East Asian Religion, Thought and Culture Major Requirements
Knowledge of philosophical and religious traditions is important to understanding many aspects of East Asia's diverse cultures. This major seeks to train students in these traditions in a way that is grounded in a familiarity with the texts, languages, and cultures of East Asian societies, while also examining how these traditions have been (and might better be) brought into the humanistic disciplines.
***To declare the Major, please schedule an appointment with the departmental advisor on Calendly. For quick questions about requirements, you can email her at cassandrajj@berkeley.edu. For questions or problems related to enrollment or placement exams, please contact Presi Diaz at diaz.mp@berkeley.edu***
Major Requirements
Prerequisites (Must earn a letter grade of C or higher for List A course; must earn a letter grade of B of higher for elementary language courses)
- Chinese, Japanese, or Tibetan 1A-1B or equivalent (5 units each)
- One course from List A
Lower Division (minimum of 8 units)
- Chinese, Japanese, or Tibetan 10A-10B or equivalent (5 units each)*
Upper Division (minimum of 9 letter-graded courses and 30 units; minimum GPA of 2.0)
- Six courses total from List A (“Core Courses”) including the course taken as a prerequisite
- Two courses from List B (“Supplementary Disciplinary Breadth”)
- EA 191: Tools and Methods in the Study of East Asian Philosophy and Religion or a pre-approved substitute in an academic year in which EA 191 is not offered
Of the six courses from List A, a maximum of two semesters of classical language study and no more than one lower division course may be counted toward fulfilling the requirements. The two lists of courses (List A & List B) will be updated periodically, and the full listings will be available on the departmental website.
The department offers a two-semester honors program for its majors who have a 3.5 GPA in the major and a 3.3 GPA overall. This program allows qualified students to work closely with a faculty member in independent study ending in a senior honor's thesis. Students interested in the honors program should consult with the undergraduate advisor.
* Please note that students with previous language experience will be required to take the online placement exam. Students who place out of language courses or into the heritage track will be required to take additional advisor-approved literature or culture courses offered by the Department in order to meet the above unit requirements.
List A (“Core Courses”)
EA Lang C50 Introduction to the Study of Buddhism
EA Lang 110 Bio-Ethical Issues in East Asian Thought
EA Lang C120 Buddhism on the Silk Road
EA Lang C122 Buddhist Meditation: Historical, Doctrinal, and Ethnographic Perspectives
EA Lang C128 Buddhism in Contemporary Society
EA Lang C130 Zen Buddhism
EA Lang C132 Pure Land Buddhism
EA Lang C135 Tantric Traditions of Asia
EA Lang C152 Buddhist Astral Science
BuddStd 190 Topics in the Study of Buddhism: When topic is relevant (see advisor for approval)
Chinese 51 Chinese Thought in the Han Dynasty
Chinese 110A Introduction to Literary Chinese
Chinese 110B Introduction to Literary Chinese
Chinese C116 Buddhism in China
Chinese 130 Topics in Daoism
Chinese C140 Readings in Chinese Buddhist Texts
Chinese C185 Introduction to Chinese Philosophy
Chinese 186 Confucius and His Interpreters
Japan C115 Japanese Buddhism
Japan 116 Introduction to the Religions of Japan
Japan 120 Introduction to Classical Japanese
Japan C141 Introductory Readings in Japanese Buddhist Texts
Japan 144 Edo Literature
Japan 146 Japanese Historical Documents
Mongoln C117 Mongolian Buddhism
Tibetan 110A Intensive Readings in Tibetan
Tibetan 110B Intensive Readings in Tibetan
Tibetan C114 Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan 116 Traditional Tibet
Tibetan C154 Death, Dreams, and Visions in Tibetan Buddhism
List B (“Supplementary Disciplinary Breadth”)
Art History
HistArt 130A Early Chinese Art, Part I
HistArt 131A Sacred Arts in China
HistArt 134A Topics in Buddhist Art and Architecture: Buddhist Temple Art & Architecture in Japan
HistArt 134B Topics in Buddhist Art and Architecture: Buddhist Icons in Japan
HistArt 134C Topics in Buddhist Art and Architecture: Buddhist Art in the Modern/Contemporary World
HistArt 190A Special Topics in Fields of Art History: Asian: When topic is relevant (see advisor for approval)
Film
Chinese 172 Contemporary Chinese Language Cinema
EA Lang C124 Buddhism and Film
EA Lang 180 East Asian Film: Directors and their Contexts
EA Lang 181 East Asian Film: Special Topics in Genre
Japan 185 Introduction to Japanese Cinema
Japan 188 Japanese Visual Culture: Introduction to Anime
Japan 189 Topics in Japanese Film
Korean 186 Introduction to Korean Cinema
Korean 187 History and Memory in Korean Cinema
Korean 188 Cold War Culture in Korea: Literature and Film
Korean 189 Korean Film Authors
History
History 100 Special Topics: When topic is relevant (see advisor for approval)
History 103F Proseminar: Problems in Interpretation in the Several Fields of History: Asia: When topic is relevant (see advisor for approval)
History 113A Traditional Korean History
History 113B Modern Korean History
History 116A China: Early China
History 116B China: Two Golden Ages: China During the Tang and Song Dynasties
History 116C China: Modern China
History 116D China: Twentieth-Century China
History 116G Imperial China and the World
History 117A Topics in Chinese History: Chinese Popular Culture
History 117D Topics in Chinese History: The Chinese Body: Gender and Sex, Health, and Medicine
History 118A Japan: Japan, Archaeological Period to 1800
History 118B Japan: Japan 1800-1900
History 118C Japan: Empire and Alienation: The 20th Century in Japan
History 119A Topics in Japanese History: Postwar Japan
Mongoln 116 The Mongol Empire
Mongoln 118 Modern Mongolia
Tibetan 118 The Politics of Modern Tibet
Tibetan 119 Tibetan Medicine in History and Society
Music
Chinese C184 Sonic Culture in China
Music 134A Music of the East Asia Tradition
Music 134B Music of Japan
Philosophy
Philos 153 Chinese Philosophy
Religious Studies
Anthro 158 Religion and Anthropology
EA Lang C126 Buddhism and the Environment
Chinese 182 Death and Funerary Practice in China
ReligSt 190 Topics in Religious Studies: When topic is relevant (see advisor for approval)
Asian Literature
Chinese 120 Ancient Chinese Prose
Chinese 122 Ancient Chinese Poetry
Chinese 134 Readings in Classical Chinese Poetry
Chinese 136 Readings in Medieval Prose
Chinese 153 Reading Taiwan
Chinese 155 Readings in Vernacular Chinese Literature
Chinese 156 Modern Chinese Literature
Chinese 157 Contemporary Chinese Literature
Chinese 158 Reading Chinese Cities
Chinese 176 Bad Emperors: Fantasies of Sovereignty and Transgression in the Chinese Tradition
Chinese 178 Traditional Chinese Drama
Chinese 179 Exploring Premodern Chinese Novels
Chinese 180 The Story of the Stone
Chinese 187 Literature and Media Culture in Taiwan
Chinese 188 Popular Culture in 20th-Century China
EA Lang 101 Catastrophe, Memory, and Narrative: Comparative Responses to Atrocity in the Twentieth Century
EA Lang 105 Dynamics of Romantic Core Values in East Asian Premodern Literature and Contemporary Film
EA Lang 106 Expressing the Ineffable in China and Beyond: The Making of Meaning in Poetic Writing
EA Lang 107 War, Empire, and Literature in East Asia
EA Lang 108 Revising the Classics: Chinese and Greek Poetry in Translation
EA Lang 109 History of the Culture of Tea in China and Japan
EA Lang 111 Reading Global Politics in Contemporary East Asian Literature
EA Lang 112 The East Asian Sixties
EA Lang 114 Illness Narratives, Vulnerable Bodies
EA Lang 115 Knowing Others, and Being Known: The Art of Writing People
EA Lang 116 Modern East Asian Fiction
EA Lang 118 Sex and Gender in Premodern Chinese Culture
EA Lang 119 History of Heaven
Japan 130 Classical Japanese Poetry
Japan 132 Premodern Japanese Diary (Nikki) Literature
Japan 140 Heian Prose
Japan 155 Modern Japanese Literature
Japan 159 Contemporary Japanese Literature
Japan 170 Classical Japanese Literature in Translation
Japan 173 Modern Japanese Literature in Translation
Japan 177 Urami: Rancor and Revenge in Japanese Literature
Japan 180 Ghosts and the Modern Literary Imagination
Japan 181 Mediating Disaster: Fukushima, Before and After
Korean 130 Genre and Occasion in Traditional Poetry
Korean 140 Narrating Persons and Objects in Traditional Korean Prose
Korean 150 Modern Korean Poetry
Korean 153 Readings in Modern Korean Literature
Korean 155 Modern Korean Fiction
Korean 157 Contemporary Korean Literature
Korean 170 Intercultural Encounters in Korean Literature
Korean 172 Gender and Korean Literature
Korean 174 Modern Korean Fiction in Translation
Korean 180 Critical Approaches to Modern Korean Literature
Korean 185 Picturing Korea
Mongoln 110 Literary Mongolian
Tibetan 115 Contemporary Tibet