Chinese Language and Literature Courses

Chinese 1B

1B. Elementary Chinese. A continuation of Chinese 1A, Chinese 1B develops listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills 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: Chinese 1A; or consent of instructor.

Please note: Chinese 1B 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 1BX

1BX. Elementary Chinese for Mandarin Speakers. The course teaches both pinyin and traditional characters, introduces functional vocabulary, and provides a systematic review of grammar. The class meets on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, one hour a day. Prerequisites: Chinese 1AX; or consent of instructor.

Chinese 1BY

1BY. Elementary Chinese for Speakers of Other Dialects. Chinese 1BY, an elementary Mandarin Chinese course for non-Mandarin speaking Chinese dialect heritage learners, is a continuation of Chinese 1AY. The course provides further training in language skills. Linguistic forms and ways of using them are taught to meet learners' language needs. The course prepares Chinese dialect heritage learners to merge with Mandarin heritage learners at an intermediate level for continuous learning.one Five in-class hours and an additional one-hour tutorial meeting is required every week. Prerequisites: Chinese 1AY; or consent of instructor.

Chinese 7B

7B. Introduction to Modern Chinese Literature and Culture. Chinese 7B is the second 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 Yuan Dynasty to modern times, and place these writings in their historical, cultural, and material contexts. This course does not assume or require any previous exposure to or coursework in Chinese literature, history, or language.

Chinese 10B

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

Chinese 10BX

10BX. Intermediate Chinese for Mandarin Speakers. Intermediate Chinese for Chinese heritage students with Mandarin Chinese background. The course guides students to use Chinese language knowledge to survey certain aspects of Chinese history and present society in the context of a target culture. Reading skills in the target language are further developed in order to interpret subtle meanings found in both oral and written texts. Different registers and discourses in spoken and written texts and genres of Chinese writing are further explored. Prerequisites: Chinese 10AX; or consent of instructor.

Chinese 100B

100B. Advanced Chinese. The goal of the course is to introduce modern Chinese culture while developing competence in reading, speaking and writing standard modern Chinese. The readings include stories, essays, and plays, mostly by leading writers of recent decades. Students prepare in advance, then read and discuss in Chinese in class. Literary aspects are discussed in addition to problems of vocabulary and syntax. A half-hour tutorial meeting is required every week. Prerequisites: Chinese 100A; or consent of instructor.

Chinese 100BX

100BX. Advanced Chinese for Mandarin Speakers. Continuation of Chinese 100AX, an advanced-level course for Mandarin speakers with intermediate-level knowledge of reading and writing in Chinese. The goal of the course is to introduce modern Chinese society through reading materials and discussion. The reading materials include stories, essays, and plays, mostly by leading writers of recent decades. Three one-hour meetings in class and two one-hour periods in the language or computer lab per week. Prerequisites: Chinese 100AX; or consent of instructor.

Chinese 102

102. Readings in Modern Chinese - Social Sciences and Literature. The emphasis of this course is on Chinese social, political, and journalistic readings. The readings are further supplemented by newspaper articles. Students are required to turn in essays written in journalistic style in Chinese. Prerequisites: Chinese 100B; or consent of instructor.

Chinese 110B

110B. Introduction to Literary Chinese. The second half of a one-year introductory course in literary Chinese, continuing the study of grammatical structures and classical usage from the first semester, and introducing the use of basic reference sources. Readings for this semester will be drawn from a range of literary, philosophical, and historiographical texts through the Song Dynasty. Prerequisites: Chinese 110A; or consent of instructor.

Chinese 112

112. Fifth-Year Chinese B. 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 136

136. Readings in Medieval Prose: "The Familiar and the Strange in Chinese Historiography." From literary collections like Pu Songling’s Liaozhai zhi yi to contemporary horror-fantasy films, countless stories centered on ghosts, monsters and other anomalies remind us of the lingering impact that ancient traditions about “the strange” exercise on latter-day Chinese literature and culture—and on the imaginations of latter-day readers and viewers. When we turn to the early sources of these traditions, we discover that while a good ghost or monster story has clearly always had good entertainment value, the challenges that such stories presented to systems of historical and scientific judgment also made them quite a serious and important field of inquiry. Reading and understanding the views on such strange beings and occurrences that were held by even the most skeptical among early historians is very revealing not only of their attitudes towards the strange, but also of the ways in which early Chinese writers judged and made sense of their own familiar experience in relation to the broader cosmos and to the authorities of the past. Prerequisites: Chinese 110B; or consent of instructor.

Chinese 156

156. Modern Chinese Literature. Course description not available. Prerequisites: Chinese 100B (may be taken concurrently); or consent of instructor.

Chinese 158

158. Reading Chinese Cities. Chinese cities are the sites of complicated global/local interconnections as the nation is increasingly incorporated into the world system. Understanding Chinese cities is the key to analyzing the dramatic transformation of Chinese society and culture. This course is designed to teach students to think about Chinese cities in more textured ways. How are urban forms and urban spaces produced through processes of social, political, and ideological conflict? How are cities represented in literary, cinematic, and various popular cultures? How has our imagination of the city been shaped and how are these spatial discourses influencing the making of the cities of tomorrow? Prerequisites: Chinese 100B/100BX (may be taken concurrently); or consent of instructor.

Chinese 161

161. Structure of the Chinese Language. The main objective of this course is to provide students with insights into the current study of Chinese language. Lectures will reinforce the participants’ competence in the language and the culture. Several aspects of language including phonology, the writing system, morphology, syntax, and semantics will be discussed and analyzed in lectures. The course will also cover topics relating to pragmatics, dialects, and society. Prerequisites: Chinese 100B (may be taken concurrently); or consent of instructor. Recommended: Linguistics 5 or 100.

Chinese 234

234. Texts on the Civilization of Medieval China: "Subjectivity and the Senses in Chinese Poetic Writing." In this seminar, students will examine how Chinese poetic writing reflects, and occasionally challenges, notions of subjectivity implied in philosophical and theoretical writings. Specifically, inspired by the pervasiveness of visual imagery, perception, and place in early and medieval Chinese poetry, this course focuses on the relationship between perception and subjectivity in the evolution of the Chinese lyric tradition. Related topics of study will include: the connection between literary expressions of subjectivity and the formation of poetic personae; implications of our understanding of poetic subjectivity for the practice of translation; and the particular role of the senses and space in the poetic expression of this period. Prerequisites: Good command of literary Chinese;  graduate standing, or permission of the instructor.  (Prior coursework in premodern Chinese history and literature is desirable.).

Chinese 257

257. Modern Chinese Literature: "The Vernacular in Question." This course will explore twentieth century Chinese literary and media culture by way of the question of “the vernacular.”  The New Culture movement’s advocacy for the institution of a new modern vernacular is widely viewed as an inaugural moment in modern Chinese history.  Yet the question of what exactly makes a language vernacular and how a new vernacular might be made turns out to be quite tricky.  Whose vernacular?  Vernacular in relation to literary Chinese, or with respect to the lingua franca of the imperial West?  A national vernacular or one that reflects local and regional difference?  Does the vernacular come from ‘the folk,’ or is ‘the folk’ an invention of modernizing elites?  These questions multiply, moreover, when we examine the new media cultures emerging at the same time in the cities of early 20th century China. How did Republican era print culture vernacularize modern scientific knowledge?  What was the relation between the “new literature” and the proliferation of serialized  romances and martial arts fiction written in what was sometimes construed as an already outdated “vernacular” form?  In what sense did these commercial genres, in their interactivity with the cinema and the gramophone, represent a “vernacular modernism”? How, finally, might we understand these vernacular cultures in relation to the urban space and the architecture of everyday life? Prerequisites: Reading knowledge of modern Chinese; graduate standing or consent of instructor.

East Asian Languages and Cultures Courses

EA Lang 103

103. Writing, Visuality, and the Powers of Images. Writing, Visuality, and the Powers of Images. What is an image? Why do images seem to have such uncanny powers? What are the relationships between images (visual, verbal, imaginary, etc.) and that which they represent? What kinds of relationships between different peoples, genders, things, places, cultures, and historical moments do images mediate? And what’s at stake in asking such questions? It’s a truism that we live in a world saturated with images, but anxieties over images are hardly unique to our own historical moment. Images have been ongoing subjects of reflection for centuries, while the stories literary texts tell about images are particularly revealing of beliefs in the powers and limits of writing as well as of visual images, and of the ways in which such beliefs are almost invariably intertwined with questions of knowledge and power, of the borders of life and death, and of the politics of gender, history, and culture. In this course, we will examine how fictional and historical texts from various parts of Asia and the West explore such questions of images. We will track how understandings of the powers of images change, persist, and are re-appropriated across historical time and cultural space, and consider the critical light “premodern” texts and texts from our “modern” world of images can project upon each other. Prerequisites: None.

EA Lang 106

EA Lang C130

C130. Zen Buddhism.This course is an intensive introduction to the history, doctrine, and monastic culture of Chinese Chan and Japanese Zen Buddhism in the light of modern scholarship. We will focus on the interrelationships between Chan and Zen philosophy, ritual, literature, institutional structure, and meditative practice. Our approach will be multidisciplinary, drawing from anthropology, history, philosophy, and literary hermeneutics, and we will use a wide range of primary and secondary readings as well as visual resources. Prerequisites: None.

EA Lang C135 New!

C135. Tantric Traditions of Asia.The emergence of the tantras in seventh and eighth-century India marked a watershed for religious practice throughout Asia. These esoteric scriptures introduced complex new ritual technologies that transformed the religious traditions of India, from Brahmanism to Jainism and Buddhism, as well as those of Southeast Asia, Tibet, Mongolia, China, Korea, and Japan. This course provides an overview of tantric religion across these regions. It begins with an examination of the tantras’ origins in India and tantric Śaivism in particular. From here, the course moves to the esoteric Buddhist traditions of China and Japan, to consider how the tantric developments of India came to be understood within these distant cultures. Returning to India, we look at the later tantric developments of the Mahāyoga, Yoginī, and Kālacakra tantras. Finally, the course closes with a unit on the largely indigenous Tibetan tradition of the Great Perfection (or Dzogchen). Prerequisites: One course in Buddhist Studies or with consent of instructor.

Japanese Language and Literature Courses

Japan 1B

1B. Elementary Japanese. Continuation of Elementary Japanese 1A using the same general format (written and oral/aural quizzes every Friday) and textbook. Emphasis is on spoken, reading, and written Japanese. Grades will be determined on the basis of attendance, quiz scores, homework, in-class final examination, and class participation. Prerequisites: Japanese 1A; or consent of instructor.

Japan 1BL

1BL. Supplementary Work in Listening - Elementary. Designed to supplement 1A-1B, respectively, in order to facilitate students' listening proficiency. 1AL will cover a variety of listening strategies. 1BL is a continuation of 1AL where students will apply these strategies in listening activities.

Japan 1BS

1BS. Supplementary Work in Kanji. A course designed to be taken concurrently with 1B to help students improve overall kanji performance. The course will make the kanji learning process easier by providing exercises and background information about the relationships between characters and how they function.

Japan 7B

7B. Introduction to Modern Japanese Literature and Culture. This class explores Japanese literature and, to some extent, culture from the Meiji Restoration of 1868 until the present. It surveys some of the major literary authors. We read about seven novels, a few short stories, a few poems and screen one film. Time permitting, there are audiovisual presentations on an array of cultural aspects of modern Japan. By the end of the class, the student will have read instances of some of the best writings of modern Japan, as well as consider some of the major social and cultural elements of the country. This class also provides specific training in writing an academic analytic essay. This class is designed to include students with no background in Japan or the Japanese language. Prerequiste: None.

Japan 10B

10B. Intermediate Japanese. In this course, students will learn how to integrate the basic structures and vocabulary which they learned in Japanese 1A/B and Japanese 10A 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. Prerequisites: Japanese 10A; or consent of instructor.

Japan 10BG

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

Japan 10BS

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

Japan 100B

100B. Advanced Japanese. Continuation of J100A. 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. Active student participation is not only encouraged but required. Prerequisites: Japanese 100A; or consent of instructor.

Japan 102

102. Fourth-Year Readings: Japanese Culture. This course is designed for students who have studied Japanese for three years or more at college level to improve their reading, writing, speaking and listening skills. It aims to develop further the vocabulary and knowledge of kanji and Japanese grammar through reading and discussing various topics related to Japanese culture. Students will research culture topics and give a short presentation on their findings. Prerequisites: Japanese 100B; or consent of instructor.

Japan 104

112. Fourth-Year Readings: Japanese History. 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. Students read a variety of texts on Japanese history as sources for discussions to deepen their understanding of Japanese society and people. Prerequisites: Japanese 100B 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.

Japan 140

140. Heian Prose: "Travel in Premodern Japanese Literature." The course will cover nearly one thousand years of Japanese travel poetry and poetic prose, from the verses of envoys to Silla in 736 to the late seventeenth century haibun of Bashô. It will also introduce travel poetry in the major waka imperial anthologies, /michiyukibun/, and travel poetry and prose in /Tosa nikki/. All works will be read in classical Japanese. Supplementary discussions on literary and cultural background will be included. Prerequisites: Japanese 100A and Japanese 120; or consent of instructor.

Japan 144

144. Edo Literature. This seminar is intended to develop reading skills for working with Edo (pre-modern) materials across several genres and different styles of writing, i.e., classical Chinese (kanbun) and classical Japanese (kana), for those who are working on pre-modern Japanese disciplines. We will start by reading selections from two texts in Zen Buddhist tradition and popular culture, respectively: 1) /A Record of Sendai's Comments on the Poems of Cold Mountain/ ("Kanzan-shi sendai-kimon") written in 1746 by Hakuin Ekaku, his commentary on the poems of the Chinese semi-legendary Zen figure Han-shan; and 2) /Katto-shu-/, written in 1813, a collection of essays about the origins or histories of a wider range of cultural events, manners, and customs. Our readings might be extended to parts of Hakuin's other famous and widely read work entitled /Oradegama/ which was written in both kanbun and kana. One of the goals of this seminar will also be to help students familiarize with research tools such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, and indexes for studying Edo writing materials and to help them understand a broad range of pre-modern Japanese literature and historical archives. All of the primary manuscripts used in this class will be in kanbun and kana, and will be distributed during the first class. Prerequisites: Japanese 100A and Japanese 146; or consent of instructor.

Japan C174 New!

C174. Japanese Buddhism in Diaspora. This course focuses on Japanese Buddhism during the late 19th and early 20th centuries in its encounter with modernity, colonialism, and immigration history.  Looking at the Japanese diaspora around the Pacific Rim, we will begin with Japanese Buddhism's relationship with the Meiji state, State Shinto, Christianity, and the West.  Regions covered include Manchuria, Korea, Hawaii, the U.S., Canada, and Brazil.  One lower-division course in Buddhist Studies or the consent of the instructor is a prerequisite for enrollment.

Japan C175

C175. Archaeology of East Asia. The goal of this course is to provide a general picture of prehistoric and protohistoric archaeology in China, Japan and Korea. The course will emphasize the differences and similarities in archaeological studies between East Asia and North America. It will also consider the role of archaeology in East Asian societies today, and discuss how archaeological interpretations have been affected by the social and political contexts in these countries. Topics to be emphasized include changes in subsistence-settlement systems, origins and dispersal of food production, the development of social complexity, and the formation of state. Prerequisites:  None.

Japan 232

232. Japanese Bibliography. An introduction to research tools for the study of Japanese literature. The course gives primary consideration to literary sources, and also presents an overview of basic texts dealing with history, biography, geography, lexicography, and religion. Prerequisites: Graduate standing; or consent of instructor.

Japan 255

255. Seminar in Prewar Japanese Literature. Course description not available. Prerequisites: Permission of instructor required.

Korean Language and Literature Courses

Korean 1B

1B. Elementary Korean for Non-heritage Speakers. Building on the basic grammar of the Korean language learned from Korean 1A, Korean 1B will introduce more vocabulary and expressions that are useful for everyday conversation. Students will also learn about the Korean culture.. Prerequisites: Korean 1A; or consent of instructor.

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

Korean 1BX

1BX. Elementary Korean for Heritage Speakers. Continuation of Elementary Korean 1AX. Building on the basic grammar of the Korean language learned from Korean 1AX, Korean 1BX will introduce more vocabulary and expressions that are useful for everyday conversation as well as for improving reading and writing skills of students. Students who wish to enroll in K1BX without prior taking K1AX will need to have an oral interview and take a short written proficiency test on the first day of the class. Prerequisites: Korean 1AX; or consent of instructor.

7B. Introduction to Modern Korean Literature and Culture. This course explores various aspects of modern Korean literature and culture in the twentieth century. We will examine a range of literary works as well as art and film, in the contexts of colonialism and nationalism, the Korean War and national division, and the various issues that emerged in the process of modernization. No previous course work in Korean or Korean studies required. All readings are in English translation.

Korean 10B

10B. Intermediate Korean. Korean 10B is a continuation of Korean 10A and will continue to use the materials and methods used in 10A. The aim of the course is to help the students develop the language skills necessary to pursue the study of Korean at a more advanced level. The course will introduce vocabulary and idioms beyond basic level, complex grammatical patterns, and varieties of speech styles. Prerequisites: Korean 10A; or consent of instructor.

Korean 10BX

10BX. Internediate 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 10AX; or consent of instructor.

Korean 100B

100B. Advanced Korean. Continuation of Advanced Korean 100A using similar methods and format to 100A. Readings in modern Korean selected as appropriate for the advanced Korean course, i.e., presupposing two and one-half years of college-level Korean. A variety of texts from textbooks, essays, journals, and newspapers will be introduced. About 100 Sino-Korean characters will be systematically introduced. Prerequisites: Korean 100A; or consent of instructor.

Korean 102

102. Fourth-Year Readings – Social Sciences and History. An advanced course in the reading and analysis of texts in modern Korean drawn from history, sociology, economics, etc. 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 consent of instructor.

Korean 112

112. Fifth-Year Korean B. This course is designed to increase 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 the 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 111; or consent of instructor.

Korean 180

180. Critical Approaches to Modern Korean Literature. This course examines the literary and other cultural representations of the war and political violence in modern Korea during the second half of the twentieth century. Readings will focus on such topics as narrative temporality, representations of gender and sexuality, and the cultural implications of the postwar development and displacement. All readings are in English. Prerequisites: one upper division literature course in any language.

Tibetan Language and Literature Courses

Tibetan 1B

1B. Elementary Tibetan. This course is an intensive introduction to both standard spoken Tibetan (Lhasa dialect) and written literary Tibetan. As such, it will serve the needs of students who intend to continue the study of modern Tibetan so as to function in a Tibetan-speaking environment, as well as the needs of students who will concentrate on classical Tibetan and its rich literature. Prerequisites: Tibetan 1A; or consent of instructor.

Tibetan 10B

10B. Intermediate Tibetan. This course, a continuation of 10A, is designed to develop the student's reading, writing, listening, and speaking abilities in standard Tibetan (Lhasa dialect). The course focuses on both modern vernacular Tibetan as well as literary Tibetan, with a particular emphasis on reading classical Buddhist materials. Prerequisites: Tibetan 10A; or consent of instructor.

Tibetan 110B

110B. Intermediate Tibetan. This course is an intensive course in reading modern and classical Tibetan literature, with an emphasis on classical Buddhist texts. It builds on basic reading skills acquired in 1A-1B (elementary Tibetan), and is designed to be taken either concurrently with 10A-10B (intermediate Tibetan) or independently. Prerequisites: Tibetan 10A; or consent of instructor.

Tibetan C114

C114. Tibetan Buddhism. This course is an introduction to the history, institutions, doctrines, and ritual practices of Buddhism in Tibet. The course will progress along two parallel tracks, one chronological and the other thematic, providing on the one hand a sense of the historical development of Tibetan Buddhism, and on the other a general overview of some central themes.  Along the historical track, the course proceeds from Buddhism's initial arrival into Tibet through to the present day, with each week addressing another period in this history.  At the same time, each week will focus on a given theme that relates to the historical period in question.  Themes include tantric myth, 'treasure' (terma) revelation, hidden valleys, the Dalai Lamas, exile, and more. Prerequisites: None.

Tibetan C224

C224. Readings in Tibetan Buddhist Texts: "Tibetan Buddhist Art." The seminar will focus on specific aspects of Tibetan Buddhist art which are not yet well defined in the available literature. In particular it will deal with the main phases of the development of Tibetan art, the development of Tibetan Buddhist iconography and the interrelationship of iconographic types, the relationship of distinctive iconographic subjects to particular schools or transmission linages and their changes over time, the relationship of different types of textual sources to imagery and the definition of Tibetan artistic schools in art historical terms. Prerequisites: Graduate standing.