Course Descriptions

Course Description
Geographically, linguistically, ethnically, and economically, China today is a land of diversity, characterized by striking regional variations. Yet underlying this diversity is a shared cultural heritage: a unifying set of historical, literary, and artistic traditions, philosophical and religious ideas, political institutions, and a common writing system. This course introduces the study of Chinese society and culture through an examination of the cultural unities and diversities, continuities and discontinuities that comprise the historical development of Chinese civilization. Topics include philosophy and religion; cosmology and the life cycle; literature and arts; science, technology and medicine; power and authority; gender, ethnicity, and cultural identity. This course provides a foundation for continued study of Chinese history and society for students who plan to go on to more specialized, upper-division courses including Chinese anthropology, history, literature, sociology, economics, law, policy, international business, art history, architecture, environmental science, and philosophy.

Course Goals
The primary learning goal for this course is to acquire a broad understanding of the historical development of civilization in China. This course adopts a "hands on" approach by asking students to consider primary historical evidence of both a textual and visual nature. Therefore, a second goal of this course is to develop one's ability to interpret texts and images as historical evidence by considering such material within its particular cultural, social, and political context. The ultimate goal of the course is to acquire a richer understanding of Chinese civilization and to develop research skills that will facilitate continued study of and coursework on China and East Asia.

Textbook
Patricia Buckley Ebrey, Cambridge Illustrated History of China, 2nd edition (Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010) supplemented by a range of short primary source documents available electronically.

Grading
Class participation: 10%
Quiz: 5%
3 tests: 60% (20% each)
Final exam: 25%

This course introduces students to the institutional, social, economic, and doctrinal history of Buddhism in India. Emerging in the 5th century B.C.E., Buddhism spread quickly across South Asia. For more than 1500 years it had a significant impact on Indian culture, philosophy, art, architecture, and politics. The course discusses Buddhist teachings, from their earliest formulations to later developments, the spread of Buddhist institutions, and resulting social, political, and economic issues. Finally, we will take a look at the revival of Buddhism in India in the 20th century and its impact on society.

Readings:
Paul Williams, Buddhist Thought
Rupert Gethin, Sayings of the Buddha
Course Packet

Grading
Attendance/participation: 20%
Weekly reading responses: 20%
Oral presentation: 15%
Article for class encyclopedia: 15%
Midterm exam: 15%
Final exam: 15%

Same as Asian Studies 341K. This course examines Japan’s early modern age, from the end of the warring-states period in the 1500s to the stirrings of the industrial revolution in the mid 1800s.  The main focus is on the period of government by the Tokugawa shoguns (1600–1867), the final era of samurai rule.  Topics include social and economic change, national isolation and national opening, the Meiji revolution, and the origins of modern nationalism, imperialism, and democracy.   We pay special attention to the subjective experiences of Japanese women and men who lived and created Japan’s distinctive path to modernity.

Prerequisite: Upper-division standing.

Texts:

Conrad TOTMAN, Early Modern Japan, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993.

KATSU Kokichi, Musui’s Story: The Autobiography of a Tokugawa Samurai, trans. Teruko CRAIG, Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1991.

YAMAKAWA Kikue, Women of the Mito Domain, trans. Kate Wildman NAKAI (Stanford University Press, 2001).And others TBA.

Course requirements:

•    two midterm exams (worth 22.5% each)

•    two essays on class readings (15% each)

•    final essay (20%)

•    active class participation (5%)

This course will deal with the history, art and architecture, and religions of India during the period of Muslim rule, from the tenth to the eighteenth centuries. We will look at the émigré culture of the Sultanate period (ca. 1000-1500), and the composite culture of the Mughal empire (ca. 1500-1800), paying particular attention to the interaction of Islam with Indian religions, the development of distinctive architectural and artistic forms of expression, and the ideology and form of political institutions. Towards the end of the course, we will also look at the earliest contacts between Europe and India from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries.

Requirements include two short papers, 2 map assignments, a mid-term, a slide quiz, and a final. An optional research paper may substitute for the final exam. Percentages for the grade: papers 20, 25 %, mid-term 20%, slide quiz 10%, final 25%. Grading will be on the new system with pluses and minuses. Textbooks (subject to change):Ainslie Embree, ed., Sources of Indian Tradition, Vol. IBlair & Bloom, The Art & Architecture of Islam (1250-1800)         Asher & Talbot, India Before EuropeSelected travel accounts for book reportsPossibly a packet of readings Blackboard

Instructor:  Shingavi, S            Areas:  V / G

Unique #:  35530            Flags:  Global Cultures

Semester:  Fall 2012            Restrictions:  n/a

Cross-lists:  ANS 361, ISL 372            Computer Instruction:  No

Prerequisites: Nine semester hours of coursework in English or rhetoric and writing.

Description: In the last twenty-five years, global interest in Pakistani writing has flourished. Partly because of Pakistan’s important role as a frontline state in the war in Afghanistan and partly because of an increase in the number and quality of writers from Pakistan, international publishers have found willing audiences for new Pakistani products. Alternatively, though, this writing still finds itself having to contend with western biases about Pakistan. This course will chart the major themes and directions of Pakistani writing to understand both how Pakistan is represented and how it is consumed/marketed: why are certain kinds of fiction necessary to represent the Pakistani nation? Can the nation ultimately be represented? We will also be interested in major themes: history, Islam, gender, nationality, migration, and class. We will read writers from Pakistan as well as Pakistanis in the diaspora. Students are not expected to have a historical background in South Asia, but are expected to be curious and inquisitive.

Texts: (possible) Rushdie, Shame; Suleri, Meatless Days; Kureshi, My Beautiful Laundrette; Hamid, Reluctant Fundamentalist; Mueenuddin, In Other Rooms, Other Wonders; Aslam, Maps for Lost Lovers; Sethi, The Wish Maker; Naqvi, Home Boy; Sidhwa, Crow Eaters; Ali, The Duel.

Requirements & Grading: 

(a)  Weekly blog posts, 250 words (20%) (b)  Midterm (20%) Take-home exam, 2 essay questions, cumulative up to the midterm. (c)   Final (30%) Take-home exam, 3 essay questions – cumulative for the whole semester. (d)  Paper, 6-7 pages (20%) (e)  Participation (10%)

Instructor:  Shingavi, S            Areas:  V / G

Unique #:  35550            Flags:  Global cultures

Semester:  Fall 2012            Restrictions:  n/a

Cross-lists:  AAS 320, ANS 361, ISL 372            Computer Instruction:  No

Prerequisites: Nine semester hours of coursework in English or rhetoric and writing.

Description: This class will consider how fiction from the post-9/11 era (widely called the “Global War on Terror”) has produced a particular vision of Islam and Muslims that both reproduces and challenges the ideology of Islamophobia and refines and critiques prior understandings of Muslims. We will be interested in thinking about the deployment of Islam in political rhetoric; depictions of Islam and Muslims in popular culture; debates about Islam that have entered national life in the US; and novelistic representations of Islam over the last decade.  We will be particularly interested in understanding how ideas about religion intersect but do not overlap with ideas about race, and how the question of opportunities for Muslim women has become a contemporary preoccupation.

Texts: Readings will include: Edward Said’s Covering Islam; Junaid Rana’s Terrifying Muslims; Fawzia Afzal-Khan; John Updike; Martin Amis; Mohsin Hamid.

Requirements & Grading: Midterm exam – 25%; Final exam – 30%; Course blog (250 words weekly) – 15%; Short research essays (4, 2 pages each) – 20%; Participation – 10%.

Course Description

This intensive reading and writing course explores the political economies of East Asia—by all accounts the world’s most economically dynamic region. With an emphasis on Japan, China and South Korea, we examine a number of themes that have intrigued both scholars and policymakers over the years: the reasons for the region’s “miraculous” GDP growth rates; the notion of the “developmental state” and the role of industrial policy in economic development; the nature of government-business relationships; industrial structure (chaebol, keiretsu, Chinese State-Owned Enterprises); the experiences of East Asian consumers and workers; the business community’s contributions to the development of East Asian welfare states; and the reactions (both positive and negative) of East Asian political economies to the pressures of globalization.  In addition to examining these themes from theoretical, comparative, and historical perspectives, the course introduces students to political-economic themes and concepts that will benefit them in their reading of current events in global economics and finance. 

Individual classes will alternate between lectures and seminar-style sessions based on discussions of assigned readings. Some knowledge of East Asia and or comparative politics/political economy is recommended but not required.

This course has a writing flag.

Grading Policy 

1.  Attendance and participation in class discussions:  15%

2.  Two take-home midterm exams (5 pages each):  20%

3.  Research paper (4,000-4,500 words) in 2 drafts:  40%

4.  Final exam:  25%

Texts

1.  Chalmers Johnson, MITI and the Japanese Miracle (1982)

2.  Ming Wan, The Political Economy of East Asia: Striving for Wealth and Power (2008)

3.  Barry Naughton, The Chinese Economy: Transition and Growth (2007)

A packet of book chapters, government reports and journal articles will be available for purchase at the beginning of the semester.

This course examines literature written by Japanese authors in the 20th and 21st centuries. We will learn to read, think, discuss, and write about Japanese literature critically and analytically with attention to a work’s content, style, and form, as well as the socio-historical context of its production and reception. Topics include the breakdown of tradition and the crisis of individualism; nostalgia and nationalism; war and cultural amnesia; “women’s literature”; sexuality, gender, and power; and the dynamics of cross-cultural influence.

Required Texts/Readings:

1) The following books (* on schedule) are available for purchase at the Co-op. You are welcome to purchase them from used bookstores or on-line instead, but be sure to get the same version (cross-check the ISBN #) so that we can all refer to the same page numbers for class discussions and papers.

Sōseki, Natsume. Kokoro (Gateway Editions). ISBN #:  978-0895267153

Ooka, Shohei. Fires on the Plain (Tuttle Publishing). 978-0804813792

Goossen, Theodore W., ed. The Oxford Book of Japanese Short Stories (Oxford UP). 978-0199583195

Murakami, Haruki. Norwegian Wood (Vintage Edition). 978-0375704024.

2) Additional short stories and supplementary secondary readings (marked with – below) will be made available.

Prerequisites

Six hours of Government are recommended but not required. No prior knowledge of the region is required.        

Course Description

Toward the end of the 20th century, pundits looked to the spectacular economic growth of East and Southeast Asia and predicted that the 21st century would be the “Pacific Century”.  Although analysts have been far less optimistic about the economic and political future of the region following the 1997 financial crisis, most nevertheless agree that the region has the most growth potential compared to any other region in the world.  It is also home to some of the globe’s most dangerous “hot spots”: North Korea’s ongoing nuclear threat, tensions in the Taiwan Straits, and escalating tensions between Japan and China.        This upper division undergraduate course introduces students to some of the basic themes of the post-Cold War international relations of East and Southeast Asia.  In addition to tracking current events in the region, we explore basic theoretical approaches to international relations, “Great Power” (China, Japan and the United States) contributions and challenges to the military and economic security of the region, the objectives and processes of economic globalization and institutional integration in the Asia-Pacific, and the nature of and potential solutions to the North Korean security threat.      

Grading Policy

         1.    Quizzes on readings: 15%

         2.    First mid-term exam: 20%

         3.    Second mid-term exam or short research paper:  25%

         4.    Final exam: 40%

Texts

         1.    Susan L. Shirk, China: Fragile Superpower (2008)

         2.    David Shambaugh and Michael Yahuda, eds., International Relations of Asia (2008).

         3.    Joseph E. Stiglitz, Globalization and Its Discontents (2002).    

A selection of book chapters and journal articles will also be made available to students online.

            This undergraduate seminar focuses on India's epics, including the classical Mahabharata and the Ramayana.  Particular emphasis will be placed on understanding the epic characters in relation to the heroic traditions of premodern India, as well as in relation to the religious traditions of both past and present.  Although the Sanskrit epics will be treated at greatest length, we will also explore regional-language versions of the classical epics and to read an oral folk epic, the Epic of Pabuji.  In the first part of the course, the class format will vary between lectures by the instructor and group discussion. Toward the end of the semester, students will be engaged largely in research on a topic of their choice. 

Requirements and Grading

            Since the course is an undergraduate seminar with a writing flag, a considerable amount of reading and writing is required.  In the first part of the semester, there will be two short essays (4-6 pp. each) based on the readings and films covered jointly by the class.  Students will prepare two drafts of the first essay, based on instructor feedback.  Subsequently, students will embark on individual research on a specific region and time period, resulting in two drafts of a research paper (8-12 pp.).  Each paper must be based on at least five books and/or articles --bibliographic assistance will be provided by the instructor. 

            The success of the course will depend heavily on student participation.  For that reason, your attendance will be noted and constitute a component in the final grade.  Students are expected to have completed reading assignments and be prepared for discussion on the specified dates.  In the second half of the semester, each student will make an oral presentation to the class, reporting on progress made in his/her research project.  Students will also be required to participate in anonymous critiques of papers submitted by their classmates. 

             Various aspects of student performance will be weighted as listed below in determining the final grade for the course:

                         Two short essays (4-6 pp. each)             = 30%
                         Research paper project (8-12 pp.)          = 40%
                         Participation                                 = 30%

Required Texts (tentative):

1)  Chakravarthi V. Narasimhan, The Mahabharata
2)  R. K. Narayan, The Ramayana
3)  John D. Smith, The Epic of Pabuji
4)  numerous articles or book chapters available on Blackboard or in a coursepack

INDIA'S NONCONFORMIST THINKERS W

Edeltraud Harzer

This course introduces Indian philosophy by focusing on the opponents of the mainstream and by examining the subversive challenge of their thought. Drawing on the dissenting voices, the course reconstructs a picture of debate and exchange. Thinkers such as Sankara, Nagarjuna, and Dignaga who revise and newly reformulate existing theories are of primary interest. Four major areas of philosophical concern will be representative of the multitude of ideas. The four are:

1. Value system (bridging philosophy and religion, liberation, free will, dharma, karma, Bhakti),

2. epistemic concerns, that is proving various truths by different means (examining the ways of establishing Self or No-self, why the belief of one group cannot be shared with another, etc.),

3. Revival in premodern times, channeling sentimentality.

4. Modern thinkers evaluating their own tradition. The novel approach of this course relies on viewing the brahmanical tradition through the eyes of its opponents. Thereby we can gain a more comprehensive picture of the intellectual milieu. The course will also include nonconformist thinkers of more recent times, such as Gandhi, his grandson Ramchandra Gandhi, and Daya Krishna.

This course contains a substantial writing component and fulfills part of the basic education requirement in writing.

TEXTS:

Hamilton, Sue. Indian Philosophy. A Very Short Introduction. Oxford, 2001. Keown, Damien. Buddhist Ethics. A Very Short Introduction. Oxford, 2005.

NON-CONFORMISTfall09w.doc 1 of 1King, Richard. Indian Philosophy An Introduction To Hindu And Buddhist Thought. Edinburgh, 1999. ON BLACKBOARD Matilal, Bimal. The Character of Logic in India. Ed. Ganeri & Tiwari, 1998.

Roy Perrett.

Hindu ethics [electronic resource] : a philosophical study

Honolulu, Hawaii : University of Hawaii Press, c1998.

In this course, we will endeavor to navigate some of the extensive anthropological literature that has been written on Japanese conceptualizations of self and body and explore how these concepts intersect with ideas about religion and morality.  The “self” has been one of the central themes in ethnographic writing about Japan since Ruth Benedict’s work The Chrysanthemum and the Sword was published in the 1940’s.  We will consider how Japanese educational approaches contribute to the formation of particular forms of behavior; how selves change over the life course; Japanese conceptualizations of the body and person; and how Japanese ideas about self and body are expressed in medical practices.  The course is discussion-based and will incorporate films in addition to ethnographic writings.  Grading will be based upon five response papers and mid-term take-home and final take-home exams. 

Texts:

Gilbert Ryle.  2000.  The Concept of Mind.  University of Chicago Press. ISBN: 0226732967Traphagan, John.  2000.  Taming Oblivion: Aging Bodies and the Fear of Senility in Japan.  Albany:  SUNY Press.  ISBN: 0791445003Kondo, Dorinne. 1990.  Crafting Selves : Power, Gender, and Discourses of Identity in a Japanese Workplace. University of Chicago Press.  ISBN: 0226450449Cave, Peter.  2007.  Primary School in Japan: Self, Individuality and Learning in Elementary Education.  Routledge.  ISBN: 0415545366Ozawa-de Silva, Chikako.  2006. Psychotherapy and Religion in Japan: The Japanese Introspection Practice of Naikan.  Routledge.  ISBN: 0415545684.

Grading:

Mid-term exam:  20%Final exam: 30%Five 2-page response papers: 50%

Meets with CL 323

[All lectures, discussion and readings in English.]

Required Text:

John Minford and Joseph S.M. Lau, eds. Classical Chinese Literature – An Anthology of

     Translations, Volume I: From Antiquity to the Tang Dynasty (Columbia, 2002)

Supplementary Background Reading:       Articles and book chapters will be posted on

     Blackboard.  (See Course Documents.) 

Course Description

 [This course is open to all students – no previous background in Chinese language, culture or literature is required.]

This course will provide an introduction to the so-called supernatural and otherworldly phenomena in traditional Chinese literature and “pseudo-history.”  Readings in English translation will encompass a selective sampling of prose, short fiction, and drama/opera from pre-modern China (end of imperialism in early 20th century).  Lectures and discussions will focus on the literary, cultural, historical, social, political, philosophical, and religious background against which these representative works arose.  Background reading will be assigned to supplement the primary works of literature and pseudo-history.  Course emphasis will be given to close and critical reading of primary works (in English translation) which were originally written in Classical Chinese and vernacular Classical Chinese.  Topics covered include otherworldly concepts of the Dao (the Way) and various interpretations of the afterlife, with an introduction to differences between spirits, souls, ghosts and other ethereal beings in various Chinese secular and religious belief systems.  Readings introduce Chinese notions of the supernatural in the form of such beings as immortals, goddesses, and shape-shifters. 

Global Cultures

This course carries the Global Cultures flag. Global Cultures courses are designed to increase your familiarity with cultural groups outside the United States. You should therefore expect a substantial portion of your grade to come from assignments covering the practices, beliefs, and histories of at least one non-U.S. cultural group, past or present.

Course grade based on the following:

• There is a class attendance policy for this course.
• There is no final exam in this course.

15%     Class and online discussion, participation and preparation (Attendance policy)

50%     Reading and Discussion Questions (Response “Quizzes”)

20%     One Research Inquiry Paper (5-7 pages)

10%     One Oral Presentation/Lead Discussant

5%       Creative Writing – short story/prose/dramatic act (Evaluated CR/NC)

Focusing on the idea of religious and cultural diversity, this course introduces to various holy figures and sainthood practices in South Asia as they are understood in modern times. Our emphasis will be on the intersections of classical and modern realms of these sainthood practices. We also try to understand their role in the everyday life in contemporary South Asia.  At the turn of modern times, several saints and yogis began to appear on the South Asian landscape and public sphere. In dialogue with modernity, these saints - from various backgrounds such as Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism and Christianity - made a profound impact on the emerging modern discourses and increasingly technological life-styles. Focusing on their life stories, teachings and cultic practices, this course explores their role in the making of modern South Asia at various intersections of history, religion, literature and philosophy. In this course, we will read the works of these saints and very few carefully selected secondary materials that put their practices and teachings in a perspective.  We will watch and analyze two documentaries made on these saints. We explore two major questions: 1. what role these “classical” models of holy persons are playing in a fast-changing and constantly shifting modern world? 2. If each religion has a discrete sainthood tradition, what are the specific religious/philosophical/everyday aspects that connect these saints of diversified worlds?

Course description
This course examines the critical role of writing in one of the world's oldest literate civilizations. Beginning with the origin of Chinese characters in the Bronze Age, we examine the crucial role of writing in staking claims of political, social, and religious authority in ancient and early Imperial China (ca. 1200 BCE-200 CE). Aiming to situate writing within the cultural practices in which it was generated, we explore a diverse array of textual artifacts, including inscriptions on bone, bronze, and stone and manuscripts on bamboo and silk, in addition to texts in the received literary tradition. Topics include the magico-religious dimensions of writing, the sociology of writing and textual production, and the role of cannon and commentary in articulating and challenging imperial claims of legitimacy.

Course texts
Christopher Leigh Connery, The Empire of the Text: Writing And Authority in Early Imperial China (1998).
Martin Kern, ed., Text and Ritual in Early China (2005).
Mark Edward Lewis, Writing and Authority in Early China (1999).
Edward L. Shaughnessy, Rewriting Early Chinese Texts (2006).

Additional required readings available electronically.

Grading
class participation: 20%
informal writing: 15%
short paper: 20%
midterm exam: 20%
final paper: 25%