in the "floating world" of premodern Edo pleasure quarters. For theater we will read several major plays of the Middle Period's noh drama theater then plays revolving around romantic trust written for the puppet theater during the premodern era. Reading the texts will afford discussion of the culture and history of the various eras as well as an exploration of aesthetic values. This course does not assume or require any previous exposure to or coursework in Japanese literature, history, or language. Prerequisites: None. [WEBSITE]

Japanese 10A

10A. Intermediate Japanese. In this course, students will learn how to integrate the basic structures and vocabulary which they learned in Japanese 1A/B in order to express a wider range of ideas and will study the new structures and vocabulary necessary to express such ideas in a manner appropriate for many social situations. Students are expected to participate fully in classroom activities and discussions. Although the main emphasis will be aural/oral skills, an increasing amount of reading and writing will also be required. Prerequisites: Japanese 1A/B or equivalent; or consent of instructor. Students who have not taken Japanese 1A/B at this University may wish to contact the instructors during Phase I Tele-BEARS to have their language proficiency assessed.

Japanese 10AG

10AG. Supplementary Work in Grammar - Intermediate. This supplementary course is designed for students who are concurrently enrolled in 10A to enable their acquisition of a better understanding of Japanese grammar in general and clause linkage in particular.

Japanese 10AS

10AS. Supplementary Work in Kanji - Intermediate. For students who are concurrently enrolled in 10A to acquire a better understanding of kanji writing system and to improve overall kanji performance.

Japanese 10X

10X. Intermediate Japanese for Heritage Learners. This course is designed specifically for heritage learners who possess high fluency in casual spoken Japanese but little reading and writing abilities. It introduces formal speech styles, reinforces grammatical accuracy, and improves reading and writing competencies through materials derived from various textual genres. Students will acquire the amounts of vocabulary, grammar, and kanji equivalent to those of 10A-10B. Prerequisites: Consent of instructor.

Japanese 100A.

100A. Advanced Japanese. This course aims to develop further communicative skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing in a manner appropriate to the context. It concentrates on enabling students to use acquired grammar and vocabulary with more confidence in order to express functional meanings, while increasing linguistic competence. Course materials include the textbook, supplemented by newspaper and magazine articles and short stories to provide insight into Japanese culture and society. There will be a project which will give students the opportunity to interact with Japanese university students. Active student participation is not only encouraged but required. Prerequisites: Japanese 10B or equivalent; or consent of instructor.

Japanese 101

101. Fourth-Year Readings: Social Sciences. This course provides further development of reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills to enable students to express their points of view and construct argumentative discourse. Readings include Japanese newspapers, magazines, a selection of Japanese literature as sources of discussions. Students learn various writing styles and in-depth aspects of Japanese culture. Prerequisites: Japanese 100B or equivalent; or consent of instructor.

Japanese 103

103. Fourth-Year Readings: Japanese Literature. This course provides further development of reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills to enable students to express their points of view and construct argumentative discourse. In addition to Japanese literature, readings include newspaper articles and other texts as sources of discussions in order to become familiar with various writing styles and learn more aspects of Japanese society and culture. Prerequisites: Japanese 100B or equivalent; or consent of instructor.

Japanese 111

111. Fifth-Year Japanese A. This course provides focused, high-level language training for those students who possess fourth-year level ability or equivalent in the modern Japanese language. Students will improve their ability in reading, writing, speaking and listening in their areas of specialty and in fields of particular interest to them. The course may have a dual-track approach, requiring the completion of both class-wide and individually designed projects. The balance of the course will focus on the development of reading and writing skills. With the instructor’s assistance, students will conduct their own projects based on in-depth reading of materials drawn from their areas of specialization. These projects will be presented orally to the class. Further, when possible, visiting scholars from Japan will be invited to the classroom to speak, their topics to be discussed afterwards. This will provide an additional opportunity for the student to practice listening and speaking of high-level, educated Japanese. Committed study at home will be essential for success in this course. Prerequisites: Japanese 102 or equivalent; or consent of instructor.

Japan C115

C115. Japanese Buddhism. A critical survey of major themes in the history of Japanese Buddhism. The course covers: the transmission of Buddhism from China and Korea to Japan; the subsequent evolution in Japan of the Tendai, Shingon, Pure Land, Nichiren, and Zen schools of Buddhism during the medieval period; the interaction between Buddhism, "Shinto," and "folk religion"; the relationship between Buddhism and the state, especially during the Edo period; Buddhist perspectives on nature, healing, and pilgrimage; and Buddhist modernism of the Meiji period. Prerequisites: None.

Japanese 120

120. Introduction to Classical Japanese. Japanese 120 is an introduction to classical Japanese, defined as the native literary language of the ninth to the fourteenth centuries. Four texts are read in whole or in part: 1) Hôjôki 2) Heike monogatari 3) Tsurezuregusa, and 4) Taketori monogatari. The emphasis is on grammatical explication and translation of the texts into English. Most class meetings are devoted to the reading of the assigned texts. Students read the text aloud, answer questions regarding grammar, and translate into English. Prerequisites: Japanese 10B or equivalent; or consent of instructor. Not open to graduates of Japanese high schools. [WEBSITE]

Japanese 130

130. Classical Japanese Poetry. This course continues the introduction of bungo (premodern literary Japanese). It gives students basic tools for reading and appreciating waka (traditional Japanese poems in 31-syllables) in their original language. The course presented an historical overview of the three dominant premodern waka collections: Man'yôshû (Ten Thousand Leaves, 8th c.), Kokinshû (Ancient and Modern Poems, 10th c.) and Shin-Kokinshû (New Ancient and Modern Poems, 13th c.) The primary stylistic features and poetic techniques of these collections are discussed through reading examples. In the second part of the class we read nature poetry with a focus on autumn poems. In the final segment of the class we read love poetry. Prerequisites:  Completion of Japanese 120; or consent of instructor. [WEBSITE]

Japanese 155

155. Modern Japanese Literature. Description coming soon. Prerequisites: Japanese 100A (may be taken concurrently).

Japanese 230

230. Seminar in Classical Japanese Poetry. Description coming soon. Prerequisites: Graduate student standing.

Japanese 255

255. Seminar in Prewar Japanese Literature. Description coming soon. Prerequisites: Graduate student standing.

Korean Language and Literature Courses

Korean 1A

1A. Elementary Korean for Non-heritage Speakers. Five classroom hours per week are required. This course introduces students to beginning level Korean, including Hangul (Korean writing system) and the basic grammar of the language. Emphasis is on listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. This course is for students with minimal or no knowledge of Korean. Prerequisites: None.

Please note: Korean 1A is not open to heritage students who have some background knowledge in Korean.

Korean 1AX

1AX. Elementary Korean for Heritage Speakers. Five classroom hours per week are required. This course introduces students to beginning level Korean. This course is for students who can read Hangul (Korean writing system) or speak some Korean, but their ability to read, write, or speak in Korean is somewhat limited. Prerequisites: Some knowledge of the Korean language; or consent of Instructor.

Korean 7A

7A. Introduction to Pre-Modern Korean Literature and Culture. This course provides an overview of Korean literature and cultural history, from the seventh century to the late nineteenth century. We will examine the development of oral tradition from the ritual songs recorded in Remnants of Three Kingdoms to p’ansori in late Chosôn period; the major vernacular verse forms such as sijo and kasa; autobiographical prose; and vernacular as well as classical narratives, tales, and parables. We will focus on the interplay of literary texts and performance tradition by exploring such topics as: various aspects of literati culture of Koryô and Chosôn; literary articulations of gender relations; and representations of humor and material culture. We will also consider the suppleness of traditional vernacular culture forms as they have been rearticulated throughout history. Prerequisites: None.

Korean 10A

10A. Intermediate Korean. A second-year course in modern Korean with about equal attention given to listening, speaking, reading and writing with the cultural emphasis. This course meets five classroom hours per week and requires one hour of language lab per week. Prerequisites: Korean 1A/B; or consent of instructor.

Korean 10AX

10AX. Intermediate Korean for Heritage Speakers. A second-year course in modern Korean for students whose Korean proficiency level is higher in speaking than in reading or writing due to Korean-heritage background. Prerequisites: Korean 1BX; or consent of instructor.

Korean 100A

100A. Advanced Korean. Three 1-hour meetings per week. Readings and discussions in Korean, of modern writings. A variety of texts such as essays, literary works, magazines and newspapers will be introduced. Emphasis is on advanced-level vocabulary, including approximately 100 Sino-Korean characters. Prerequisites: Korean 10A/10B; or consent of instructor.

Korean 100AX

100AX. Advanced Korean for Heritage Speakers. Advanced Korean for students whose Korean proficiency level is higher in speaking than in reading or writing due to Korean-heritage background.Prerequisites: Korean 10AX/10BX; or consent of instructor.

Korean 101

101. Fourth-Year Readings – Literature. An advanced course in the reading and analysis of literary texts in modern Korean. Advanced conversation, writing skills, and practice in the use of standard reference tools will also be emphasized, with the goal of preparing students to do independent research in Korean. Prerequisites: Korean 100B or equivalent.

Korean 111

111. Fifth-Year Korean A. This course is designed to bring up the students' proficiency to advanced-high level in all aspects of modern Korean; it aims to prepare students for research or employment in a variety of Korea-related fields. Text materials are drawn from authentic sources including modern Korean literature, film, intellectual history, and readings on contemporary issues. Radio and TV broadcasts will also be included in the teaching materials. Texts will be selected, in part, according to student interests. With instructor's guidance, students will conduct research projects based on specialized readings in their own fields of study. The research projects will be presented both orally and in written form at the end of the semester. Prerequisites: Korean 102 or equivalent.

Korean 185

185.Picturing Korea: "History and Memory in Korean Cinema." This course examines representation of history and memory in South Korean cinema. Contemporary South Korean films demonstrate thematic preoccupation with the nation's history by rendering diverse stories of the past events and experiences. The cinematic rendition of the past registers different ways to project, remember and imagine the past, thereby actively creating the new senses and ideas of historical time. The goal of the course is to develop critical understanding of diverse temporalities of South Korean national cinema. Prerequisites: None. Prerequisites: None.

Tibetan Language Courses

Tibetan 10A

10A. Intermediate Tibetan. This course, a continuation of 1A-1B (elementary Tibetan), is designed to further develop the student's skills in modern standard Tibetan. The emphasis is on communication skills in vernacular Tibetan, as well as grammar, reading, and writing. Prerequisites: Tibetan 1B or equivalent.

Tibetan 100S

100S. Advanced Tibetan Conversation. This course is designed for advanced students of Tibetan language.  Its goal is to provide an opportunity for students to further develop their colloquial Tibetan conversation skills.  More sophisticated linguistic forms are used and reinforced while dealing with various socio-cultural topics, with a particular focus on Buddhist-related subjects toward the end of the term.  Primary emphasis will be on the Lhasa dialect of Tibetan, though some variant dialects may also be introduced. Prerequisite: Tibetan 10B or equivalent; or consent of instructor.

C214. Seminar in Tibetan Buddhism. This year's seminar will examine the formation of Buddhist traditions in Tibet from the tenth to the twentieth centuries. After a preliminary review of the kinds of sources that are available to the Tibetan religious historian, class discussions will focus on a range of mechanisms for establishing authority, from polemical writings to lineage formation, visionary encounters and biography, to temple construction, sacred geography, and warfare. The readings will procede chronologically, and class discussions will be supplemented with selections from Tibetan art dating from the period in question. Each student will be expected to pick, in consultation with the instructor, a week (or two, depending on enrollment) in which s/he will present on a Tibetan text (either in Tibetan or in translation) relating to that week’s readings. Prerequisites: C114 ("Tibetan Buddhism"); or consent of instructor.

C224. Readings in Tibetan Buddhist Texts. Description coming soon. Prerequisites: Graduate student standing.