East Asian Languages and Cultures

Readings in translation and discussion of texts of Middle Eastern and Indian origin. Readings may include the Quran, Islamic philosophy, Sufi poetry, the Upanishads, Buddhist sutras, the Bhagavad Gita, Indian epics and drama, and Gandhis Autobiography.

Readings in translation and discussion of texts of Middle Eastern and Indian origin. Readings may include the Quran, Islamic philosophy, Sufi poetry, the Upanishads, Buddhist sutras, the Bhagavad Gita, Indian epics and drama, and Gandhis Autobiography.

This course explores the core classical literature in Chinese, Japanese and Korean Humanities. The main objective of the course is to discover the meanings that these literature offer, not just for the original audience or for the respective cultures, but for us. As such, it is not a survey or a lecture-based course. Rather than being taught what meanings are to be derived from the texts, we explore meanings together, informed by in-depth reading and thorough ongoing discussion.

This course explores the core classical literature in Chinese, Japanese and Korean Humanities. The main objective of the course is to discover the meanings that these literature offer, not just for the original audience or for the respective cultures, but for us. As such, it is not a survey or a lecture-based course. Rather than being taught what meanings are to be derived from the texts, we explore meanings together, informed by in-depth reading and thorough ongoing discussion.

This course explores the core classical literature in Chinese, Japanese and Korean Humanities. The main objective of the course is to discover the meanings that these literature offer, not just for the original audience or for the respective cultures, but for us. As such, it is not a survey or a lecture-based course. Rather than being taught what meanings are to be derived from the texts, we explore meanings together, informed by in-depth reading and thorough ongoing discussion.

This course explores the core classical literature in Chinese, Japanese and Korean Humanities. The main objective of the course is to discover the meanings that these literature offer, not just for the original audience or for the respective cultures, but for us. As such, it is not a survey or a lecture-based course. Rather than being taught what meanings are to be derived from the texts, we explore meanings together, informed by in-depth reading and thorough ongoing discussion.

This course explores the core classical literature in Chinese, Japanese and Korean Humanities. The main objective of the course is to discover the meanings that these literature offer, not just for the original audience or for the respective cultures, but for us. As such, it is not a survey or a lecture-based course. Rather than being taught what meanings are to be derived from the texts, we explore meanings together, informed by in-depth reading and thorough ongoing discussion.

Introduces distinctive aesthetic traditions of China, Japan, and Korea--their similarities and differences--through an examination of the visual significance of selected works of painting, sculpture, architecture, and other arts in relation to the history, culture, and religions of East Asia.

Prerequisites: NOTE: Students must register for a discussion section ASCE UN1371 A survey of important events and individuals, prominent literary and artistic works, and recurring themes in the history of Japan, from prehistory to the 20th century.

The program is designed to develop basic skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing colloquial Chinese. This course is divided into two parts: Introductory Chinese A and Introductory Chinese B. 

The two parts together cover the same materials as CHNS UN1101 FIRST YEAR CHINESE I. 

The program is designed to develop basic skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing colloquial Chinese. This course is divided into two parts: Introductory Chinese A and Introductory Chinese B. 

The two parts together cover the same materials as CHNS UN1101 FIRST YEAR CHINESE I. 

The program is designed to develop basic skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing colloquial Chinese. This course is divided into two parts: Introductory Chinese A and Introductory Chinese B. 

The two parts together cover the same materials as CHNS UN1101 FIRST YEAR CHINESE I. 

The program is designed to develop basic skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing colloquial Chinese. This course is divided into two parts: Introductory Chinese A and Introductory Chinese B. 

The two parts together cover the same materials as CHNS UN1101 FIRST YEAR CHINESE I. 

This course offers an immersive look into contemporary China, combining both dialogues and narratives. Through meticulously designed texts and exercises, it highlights key Chinese linguistic structures and functions, provides cultural insights, and draws students into China’s continually evolving landscape. By the end of the full course (two semesters), students are expected to have the following proficiencies: Listening: Grasp conversations, narratives, and informational content matched to their proficiency level. Speaking: Handle everyday situations and participate in discussions on daily events, careers, society, and culture. Reading: Delve into expository and narrative writings, ensuring accurate vocabulary usage, and discern the primary theme of passages. Writing: Construct essays spanning from personal accounts to analytical discussions, utilizing appropriate vocabulary. Culture: Understand and adhere to fundamental Chinese social conventions, employing the language in harmony with these guidelines.

This course offers an immersive look into contemporary China, combining both dialogues and narratives. Through meticulously designed texts and exercises, it highlights key Chinese linguistic structures and functions, provides cultural insights, and draws students into China’s continually evolving landscape. By the end of the full course (two semesters), students are expected to have the following proficiencies: Listening: Grasp conversations, narratives, and informational content matched to their proficiency level. Speaking: Handle everyday situations and participate in discussions on daily events, careers, society, and culture. Reading: Delve into expository and narrative writings, ensuring accurate vocabulary usage, and discern the primary theme of passages. Writing: Construct essays spanning from personal accounts to analytical discussions, utilizing appropriate vocabulary. Culture: Understand and adhere to fundamental Chinese social conventions, employing the language in harmony with these guidelines.

This course offers an immersive look into contemporary China, combining both dialogues and narratives. Through meticulously designed texts and exercises, it highlights key Chinese linguistic structures and functions, provides cultural insights, and draws students into China’s continually evolving landscape. By the end of the full course (two semesters), students are expected to have the following proficiencies: Listening: Grasp conversations, narratives, and informational content matched to their proficiency level. Speaking: Handle everyday situations and participate in discussions on daily events, careers, society, and culture. Reading: Delve into expository and narrative writings, ensuring accurate vocabulary usage, and discern the primary theme of passages. Writing: Construct essays spanning from personal accounts to analytical discussions, utilizing appropriate vocabulary. Culture: Understand and adhere to fundamental Chinese social conventions, employing the language in harmony with these guidelines.

This course offers an immersive look into contemporary China, combining both dialogues and narratives. Through meticulously designed texts and exercises, it highlights key Chinese linguistic structures and functions, provides cultural insights, and draws students into China’s continually evolving landscape. By the end of the full course (two semesters), students are expected to have the following proficiencies: Listening: Grasp conversations, narratives, and informational content matched to their proficiency level. Speaking: Handle everyday situations and participate in discussions on daily events, careers, society, and culture. Reading: Delve into expository and narrative writings, ensuring accurate vocabulary usage, and discern the primary theme of passages. Writing: Construct essays spanning from personal accounts to analytical discussions, utilizing appropriate vocabulary. Culture: Understand and adhere to fundamental Chinese social conventions, employing the language in harmony with these guidelines.

This course offers an immersive look into contemporary China, combining both dialogues and narratives. Through meticulously designed texts and exercises, it highlights key Chinese linguistic structures and functions, provides cultural insights, and draws students into China’s continually evolving landscape. By the end of the full course (two semesters), students are expected to have the following proficiencies: Listening: Grasp conversations, narratives, and informational content matched to their proficiency level. Speaking: Handle everyday situations and participate in discussions on daily events, careers, society, and culture. Reading: Delve into expository and narrative writings, ensuring accurate vocabulary usage, and discern the primary theme of passages. Writing: Construct essays spanning from personal accounts to analytical discussions, utilizing appropriate vocabulary. Culture: Understand and adhere to fundamental Chinese social conventions, employing the language in harmony with these guidelines.

Second Year Chinese I, CHNS2201UN, 4 points. You are required to take First Year Chinese II, CHNS2202UN, 4 points with this course.

Instructor: Lingjun Hu

Prerequisites: One (1) year of college-level Chinese or the equivalent

Texts: Jingua Chinese (Columbia University staff, published by Peking University Press; traditional and simplified characters)

Consolidates and develops language skills used in everyday communication. Texts are presented in the form of a narrative that provides language situations, sentence patterns, word usage, and cultural information. Comprehensive exercises rely on highly structured practice in vocabulary, grammar, listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Semi-formal and literary styles are introduced in later lessons as transition to more advanced levels of Chinese language study. The first half of the course emphasizes skills for conducting everyday tasks such as shopping, making telephone calls, seeing a doctor, or looking for a job. The second half focuses on aspects of Chinese culture: the social norms of politeness and gift-giving, traditions such as inter-generational relationships and marriage ceremonies, customs such as special foods and holidays. While providing practical training, the course aims to raise the student's linguistic competence in preparation for advanced studies in Mandarin.

To enroll in this course, you must apply to the Virtual Columbia Summer Chinese Language program through the Center for Undergraduate Global Engagement (UGE). Global Learning Scholarships available. Tuition charges apply.

Please note the program dates are different from the Summer Term A & B dates. 

Second Year Chinese II,  CHNS2202UN, 4 points. You are required to take First Year Chinese I, CHNS2201UN, 4 points with this course.

Instructor: Lingjun Hu

Prerequisites: One (1) year of college-level Chinese or the equivalent

Texts: Jingua Chinese (Columbia University staff, published by Peking University Press; traditional and simplified characters)

Consolidates and develops language skills used in everyday communication. Texts are presented in the form of a narrative that provides language situations, sentence patterns, word usage, and cultural information. Comprehensive exercises rely on highly structured practice in vocabulary, grammar, listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Semi-formal and literary styles are introduced in later lessons as transition to more advanced levels of Chinese language study. The first half of the course emphasizes skills for conducting everyday tasks such as shopping, making telephone calls, seeing a doctor, or looking for a job. The second half focuses on aspects of Chinese culture: the social norms of politeness and gift-giving, traditions such as inter-generational relationships and marriage ceremonies, customs such as special foods and holidays. While providing practical training, the course aims to raise the student's linguistic competence in preparation for advanced studies in Mandarin.

To enroll in this course, you must apply to the Virtual Columbia Summer: Chinese Language program through the Center for Undergraduate Global Engagement (UGE). Global Learning Scholarships available. Tuition charges apply.

Please note the program dates are different from the Summer Term A & B dates. 

Second Year Chinese II,  CHNS2202UN, 4 points. You are required to take First Year Chinese I, CHNS2201UN, 4 points with this course.

Instructor: Lingjun Hu

Prerequisites: One (1) year of college-level Chinese or the equivalent

Texts: Jingua Chinese (Columbia University staff, published by Peking University Press; traditional and simplified characters)

Consolidates and develops language skills used in everyday communication. Texts are presented in the form of a narrative that provides language situations, sentence patterns, word usage, and cultural information. Comprehensive exercises rely on highly structured practice in vocabulary, grammar, listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Semi-formal and literary styles are introduced in later lessons as transition to more advanced levels of Chinese language study. The first half of the course emphasizes skills for conducting everyday tasks such as shopping, making telephone calls, seeing a doctor, or looking for a job. The second half focuses on aspects of Chinese culture: the social norms of politeness and gift-giving, traditions such as inter-generational relationships and marriage ceremonies, customs such as special foods and holidays. While providing practical training, the course aims to raise the student's linguistic competence in preparation for advanced studies in Mandarin.

To enroll in this course, you must apply to the Virtual Columbia Summer: Chinese Language program through the Center for Undergraduate Global Engagement (UGE). Global Learning Scholarships available. Tuition charges apply.

Please note the program dates are different from the Summer Term A & B dates. 

Second Year Chinese II,  CHNS2202UN, 4 points. You are required to take First Year Chinese I, CHNS2201UN, 4 points with this course.

Instructor: Lingjun Hu

Prerequisites: One (1) year of college-level Chinese or the equivalent

Texts: Jingua Chinese (Columbia University staff, published by Peking University Press; traditional and simplified characters)

Consolidates and develops language skills used in everyday communication. Texts are presented in the form of a narrative that provides language situations, sentence patterns, word usage, and cultural information. Comprehensive exercises rely on highly structured practice in vocabulary, grammar, listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Semi-formal and literary styles are introduced in later lessons as transition to more advanced levels of Chinese language study. The first half of the course emphasizes skills for conducting everyday tasks such as shopping, making telephone calls, seeing a doctor, or looking for a job. The second half focuses on aspects of Chinese culture: the social norms of politeness and gift-giving, traditions such as inter-generational relationships and marriage ceremonies, customs such as special foods and holidays. While providing practical training, the course aims to raise the student's linguistic competence in preparation for advanced studies in Mandarin.

To enroll in this course, you must apply to the Virtual Columbia Summer: Chinese Language program through the Center for Undergraduate Global Engagement (UGE). Global Learning Scholarships available. Tuition charges apply.

Please note the program dates are different from the Summer Term A & B dates. 

Second Year Chinese II,  CHNS2202UN, 4 points. You are required to take First Year Chinese I, CHNS2201UN, 4 points with this course.

Instructor: Lingjun Hu

Prerequisites: One (1) year of college-level Chinese or the equivalent

Texts: Jingua Chinese (Columbia University staff, published by Peking University Press; traditional and simplified characters)

Consolidates and develops language skills used in everyday communication. Texts are presented in the form of a narrative that provides language situations, sentence patterns, word usage, and cultural information. Comprehensive exercises rely on highly structured practice in vocabulary, grammar, listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Semi-formal and literary styles are introduced in later lessons as transition to more advanced levels of Chinese language study. The first half of the course emphasizes skills for conducting everyday tasks such as shopping, making telephone calls, seeing a doctor, or looking for a job. The second half focuses on aspects of Chinese culture: the social norms of politeness and gift-giving, traditions such as inter-generational relationships and marriage ceremonies, customs such as special foods and holidays. While providing practical training, the course aims to raise the student's linguistic competence in preparation for advanced studies in Mandarin.

To enroll in this course, you must apply to the Virtual Columbia Summer: Chinese Language program through the Center for Undergraduate Global Engagement (UGE). Global Learning Scholarships available. Tuition charges apply.

Please note the program dates are different from the Summer Term A & B dates. 

Second Year Chinese II,  CHNS2202UN, 4 points. You are required to take First Year Chinese I, CHNS2201UN, 4 points with this course.

Instructor: Lingjun Hu

Prerequisites: One (1) year of college-level Chinese or the equivalent

Texts: Jingua Chinese (Columbia University staff, published by Peking University Press; traditional and simplified characters)

Consolidates and develops language skills used in everyday communication. Texts are presented in the form of a narrative that provides language situations, sentence patterns, word usage, and cultural information. Comprehensive exercises rely on highly structured practice in vocabulary, grammar, listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Semi-formal and literary styles are introduced in later lessons as transition to more advanced levels of Chinese language study. The first half of the course emphasizes skills for conducting everyday tasks such as shopping, making telephone calls, seeing a doctor, or looking for a job. The second half focuses on aspects of Chinese culture: the social norms of politeness and gift-giving, traditions such as inter-generational relationships and marriage ceremonies, customs such as special foods and holidays. While providing practical training, the course aims to raise the student's linguistic competence in preparation for advanced studies in Mandarin.

To enroll in this course, you must apply to the Virtual Columbia Summer: Chinese Language program through the Center for Undergraduate Global Engagement (UGE). Global Learning Scholarships available. Tuition charges apply.

Please note the program dates are different from the Summer Term A & B dates. 

Third Year Chinese II, CHNS3004UN, 5 points. You are required to take Third Year Chinese I, CHNS3003UN, 5 points with this course.

Instructor: Zhirong Wang

Prerequisites: Two (2) years of college-level Chinese or the equivalent

Texts: Jingua Chinese (Columbia University staff, published by Peking University Press; simplified characters)

Introduces Chinese social values and attitudes, focusing on the rapid changes now taking place in China. Uses materials from Chinese newspapers and modern short stories to teach essential elements of semi-formal and formal writing. Reading and writing are routine tasks, and oral discussion and debate are important components of the class, allowing students to integrate and improve their communication skills in Chinese.

To enroll in this course, you must apply to the Virtual Columbia Summer Chinese Language program through the Center for Undergraduate Global Engagement (UGE). Global Learning Scholarships available. Tuition charges apply.

Please note the program dates are different from the Summer Term A & B dates. 

Third Year Chinese II, CHNS3004UN, 5 points. You are required to take Third Year Chinese I, CHNS3003UN, 5 points with this course.

Instructor: Zhirong Wang

Prerequisites: Two (2) years of college-level Chinese or the equivalent

Texts: Jingua Chinese (Columbia University staff, published by Peking University Press; simplified characters)

Introduces Chinese social values and attitudes, focusing on the rapid changes now taking place in China. Uses materials from Chinese newspapers and modern short stories to teach essential elements of semi-formal and formal writing. Reading and writing are routine tasks, and oral discussion and debate are important components of the class, allowing students to integrate and improve their communication skills in Chinese.

To enroll in this course, you must apply to the Virtual Columbia Summer Chinese Language program through the Center for Undergraduate Global Engagement (UGE). Global Learning Scholarships available. Tuition charges apply.

Please note the program dates are different from the Summer Term A & B dates. 

Third Year Chinese II, CHNS3004UN, 5 points. You are required to take Third Year Chinese I, CHNS3003UN, 5 points with this course.

Instructor: Zhirong Wang

Prerequisites: Two (2) years of college-level Chinese or the equivalent

Texts: Jingua Chinese (Columbia University staff, published by Peking University Press; simplified characters)

Introduces Chinese social values and attitudes, focusing on the rapid changes now taking place in China. Uses materials from Chinese newspapers and modern short stories to teach essential elements of semi-formal and formal writing. Reading and writing are routine tasks, and oral discussion and debate are important components of the class, allowing students to integrate and improve their communication skills in Chinese.

To enroll in this course, you must apply to the Virtual Columbia Summer Chinese Language program through the Center for Undergraduate Global Engagement (UGE). Global Learning Scholarships available. Tuition charges apply.

Please note the program dates are different from the Summer Term A & B dates. 

Third Year Chinese II, CHNS3004UN, 5 points. You are required to take Third Year Chinese I, CHNS3003UN, 5 points with this course.

Instructor: Zhirong Wang

Prerequisites: Two (2) years of college-level Chinese or the equivalent

Texts: Jingua Chinese (Columbia University staff, published by Peking University Press; simplified characters)

Introduces Chinese social values and attitudes, focusing on the rapid changes now taking place in China. Uses materials from Chinese newspapers and modern short stories to teach essential elements of semi-formal and formal writing. Reading and writing are routine tasks, and oral discussion and debate are important components of the class, allowing students to integrate and improve their communication skills in Chinese.

To enroll in this course, you must apply to the Virtual Columbia Summer Chinese Language program through the Center for Undergraduate Global Engagement (UGE). Global Learning Scholarships available. Tuition charges apply.

Please note the program dates are different from the Summer Term A & B dates. 

This Level 4 Chinese language class engages students in reading and discussion of current events. Course materials consist of news stories, commentaries and documentary films. Topics covered for the summer term include US-China relations, China’s economic development, China's rise, Chinese dissidents, and public health.

This Level 4 Chinese language course emphasizes systematic development of lexical knowledge and the enhancement of reading and writing skills. Through an in-depth exploration of video clips, expository essays and short stories, students will expand their vocabulary, learn to analyze syntactically and semantically complicated texts, and develop their narrative and summary writing skills.

The evolution of the Chinese language. Topics include historical phonology, the Chinese script, the classical and literary languages, the standard language and major dialects, language and society, etc.

Legal Chinese is designed for students who have studied at least three years of Chinese (or the equivalent) and are interested in legal studies concerning China. This course offers systematic descriptions of Chinese language used in legal discourse, its vocabulary, syntactic structures and pragmatic functions.

Advanced Business Chinese II is the continuation of Advanced Business Chinese I, both of which are designed to help Columbia students who have achieved the advanced level of proficiency in Chinese use the language to communicate effectively in professional contexts. Topics to be discussed include, but are not limited to, the concept of Face, Guanxi/Interpersonal obligations, Chinese modesty and humility, and Chinese style of negotiation and decision making.

This course describes the morphological, syntactic and phonological structures of Chinese language within the framework of the functional grammar. The focus is placed on the “mapping” of linguistic forms and their semantic and pragmatic functions. Pedagogical suggestions on how to teach these structures are also provided. 

Prerequisites: CHNS G5000x. This course is designed for graduate students who have successfully passed Course I (G5000) and who are permitted by the Department to take this course, which entails working as a teaching assistant in the Chinese language program. In addition to coordinating closely with his or her mentors and the course coordinator, the student TA has to design and teach first year drill sessions, team-teach with his or her mentors, and do other teaching-related assignments.

In this graduate seminar course, students will be asked to study original sources including inscriptions, texts, and archaeological data in order to discuss a series of issues in late Bronze-Age economy.

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From Godzilla to Pokemon (literally, pocket monster) toys, Japanese monsters have become a staple commodity of late-capitalist global pop culture. This course seeks to place this phenomenon within a longer historical, as well as a broader cross-cultural, context. Through an examination of texts and images spanning over thirteen centuries of Japanese history, along with comparable productions from other cultures, students will gain an understanding not only of different conceptions and representations of monsters, ghosts, and other supernatural creatures in Japan, but also of the role of the monstrous in the cultural imagination more generally. The course draws on various media and genres of representation, ranging from written works, both literary and scholarly, to the visual arts, material culture, drama, and cinema. Readings average 100-150 pages per week. Several film and video screenings are scheduled in addition to the regular class meetings. Seating is limited, with final admission based on a written essay and other information to be submitted to the instructor before the beginning of the semester.

This course will cover the film form and history of the martial arts in Hong Kong and beyond. Taken as a popular genre, martial arts cinemas apparently are separated from art and aesthetics. In this course, martial arts cinema will be understood as a site to connect different filmmakers in Asia who choreograph action into narratives that offer kinesthetic effects. Long shot, montage, slow motion, saturated color tone and wire are used by them to provide action with their historical meanings like nationalism, maintaining law and order, and anti-imperialism. The course will cover films from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, to Indonesia and India. It will examine films, literature, real martial arts like Wing Chun, Hung Fist, and wrestling, Peking opera, film adaptation, and video games. The course will study martial arts films with perspectives of film forms, narrative and genre makeover in different contexts in order to understand the nature of martial arts films in East Asia. 

This seminar will begin by exploring the dynamic relationship between art, literature and their existing mediascape by examining the literary works of the Yuan and Ming Period, and continuing all the way to the most recognized literary and artistic piece of the late Qing period. The seminar will also focus on the transformation of the media dynamics when the Opium Wars (19th century) brought newer visual and printing technology and media into China. We will explore how these new technologies gave writers new formalistic and thematic approaches when coping with China’s modernization process.  (1903-1904).

Through a critical reading of diverse mediums, we will explore the entanglements in modern history between Vietnam and Korea, from the fratricidal Korean War and the Vietnam “American” War, up until the two countries’ current unequal relationship based on trade, labor, marriage, and cultural exchange.

Covering a period from the 7th century to the present, this class draws on Japanese literature, folklore, painting, performance, and anime, to explore the world of the supernatural, particularly the role of ghosts, gods, demons, animals, and nature. Students are introduced to various strands of popular religion, including Buddhist cosmologies and native beliefs about nature and human life, with special attention to the relationship between the living and the dead, and explore the role of human intermediaries. The course looks at these texts and media in relationship to the local community, gender, social and occupational status, environment (both natural and urban), and historical period, exploring issues of social identity and power.

Spanning the late 19th century to the present, this course explores the cultural construction and representation of disability and corporeality in modern Japanese literature, film, and manga, and introduces students to a range of Japanese texts and media as well as to theoretical approaches to disability, illness, madness, shame, aging, and representations of the body. Special focus will be placed on the discursive construction—through language, media, and literary texts—of the stigma placed on people with mental or corporeal differences and how this construction intersects with other cultural categories such as country and city, gender, class, ethnicity, race, sexuality, political affiliation, religion, and age. We will consider how textual and visual representations challenge, reshape, and expand our views of these categories and constructions. 

Designed for both undergraduate and graduate students, this course introduces Tibetan belles-lettres and vernacular works (all in English translation) spanning from the imperial period to the present day. We will engage in close readings, together with discussion of the genre each text represents and its salience in current Tibetan intellectual discourse. In the final four weeks, we will read landmark works from the post-Mao period, with a view to the negotiation of traditional forms amidst the advent of new literary genres and the economics of cultural production.

Questions to address include: How have Tibetan literary forms and content developed throughout history? How has the very concept of "Tibetan literature" been conceived?  How have Tibetan writers and scholars—past and present—negotiated literary innovation?

Each session will consist of a brief lecture followed by discussion. Lectures will incrementally provide students with a general timeline of Tibetan literary and related historical developments, as well as biographical material regarding the authors assigned for that week.

Tibetan language students and heritage learners will be offered three optional sessions to read excerpts of selected texts in Tibetan.

This course examines the transformation of natural environments, rural and urban landscapes on the Tibetan Plateau in the 20th and 21st centuries, with a special emphasis on the material and social lives of rivers, roads and infrastructure. We will draw on primary source readings (in English) and maps, as well as secondary readings in anthropology and human geography, to examine the processes of infrastructure creation, national integration, urbanization and adaptation in the Tibetan regions of China.

What is media and mediation? How do aesthetics, techniques and technologies of media shape perception, experience, and politics in our societies? And how have various forms of media and mediation been conceptualized and practiced in the Chinese-language environment? This graduate seminar examines critical issues in historical and contemporary Chinese media cultures, and guides students in a broad survey of primary texts, theoretical readings, and research methods that place Chinese media cultures in historical, comparative and interdisciplinary perspectives. We discuss a variety of media forms, including paintings and graphic arts, photography and cinema, soundscapes and the built environment, and television and digital media. The class covers a time span from mid-19 th  century to the present, and makes use of the rich holdings at the Starr East Asian Library for historical research and media archaeology.   

Open to MA and PhD students. Advanced undergraduates need to have instructor's approval.
Language prerequisites: intermediate or advanced Chinese; rare exceptions upon instructor’s approval.

Whereas many in the modern West may commonly associate heavens and hells with the traditions of Christianity and Islam, Buddhist Asia shares an equally extensive concern with the paradises and punishments of the afterlife. Indian Buddhist scriptures, and their translations and elaborations across Asia, celebrate an infernal cosmology that makes Dante’s opus seem like a Hallmark card by comparison. This seminar focuses particularly on hells in the East Asian imaginary with the occasional detour to Southeast Asia, India, or Tibet for purposes of comparison. Our analysis of the practices, discourses, and representations of hells in East Asia is designed to coincide with a major exhibition on Asian Hells at Asia Society NY (Sept-Dec 2020). In this seminar we will view the exhibition together and each student will discuss an object on view, which they will have selected and prepared for in advance. Each student will work on a seminar project (usually, but not necessarily, an academic research paper) throughout the second half of the seminar. Proposal, bibliography, preliminary draft(s), and presentation will be due in stages during the process and students will receive feedback at each stage before the final draft is due at the beginning of final exam period. This course is designed for graduate students and advanced undergraduates who are expected to have completed coursework in relevant areas of East Asian Studies, Religion, or Art History.

The course explores the doctrines, practices, and rituals of Korean religions through iconic texts, paintings, and images. The texts, paintings, and images that the course covers include ghost stories, doctrinal exegeses and charts, missionary letters, polemical and apologetic writings, catechism, folklores, and ritual paintings.

Through interdisciplinary theoretical approaches (mostly in the fields of religion, anthropology, and history), this course examines THE key institution in Tibetan culture, namely monasteries. We will address the monastery from many different angles, from the physical infrastructure and soteriological justification to its governing documents as well as economic and educational roles.

What did “music” (yue, 樂) mean in premodern China, and what was it like? What socio-cultural functions did it serve, and what values and priorities were reflected in different musical traditions? Seeking answers to these and other questions, this course surveys the history of music and its makers in premodern China, drawing from primary source texts (in translation), extant music scores, secondary scholarship, and hands-on demonstrations, to better understand and appreciate historically and culturally significant musical traditions of premodern China, and their enduring influence on traditional Chinese music in the modern world. 

This course examines the history of warfare in modern Asia. We will explore how the changing nature of warfare intersected with the larger global processes that have shaped the modern world, including imperialism and colonialism, maritime trade and diplomacy, industrialization, the rise of militarism and humanitarianism, decolonization and Third World revolutions, and terrorism.

This course examines the history of Japanese warriors, known among other things as samurai and bushi, from their origins in ancient Japan to the dismantling of the samurai class after the Meiji Restoration in 1868.

Through a combination of primary and secondary sources, we will trace the development of warrior power and identity, the rise of warrior power in medieval Japan, the domestication and bureaucratization of warriors during the Edo Period (1600-1868), and warrior discontent with socioeconomic change as one of the driving forces behind the Meiji Restoration. Other themes include the relationship between warrior government and adjudication, the use of Buddhism for legitimation, and male-male intimacy and sexual relations.

This course examines major themes in the history of medicine and the political economy of health, illness, and healing in China. It covers a range of subjects, including the social and cultural construction of illness and illness categories, healers and their roles, modernizing states and their interest in knowledge and development, the relation of local healing systems with biomedicine, the place of individual and social agency in health management, and the impact of colonialism and post-colonial nation-state building on patterns of illness, health, and health care in China.

This course on climatological historiography of Tibet employs an interdisciplinary approach to bring together research findings from “the archives of nature” (statistical reconstructions of past climate from physical and natural processes) with studies from “the archives of society” (physical and written sources left by humans) to examine how historical changes in climate have effected human development and society on the Tibetan plateau. The class explores how climatic conditions and events might have triggered and contributed to socioeconomic, political, and cultural developments in Tibet and the Himalayas.

In this course we will explore how histories of Asian mobility and migration since the 18th century have been shaped by local, regional and global processes such as commerce, capitalism, imperialism, colonialism, liberalism, racism, revolution, war, patriarchy and geopolitics, as well as by the agency of migrants themselves. The geographical scope of the course covers East, Southeast and South Asia, Pacific islands such as Hawai’i and Guam, plus destination countries such as the United States, Australia, Peru, and South Africa.

China's search for a new order in the long twentieth century with a focus on political, social and cultural change. 

Reading and discussion of English-language scholarship on Japanese history between the 16th and 19th centuries. This class evaluates the achievements and the limitations of the past seven decades of Tokugawa historical studies, and considers areas and approaches that hold promise for future development. Knowledge of Japanese is not required; students of early modern histories elsewhere are encouraged to participate.

Field(s): EA  

Introductory Japanese A is an introduction to Japanese language and culture and is designed for students who have had little or no experience learning Japanese. The goal of this course is to develop four basic skills in modern Japanese with an emphasis on grammatical accuracy and socially appropriate language use. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to engage in basic daily conversations and to develop the ability to read and write hiragana as well as katakana.

The sequence includes JPNS UN1001 Introductory Japanese A and JPNS UN1002 Introductory Japanese B. These courses combined (JPNS UN1001 and JPNS UN1002) are the equivalent to JPNS UN1101 First Year Japanese I and fulfills the requirement for admission to JPNS UN1102 First Year Japanese II.

Introductory Japanese A is an introduction to Japanese language and culture and is designed for students who have had little or no experience learning Japanese. The goal of this course is to develop four basic skills in modern Japanese with an emphasis on grammatical accuracy and socially appropriate language use. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to engage in basic daily conversations and to develop the ability to read and write hiragana as well as katakana.

The sequence includes JPNS UN1001 Introductory Japanese A and JPNS UN1002 Introductory Japanese B. These courses combined (JPNS UN1001 and JPNS UN1002) are the equivalent to JPNS UN1101 First Year Japanese I and fulfills the requirement for admission to JPNS UN1102 First Year Japanese II.

Introductory Japanese A is an introduction to Japanese language and culture and is designed for students who have had little or no experience learning Japanese. The goal of this course is to develop four basic skills in modern Japanese with an emphasis on grammatical accuracy and socially appropriate language use. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to engage in basic daily conversations and to develop the ability to read and write hiragana as well as katakana.

The sequence includes JPNS UN1001 Introductory Japanese A and JPNS UN1002 Introductory Japanese B. These courses combined (JPNS UN1001 and JPNS UN1002) are the equivalent to JPNS UN1101 First Year Japanese I and fulfills the requirement for admission to JPNS UN1102 First Year Japanese II.

Introductory Japanese A is an introduction to Japanese language and culture and is designed for students who have had little or no experience learning Japanese. The goal of this course is to develop four basic skills in modern Japanese with an emphasis on grammatical accuracy and socially appropriate language use. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to engage in basic daily conversations and to develop the ability to read and write hiragana as well as katakana.

The sequence includes JPNS UN1001 Introductory Japanese A and JPNS UN1002 Introductory Japanese B. These courses combined (JPNS UN1001 and JPNS UN1002) are the equivalent to JPNS UN1101 First Year Japanese I and fulfills the requirement for admission to JPNS UN1102 First Year Japanese II.

In this course, we will examine a series of key writings on cinema and visual culture in Japan from the 1910s to the late 1960s.  Major topics will include:

1. Cinema and its technology/technics (sound, color, and film form)

2. Cinema and its intersection with politics and aesthetics (Marxism and the Proletarian Film Movement, cinematic realism, colonialism, Third Worldism, and Japanese New Wave)

3. The articulations of cinema in broader intellectual, technological, socio-cultural, and institutional discourse (film education, documentary, and bunka eiga)

In an attempt to explore the transitional position of cinema and media culture in Japanese cultural history, the course also critically approaches contact points between cinema, theatre (especially shingeki), literature, photography, and television.  All mandatory readings each week will be primary sources in Japanese, and additional scholarly and/or theoretical writings in English will also be assigned or provided for reference.

This course provides basic training in listening, speaking, reading, and writing in Korean. Introductory Korean A is equivalent to the first half of First Year Korean I.

This course provides basic training in listening, speaking, reading, and writing in Korean. Introductory Korean A is equivalent to the first half of First Year Korean I.

This course provides basic training in listening, speaking, reading, and writing in Korean. Introductory Korean A is equivalent to the first half of First Year Korean I.

This course provides basic training in listening, speaking, reading, and writing in Korean. Introductory Korean A is equivalent to the first half of First Year Korean I.

Accelerated Korean II is specifically designed for heritage students of Korean, who already have previous knowledge of basic grammar and culture. This course completes the college's two-year foreign language requirement.

This class is designed to meet the needs of both first-time learners of Tibetan, as well as students with one year or less of modern colloquial Tibetan. It is intended to lay the foundation for reading classical Tibetan writings, including religious, historical, and literary texts. By focusing on basic grammatical constructions and frequently used vocabulary, this class offers an introduction to the classical Tibetan language.

This is an introductory course and no previous knowledge is required. It focuses on developing basic abilities to speak as well as to read and write in modern Tibetan, Lhasa dialect. Students are also introduced to modern Tibetan studies through selected readings and guest lectures.

This course will focus on helping students gain greater profiency in reading Tibetan Buddhist philosophical and religious historical texts. 

The course is aimed at enhancing students' competence in reading and listening comprehension as well as the ability to present or show their knowledge of the language and various aspects of Vietnamese with the use of more advanced Vietnamese.

This course is designed for students who have completed seven semesters of Vietnamese class or have equivalent background of advance Vietnamese. It is aimed at developing more advance interpersonal communication skills in interpretive reading and listening as well as presentational speaking and writing at a superior level. Students are also prepared for academic, professional and literary proficiency suitable for post-secondary studies in the humanities and social sciences.