Spring 2013 Course Descriptions
Chinese Language and Literature Courses
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.
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. We will pay particular attention to the emergence of vibrant new urban and vernacular cultures in the late imperial period and their relation with classical traditions and literati culture, as well the revolutionary cultural transformations of the late 19th and 20th centuries. The course will both survey the literary and cultural topography that every serious student of China ought to know, while at the same time developing the critical reading and writing skills necessary to traverse and imaginatively engage with that historical terrain. All readings are in English translation. Students who are conversant in Chinese are encouraged to read original texts whenever possible. Prerequisites: None. Recommended: Chinese 7A.
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.
Please note: The required tutorial sections will be scheduled once classes begin.
Intermediate Chinese for Mandarin Speakers. This course is for students who have taken Elementary Chinese for Mandarin Speakers or who have similar language proficiency. It further helps students develop their Chinese language through various culturally-related topics. Students are provided opportunies to use the language knowledge learned in class in real world experiences.. Prerequisites: Chinese 1X; or consent of instructor.
Intermediate Chinese for Dialect Speakers. This course continues to help students develop their communicative competence in Mandarin Chinese by engaging in a variety of formal and informal communications. It trains students to use Mandarin more accurately and fluently in speaking and in writing and to become more competent and confident in reading and informal texts. It helps students connect with the knowledge and information of other disciplines through the study of Chinese. Prerequisites: Chinese 1Y; or consent of instructor.
Please note: The required tutorial sections will be scheduled once classes begin.
Huang Seminar: Translingual and Transcultural Competence. This course provides specialized and rigorous instruction to enhance translingual and transcultural competence. It fosters observation of linguistic nuance and develops competence in subtle aspects of Chinese linguistic culture. Projects prepare students for intensive summer language study in China. Prerequisites: Open only to Huang Scholars.
Please note: The required tutorial sections will be scheduled once classes begin.
Advanced Chinese for Heritage Learners. This course continues to develop students' analytical skills, including advanced skills in interpreting texts and writing in different genres and styles. It guides students to use their linguistic knowledge and skills to survey portions of Chinese history and society and comprehend Chinese cultural heritage in contemporary and historical economic, social, and political contexts. Prerequisites: Chinese 100XA; or consent of instructor.
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 100XB; or consent of instructor.
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 100XB; or consent of instructor.
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.
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.
Topics in Taoism. Daoism [also spelled “Taoism”] is the only organized religion ever to have arisen in China. It is commonly known as the “religion of immortality” because followers hoped to merge their bodies with the Dao, the basic life-force of the universe. This class examines a variety of Chinese “texts” (e.g., scriptures, paintings, rituals) to build a more profound understanding of religious Daoism in ancient, medieval, and modern China. No knowledge of the Chinese language, history, or religions is required. All texts will be read in English translation.
Readings in Medieval Prose. Description coming soon.
Reading Taiwan. The island nation of Taiwan has become crucial and contested site for imagining Chinese modernity. The course is not a survey; rather, we will focus on a selection of texts from the Japanese colonial period, the Cold War era, to the post-Chiang pluralization of Taiwanese society and culture. We will cover canonical works of literature, as well as attending to the vibrant cinematic and popular cultures that have thrived on this multi-ethnic and multi-lingual island. Students should come away from the class with a better understanding not only of Taiwanese history, literature, and culture, but also new skills in the reading and analysis of textual and cultural artifacts. Prerequisites: Chinese 100B (may be taken concurrently); or consent of instructor.
Sex and Gender in Premodern Chinese Litearture. This course explores Chinese cultures of sex and gender from antiquity to the eighteenth century. We will look at how sex and gender are treated in the political, moral, medical, and religious discourses. Through a variety of literary genres (poetry, drama, short tales, full-length fiction), we will see the complexity of gender differences, the fluidity of desire, and ultimately the plasticity of the human body. These texts reveal how Chinese writers imaginatively examined and reinvented what it meant to be men and women. The course will focus on three interconnected sets of issues: the status of women, homoeroticism, and the formation of the body. Our discussion will be informed by historical and theoretical reflections on the modern regime of sexuality, contemporary issues in gender politics, and cross-cultural comparisons with ancient Greece and the Renaissance in Europe. Prerequisites: None.
Seminar in Philological Analysis of Ancient Chinese Texts: "Han Dynasty Thought." Pre-Qin Chinese texts have long been studied both as sources for understanding both religious (e.g., Shang Oracle bones and Zhou ritual and divination practices) and philosophical thought (e.g., Mohist Logic and Confucian Ethics) in early China. Han sources, for a variety of reasons, are less often approached in this way. Students in this course will study Han texts chronologically, both in terms of the contexts of their production and transmission, and at how they relate and develop earlier discourses about self formation and virtue, about Heaven's Mandate (tianming 天命) and historical time, about literature and canon, about Nature and knowledge, and about government and administration. In doing so, we will seek to both understand Han sources contextualized in the world of the Han dynasty, and extend the history of religious and philosophical thought into the Han. Students will be expected to create an annotated translation of a major, previously untranslated, Han text as the final project for the course. Prerequisites: Graduate standing; or consent of instructor.
Readings in Chinese Buddhist Texts. This seminar is an intensive introduction to various genres of Buddhist literature in classical Chinese, including translations of Sanskrit and Central Asian scriptures. Chinese commentaries, philosophical treatises, hagiographies, and sectarian works. It is intended for graduate students who already have some facility in classical Chinese. It will also serve as a tools and methods course, covering the basic reference works and secondary scholarship in the field of East Asian Buddhism. The content of the course will be adjusted from semester to semester to best accommodate the needs and interests of students. Prerequisites: Graduate standing; or consent of instructor.
Texts on the Civilization of Medieval China: "Knowing Others, and Being Understood, in Early and Medieval China." What does it mean to “know” a person, and precisely how does one make oneself “known” in advantageous ways? The earliest writings of Chinese civilization manifest a profound appreciation for the skill of discernment—particularly when applied to people. Whether one looks at the dialogues of the Analects or Mencius, or the early anecdotes found in the Liezi, the Guoyu, or the Zuozhuan, the value of astute character assessment appears as a prime requirement for the aspiring worthy. Indeed, interest in this question pervades anomaly and classical tales, as well. Conversely, understandable concern for how one is apt to be understood by others, whether in contemporary times or the future, shapes all manner of modes of self-presentation, from letters, anecdotes, and prefaces to, most importantly, poetry. This course is going to examine the intersection between the discourse of character assessment and modes of self-presentation from early times through the Tang. Besides historical, philosophical, and literary works, we will also pay some attention to visual texts, such as portraiture, and miscellaneous documents, including writings on physiognomy. Prerequisites: Graduate standing, and competence in reading Classical Chinese; or consent of instructor.
Late Imperial Fiction and Drama. Emotion takes place. It is not simply projected onto space or attached to a location, humanizing the external alienating reality with meaning; rather, in a more fundamental sense, emotion per se is spatial. This course reconceives emotion not as an inner state of mind but as a spatio-ontological structure that has a history. Covering literature, architecture, ritual practice, and intellectual discourse in antiquity to eighteenth-century in China, we pay special attention to the transformation of medieval dreamscapes to early modern theatricality. The goal is to chart an alternative history of Chinese poetics, performance, and narrativity, explores diverse models of subject and community formation, and put on trial recent approaches of cognitive psychology and affect theory. Prerequisites: Graduate standing; or consent of instructor.
Modern Chinese Cultural Studies: "Intermedial Spaces and Urban Modernity in China." From teahouses, rooftop gardens, to shikumen buildings, from skyscrapers, world expo, to RMB City, cinema has been an integral part of Chinese cities from its very introduction to its historical permutations. Taking the contiguous space between cinema and the city as the concentrated and contested site, this class situates a century of Chinese cinema within key issues of urban modernity and intermedial dynamic. Across the geopolitical divide, we will explore cinematic renditions of Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Taipei, Guangzhou, and Chongqing accompanying varied locations and transformations of cinema. The class will engage theories of space, architecture, and media while investigate how cinema recasts questions of gender, class, and geopolitics in cinema’s own transformations and its changing dynamic with other media. All films supplied with English subtitles and all readings will be in English or supplied with English translations. Prerequisites: Graduate standing; or consent of instructor.
East Asian Languages and Cultures Courses
Freshman/Sophomore Seminar: "Chinese, Korean, and Japanese in Bay Area linguistic landscapes." This seminar explores the power of visible languages in the Bay Area—the “linguistic landscape” of storefronts, street signs, billboards, and other spaces of public display. Considering such realities as the nationwide English Only movement and California’s ban against bilingual education, we will ask how meanings that are written into and read from bilingual signs relate to controversial issues of societal multilingualism, in the U.S. and beyond. Focusing on the history and present state of Chinese, Korean, and Japanese in the landscape, the seminar will balance in-class discussions with off-campus field trips. Readings and guest speakers will challenge students to understand the significance of visible language through the descriptive and interpretive lenses of academic fields including applied linguistics, ethnic studies, human and cultural geography, and visual culture studies. In dialog with other participants in the On the Same Page Fiat Lux program, students in this seminar will produce multimedia projects on a topic of interest, while engaging questions of visual and linguistic representation in their own work. Readings and discussions will be in English; ability in Chinese, Korean, Japanese or other languages is an asset but not required.
Catastrophe, Memory, and Narrative: Comparative Responses to Atrocity in the Twentieth Century: "On War and its Representations…" This seminar addresses cultures of war across the globe (in particular in Japan and Europe) by exploring the relationship between the shaping forces of war (and other forms of violence) and a variety of cultural forms, including fiction, poetry, feature and documentary film, photography, popular culture, music and art. How do these cultural products reveal the forces of war and violence? In what ways are they about war even when they seem not to be? How do cultural documents of war reveal the struggle for mastery of trauma, the difficulty of capturing violent events, the development of an ethics of Human Rights? Prerequisites: Prerequisites: Interested students should send a brief note describing their interests to Alan Tansman (tansmana@berkeley.edu) and Kent Puckett (kpuckett@berkeley.edu). Space is limited.
Dynamics of Romantic Core Values in East Asian Premodern Literature and Contemporary Film. This course explores the representation of romantic love in East Asian cultures in both premodern and post-modern contexts. Students develop a better understanding of the similarities and differences in traditional values in three East Asian cultures by comparing how canonical texts of premodern China, Japan and Korea represent romantic relationship. They explore how these values might provide a narrative framework or, contrarily, the definition of transgressive acts. This analysis is followed by the study of several contemporary East Asian films, giving the student the opportunity to explore how traditional values persist, change, or become nexus points of resistance in the complicated modern and post-modern milieu of East Asian cultures maintaining a national identity while exercising an international presence. Prerequisites: None. [WEBSITE]
History of the Culture of Tea in China and Japan. This course uses the framework of the history of tea in China and Japan to consider how religion, philosophy and the arts (especially literature, ceramics, garden design and architecture) stimulated and were stimulated by practices related to the consumption of tea. It considers tea's role in defining elite and powerful social circles and intercourse between different centers of power. It also considers how each country uses tea to represent its traditions in particular ways. Understanding the tea culture of these countries informs students of important and enduring aspects of both cultures, offers an opportunity to consider how tea ritual draws on religion and art to promote specific social practice, creates a forum for cultural comparisons between the two countries, and, provides an example of the transfer of cultural knowledge from China to Japan. Prerequisites: None. [WEBSITE]
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 Shaivism 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 Mahayoga, Yogini, and Kalacakra 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. Prerequisites: None.
Japanese Language and Literature Courses
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.
Introduction to Modern Japanese Literature and Culture. An introduction to Japanese literature in translation in a two-semester sequence. 7B provides a survey of important works of 19th- and 20th-century Japanese fiction, poetry, and cultural criticism. The course will explore the manner in which writers responded to the challenges of industrialization, internationalization, and war. Topics include the shifting notions of tradition and modernity, the impact of Westernization on the constructions of the self and gender, writers and the wartime state, literature of the atomic bomb, and postmodern fantasies and aesthetics. All readings are in English translation. Techniques of critical reading and writing will be introduced as an integral part of the course. Prerequistes: None.
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.
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.
100S. Japanese for Sinologists. Students will be trained to read, analyze, and translate modern Japanese scholarship on Chinese subjects. A major purpose of the course is to prepare students to take reading examinations in Japanese. The areas of scholarship to be covered are: politics, popular culture and religion, sociology and history, as well as areas suggested by students who are actively engaged in research projects. Two readings in each area will be assigned: one by the instructor and the second by a student participant. Prerequisites: Graduate standing; Japanese 10B and Chinese 100B; or consent of instructor.
100X. Advanced Japanese for Heritage Learners. This course helps heritage learners of Japanese who have completed 10X to develop further their linguistic and cultural competencies. More sophisticated linguistic forms are introduced and reinforced while dealing with various socio-cultural topics. Close reading knowledge and skills, formal and informal registers, and different genres of Japanese reading and writing are practiced. The materials covered are equivalent to those of 100A-100B.. Prerequisites: Japanese 10X; or consent of instructor.
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.
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.
112. Fifth-Year Japanese B. This course provides focused, high-level language training for those students who possess advanced ability in the modern Japanese language. Students will improve their skills in reading, writing, speaking and listening in their areas of specialty and in fields of particular interest to them. The course has a dual-track approach, requiring the completion of both class-wide and individually designed projects. The balance of the course focuses on perfecting reading and writing skills. With the instructor’s assistance, students pursue their own projects based on extensive reading of materials in their areas of specialization. These projects will be presented orally to the class. Further, when possible, visiting scholars from Japan are invited to the classroom to speak, their topics discussed afterwards. This provides a valuable opportunity for students to practice listening and speaking high-level, educated Japanese. Committed study at home is expected, and essential for success in this course. Prerequisites: Japanese 111 or equivalent; or consent of instructor.
144. Edo Literature. This course provides an opportunity to read at length premodern, literary Japanese of the Edo period. We take as our primary text the famous travel journal of the 17th century, Oku no hosomichi (‘Narrow Roads of the Interior’, ca. 1694) by Matsuo Basho (1644–1694). Basho is the preeminent haiku master of Japan and Oku no hosomichi is widely seen as the best of his prose works as well as one of the great classics of Japan. The text is haibun—a mixture of concise prose passages and haiku. Both prose and poem are given full consideration. Both grammar and literary qualities will be discussed. The course also presents Basho beyond the borders of this one text, including his view of sabi (rustic beauty). The nature of the text also requires that we take up as well the more general topic of haiku principles. Prerequisites: Japanese 100A and Japanese 120; or consent of instructor.
159. Contemporary Japanese Literature. This course will examine how Japanese writers, filmmakers and artists responded to the atrocities of the Pacific War. We will study works representing the aftermath of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, experiences on the frontline, and attempts to account for both personal and collective involvement in the abuses of war. We will pay particular attention to how the form of literature, film, and art reflects experiences of trauma and serves to accept or defer responsibility. Primary readings will be in Japanese with some available in English translation. Prerequisites: 100B (may be taken concurrently) or equivalent, or consent of instructor.
161. Introduction to Japanese Linguistics: Usage. This course deals with issues of the usage of the Japanese language and how they have been treated in the field of linguistics. It concentrates on pragmatics, speech varieties (politeness, gender, written vs. spoken), topic management, historical changes, and genetic origins. Students are required to have advanced knowledge of Japanese. No previous linguistics training is required. Prerequisites: 100B (may be taken concurrently) or equivalent, or consent of instructor.
185. Introduction to Japanese Cinema. This course will offer a survey of Japanese cinema from its earliest days to contemporary anime (animated film). Providing the basic tools for analyzing film language, the course begins by analyzing the interactions between early Japanese film and early Hollywood. We then consider the development of Japanese film, discussing style and structures of connotation, figurative meaning and political critique, the uses of the historical past and ideology, and the roles of youth culture and views of the family. We consider the (sometimes anomalous) place of important individual directors, with a special emphasis on 1960s New Wave cinema and experimental film. We also discuss current critical debates about broader trends in Japanese film and culture, as they illuminate the construction and ruptures in notions of Japanese identity. Prerequisites: None.
234. Seminar in Classical Japanese Drama: “Noh Texts and Contexts.” The seminar will cover one or more noh plays each week with attention focused on the diverse nature of the genre. Along with some of the classic aesthetic masterpieces – in particular the “dream vision plays” (mugen nô) attributed to Zeami and Zenchiku – the seminar will study plays by later authors, works of unknown attribution and plays that are not part of the standard contemporary performance tradition (bangai nô). Prerequisites: One year of classical Japanese; or consent of instructor.
259. Seminar in Postwar Japanese Literature Description coming soon. Prerequisites: Graduate standing; or consent of instructor.
Korean Language and Literature Courses
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.
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.
Through critical analysis of the works of fiction, poetry, and visual media, we will consider the following set of matters: 1) how the issues of national identity, gender, and socio-economic class are articulated in a diverse array of texts; 2) the complex relations between colonialism and a rise of modernist thinking about the national culture, and between cultural production and formation of identity; 3) modern views on urban and rural space; and 4) how the major events in modern Korean history (colonial occupation, war, urban unrest, political violence, dislocation and relocation) have been represented and remembered in literary texts and in popular culture. Prerequisites: None.
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.
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.
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.
100BX. 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 100AX; or consent of instructor.
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.
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.
186. Introduction to Korean Cinema. This undergraduate course offers a historical overview of Korean cinema from its colonial development to the present renaissance. It covers Korean film aesthetics, major directors, film movements, genre, censorship issues and industrial transformation as well as global circulation and transnational reception. In an effort to read film as sociocultural texts, various topics will be discussed, including colonialism, authoritarianism, modernization, national partition, family, youth, sexuality, gender, cultural tradition, individualism, etc. How Korean films have functioned as a cultural medium to construct and disseminate ideas and ideals of Korean-ness is given special consideration. All readings are in English. Prerequisites: none
Tibetan Language and Literature Courses
10B. 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. Prerequisite: Tibetan 10A or equivalent; or consent of instructor.
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.
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.
C224. Readings in Tibetan Buddhist Texts. The seminar will explore the development of early tantric Buddhism of the eighth through eleventh centuries. The central readings will be in classical Tibetan, some from the Dunhuang archive, though they will be supplemented by secondary sources in English. Though we will be reading in Tibetan, the focus will be on ritual developments in India. Students should have a strong ability to read classical Tibetan. Prerequisites: Graduate standing.