Asian Civilizations and Humanities

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 seminar is an exploration of some "great books" from the Middle East and South Asia. We will read books, plays, stories, and poems in English translation that were originally written in Arabic, Persian, Bangla, Sanskrit. From the Thousand and One Nights to an Arabic epic about a warrior princess to the Bhagavad Gita, we will examine themes of storytelling, gender, politics, and the nature of divinity. With the exception of one Sudanese novel, we will be focusing on texts from the premodern period, and our focus will be on how to interpret texts, develop arguments about those texts, and learning about cultures of reading and writing in the past.

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 UN1360 The evolution of Chinese civilization from ancient times to the 20th century, with emphasis on characteristic institutions and traditions.

First Year Chinese II (CHNX1002) is the continuation of First Year Chinese I (CHNSX1001). It is designed for students with some prior knowledge of Mandarin Chinese and either one semester or one year of college-level learning experience in Mandarin Chinese. Upon successful completion of First Year Chinese II, students are expected to reach Novice High to Intermediate Low proficiency. At this level, you will be able to understand, interpret, speak, and write about everyday topics such as greetings, dining, and exchanging personal information. In addition to language skills, you will gain an understanding of the cultural products, practices, and perspectives of the Chinese-speaking world and be able to relate them to your own cultural experiences. As a language course, it emphasizes immersion: Chinese will be the primary language spoken and heard in the classroom. 

This is an introductory course to the Chinese language for absolute beginners. Students will develop basic skills in listening and speaking Chinese, while familiarizing themselves with its writing system. 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 is an introductory course to the Chinese language for absolute beginners. Students will develop basic skills in listening and speaking Chinese, while familiarizing themselves with its writing system. 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 is an introductory course to the Chinese language for absolute beginners. Students will develop basic skills in listening and speaking Chinese, while familiarizing themselves with its writing system. 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 II (CHNX2002) is the continuation of Second Year Chinese I (CHNSX2001). It is designed for students who have completed a rigorous three-semester college-level Mandarin course or its equivalent. This course aims to develop proficiency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing at the Intermediate High to Advanced Low levels according to the ACTFL guidelines. Students will engage with real-world scenarios relevant to studying abroad and gain a deeper understanding of modern Chinese society and culture. Emphasis is placed on narration, description, comparison, and the development of intercultural competence through comparative cultural analysis. Course materials include dialogues and narratives to support vocabulary, grammar, communication, and cultural learning.  

As the second half of a one-year program for intermediate Chinese learners, this course helps students consolidate and develop everyday communicative skills in Chinese, as well as
introducing aspects of Chinese culture such as the social norms of politeness and gift-giving. Semi-formal and literary styles will also be introduced as students transition to more advanced
levels of Chinese language study. While providing training for everyday communication skills, Second Year Chinese aims to improve the student's linguistic competence in preparation for
advanced studies in Mandarin.

As the second half of a one-year program for intermediate Chinese learners, this course helps students consolidate and develop everyday communicative skills in Chinese, as well as
introducing aspects of Chinese culture such as the social norms of politeness and gift-giving. Semi-formal and literary styles will also be introduced as students transition to more advanced
levels of Chinese language study. While providing training for everyday communication skills, Second Year Chinese aims to improve the student's linguistic competence in preparation for
advanced studies in Mandarin.

As the second half of a one-year program for intermediate Chinese learners, this course helps students consolidate and develop everyday communicative skills in Chinese, as well as
introducing aspects of Chinese culture such as the social norms of politeness and gift-giving. Semi-formal and literary styles will also be introduced as students transition to more advanced
levels of Chinese language study. While providing training for everyday communication skills, Second Year Chinese aims to improve the student's linguistic competence in preparation for
advanced studies in Mandarin.

As the second half of a one-year program for intermediate Chinese learners, this course helps students consolidate and develop everyday communicative skills in Chinese, as well as
introducing aspects of Chinese culture such as the social norms of politeness and gift-giving. Semi-formal and literary styles will also be introduced as students transition to more advanced
levels of Chinese language study. While providing training for everyday communication skills, Second Year Chinese aims to improve the student's linguistic competence in preparation for
advanced studies in Mandarin.

As the second half of a one-year program for intermediate Chinese learners, this course helps students consolidate and develop everyday communicative skills in Chinese, as well as
introducing aspects of Chinese culture such as the social norms of politeness and gift-giving. Semi-formal and literary styles will also be introduced as students transition to more advanced
levels of Chinese language study. While providing training for everyday communication skills, Second Year Chinese aims to improve the student's linguistic competence in preparation for
advanced studies in Mandarin.

As the second half of a one-year program for intermediate Chinese learners, this course helps students consolidate and develop everyday communicative skills in Chinese, as well as
introducing aspects of Chinese culture such as the social norms of politeness and gift-giving. Semi-formal and literary styles will also be introduced as students transition to more advanced
levels of Chinese language study. While providing training for everyday communication skills, Second Year Chinese aims to improve the student's linguistic competence in preparation for
advanced studies in Mandarin.

Second-Year Chinese W (I & II) : This course is designed for heritage learners with conversational abilities and foundational literacy skills in Mandarin Chinese. Through a combination of interactive lessons, focused linguistic exercises, cultural exploration, and real-world applications, students will deepen their understanding of their cultural heritage while expanding their vocabulary and enhancing their language skills. By the end of the course, students will be better equipped to engage confidently with family members and other Chinese-speaking communities.

Second-Year Chinese W (I & II) : This course is designed for heritage learners with conversational abilities and foundational literacy skills in Mandarin Chinese. Through a combination of interactive lessons, focused linguistic exercises, cultural exploration, and real-world applications, students will deepen their understanding of their cultural heritage while expanding their vocabulary and enhancing their language skills. By the end of the course, students will be better equipped to engage confidently with family members and other Chinese-speaking communities.

This course offers an expansive journey into the Chinese language and culture. It focuses on essential semi-formal and formal writing skills while refining discourse-level competency. Students will enhance their linguistic abilities and communication skills in Chinese through reading and writing assignments, oral presentations, and discussions. This approach fosters adept communication and a deeper connection with the complexities of Chinese culture, preparing students to engage thoughtfully with contemporary issues and traditions.

This course offers an expansive journey into the Chinese language and culture. It focuses on essential semi-formal and formal writing skills while refining discourse-level competency. Students will enhance their linguistic abilities and communication skills in Chinese through reading and writing assignments, oral presentations, and discussions. This approach fosters adept communication and a deeper connection with the complexities of Chinese culture, preparing students to engage thoughtfully with contemporary issues and traditions.

This course offers an expansive journey into the Chinese language and culture. It focuses on essential semi-formal and formal writing skills while refining discourse-level competency. Students will enhance their linguistic abilities and communication skills in Chinese through reading and writing assignments, oral presentations, and discussions. This approach fosters adept communication and a deeper connection with the complexities of Chinese culture, preparing students to engage thoughtfully with contemporary issues and traditions.

Conversational Chinese II is the continuation of Conversational Chinese I, both of which are designed for students with at least two years of college-level Chinese who wish to improve their conversational skills. It focuses on practical speaking and listening in real- world contexts, emphasizing fluency, vocabulary expansion, and cultural competence. Students will develop confidence in expressing opinions, narrating experiences, and engaging in spontaneous conversations on everyday andcontemporary topics.

Note: This Course CANNOT be used to fulfill the language requirement.

Conversational Chinese II is the continuation of Conversational Chinese I, both of which are designed for students with at least two years of college-level Chinese who wish to improve their conversational skills. It focuses on practical speaking and listening in real- world contexts, emphasizing fluency, vocabulary expansion, and cultural competence. Students will develop confidence in expressing opinions, narrating experiences, and engaging in spontaneous conversations on everyday andcontemporary topics.

Note: This Course CANNOT be used to fulfill the language requirement.

Media Chinese (I & II) : This level-4 course enhances students’ proficiency in reading and discussing current events in Chinese. It features close reading and critical discussions on topics such as politics, economics, culture, and social issues. Through careful analysis of authentic media materials, students will further develop their language skills and deepen their understanding of contemporary China. By the end of the course, students will be able to navigate Chinese media sources confidently and engage meaningfully in conversations about both global and Chinese current events. 

This course is designed to help students master formal Chinese for professional or academic purposes. It includes reading materials and discussions on selections from Chinese media covering contemporary topics, Chinese literature, and modern Chinese intellectual history. The course aims to enhance students' strategies for comprehension, as well as their written and oral communication skills in formal modern Chinese.

This course, taught in English, offers an in-depth exploration of the Chinese language and its historical development. Key topics include historical phonology and syntax, the Chinese script, and the classification and linguistic features of major dialects. The course also explores the emergence of modern standard Chinese and early poetic traditions. The primary goal is to deepen students’ understanding of the language’s evolution while strengthening their critical thinking skills.

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.

The Fifth Year Chinese course is designed for advanced learners who have a proficient command of the Chinese language in all four aspects: listening, speaking, reading, and writing, regardless of whether they have Chinese heritage. The course provides a wide variety of literary genres, ranging from short stories to aesthetic essays to academic articles, to enhance students' mastery of formal written Chinese. While the primary objectives of this course lie in reading, students also have opportunities to develop their speaking competence through a variety of in-class discussions, debates, and presentations.

This course is the second part of an introduction to Chinese cinema, focusing primarily on films produced in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Students will explore a selection of films spanning various genres and themes, ranging from the 1980s to the early 2000s, including internationally renowned films, independent productions, and mainstream popular works, while also reflecting diverse customs and dialects. Through this exploration, students will further develop their fundamental yet comprehensive understanding of contemporary Chinese history, society, and its rich and varied cultural traditions and values. Each film will be analyzed within its historical, societal, and cultural context, considering both its aesthetic form and social content. Class meetings incorporate lectures, film screenings, discussions, and student presentations.

This introductory lecture course introduces students with little or no prior knowledge of Korea or the
Korean language to Korean society by exploring cultural codes—shared symbols, values, and practices
that shape everyday life—through the lens of media and literature. By engaging with short stories, films,
TV shows, music, and other cultural texts, students will examine how these cultural codes influence
Korean social norms, identities, and global representations.
The course focuses on six key cultural codes—food, language, family structure, religion, economic
development, and the two Koreas—as reflected in Korean literature, film, drama, and YouTube content.
Through these themes, students will gain a foundational yet comprehensive understanding of Korean society. At the same time, they will strengthen their critical and analytical skills in interpreting culture, cultivating a deeper awareness of how meaning is constructed and communicated across different media. 

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:  
Define and explain the concept of cultural codes in the context of Korean society. 
Identify major themes in Korean media and literature that reflect cultural values.
Critically analyze how historical and social changes are represented through cultural texts.
Develop comparative perspectives on Korean culture and their own cultural backgrounds.
Communicate ideas effectively in written and oral formats.

Why do certain mental illnesses only appear in specific regions of the world? What processes of translation, adaption, and “indigenization” take place when psychiatric diagnostic categories, pharmaceutical regimens, and psychodynamic treatments developed in the West travel to China, Japan and South Korea? How do contemporary East Asian therapeutic modalities destabilize biomedical assumptions about the origins and treatment of mental illness?

This course employs anthropological analysis to explore the paradoxes of “culture-bound syndromes”, examine how biomedical psychiatric practices have been received and transformed, and discuss the ways in which shamanistic rituals and Traditional Chinese Medicine clinical encounters understand their objects of intervention. Focusing on East Asia with a particular emphasis on China, we will employ interpretive and political economic anthropological analyses to explore experiences of people struggling with illness, the practices of health practitioners who treat them, and the broader social and historical contexts that shape these interactions.

This course traces the history of Korean cinema and literature from the 1930s to the early 2000s. Particular attention is given to colonialism, national division, war, gender relations, authoritarianism, urbanization, consumer culture, and diaspora. What kinds of familial, social, economic, and political relations do these films and literary works envision? We will link films and literary texts to their historical context, noting how representations of people, places, and ideas have changed over time—from colonialism, through poverty and malaise in the aftermath of the Korean War, to North Korea’s continuing search for autonomy in the world system and South Korea’s current position as global economic power and maker of the “Korean Wave ”

The course will closely examine 1) the various traits of postmodern Japanese cinemas in the 1980s and the 1990s after the phase of global cinematic modernism, 2) contemporary media phenomena such as media convergence and the media ecologies of anime, 3) media activism after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, and beyond. We will proceed through careful analysis of films, anime, and digital media, while also addressing larger questions of historiography in general. 

This course examines classical Chinese poetry as a capacious and dynamic medium through which poets in premodern China engaged, shaped, and interpreted their environments. Rather than statically reflecting a timeless beauty or harmonious relationship between humans and nature, classical Chinese poetry presents us with a rich tapestry of the living world---from soil, water, farms, and plants, to food, pests, infrastructure, and ruins. We will explore how poets, either individually or collectively, used poetic forms to pattern nature, wrestle with meanings of human activities (such as agriculture), ponder human entanglements with insects and other forms of life, define the moral perimeters of things, and register the embodied experience of human fragility. Beyond thematic content, “texture” also refers to the medium of poetry itself. We will pay special attention to poetic features that are preserved through translation, such as parallelism, allusion, repetition, tones, and rhythm, and consider them as specific rhetorical forces through which poets construct individual voices, forge collective identities, interrogate boundaries between the human and nonhuman, and process historical upheaval and emotional trauma. Ultimately, the course also encourages students to appreciate the practice of reading poetry itself in the age of digital media and AI and reflect on the material conditions of our existence and our own environmental embeddedness.

Since Antiquity, the Great Wall has become both a geographical and socio-cultural fault line between steppe nomads and the Chinese. More than a physical and territorial boundary, the Great Wall also functions as a powerful conceptual metaphor, symbolizing the gap between insiders and outsiders. The intellectual discourses of “frontier” and “border” embodied by the Wall have kept alive well into modern China.
The course follows a broadly chronological order from the Xiongnu Empire through the Mongols to modern times. Additionally, it incorporates thematic explorations such as nomadic culture, Sinitic concepts of unity, ethno-cultural diversity, multi-linguistic empires, and so on. We will make use of Chinese literature and art on the one hand, and primary sources from Central Asia on the other, to develop a comprehensive and comparative understanding of both sides of the Great Wall. As such, we ask how the nomads served as agents of change in Eurasian and even world history, and in turn, we problematize some enduring challenges faced by the Chinese state from the past to the present.
Listed as a Global Core, this course assumes no background of Chinese or Central Asian language and literature. Students are expected to engage thoughtfully and critically with course materials, including primary sources translated into English and secondary scholarship. Readings will include classical texts from Sinitic culture as well as diverse literary sources on nomadic peoples, such as The Secret History of the Mongols and travelogues by Marco Polo. These primary texts will be examined alongside secondary scholarship, with visual and material objects integrated to complement the written texts.

This course explores the world of Chinese theater: where a heroine is resurrected through the power of love, a filial son saves his mother from underworld torment, and stalwart workers fight for revolution. Examining texts in many genres/forms—from the 16th century romantic drama The Peony Pavilion to the 20th century revolutionary opera The Red Lantern—we investigate the versatility of Chinese drama to encompass politics, history, social movements, and human emotions. Connecting texts to stage practice, we explore gender fluidity in performance, theories of theater, “star culture,” and cross-cultural work (such as the reception of Shakespeare in China). This course address dramatic genres of zaju, chuanqi, and modern/contemporary drama; performance styles of Beijing (Peking) opera, Kun opera (Kunqu), and huaju (spoken drama); the legacies of specific actors (including the famous Mei Lanfang); and compares Chinese and “Western” ideas of theater (such as those put forth by Stanislavsky and Brecht). To the greatest extent possible, we will engage materially and physically with Chinese theater and drama history through archive visits, performance workshops, and by connecting with resources and performing communities locally in NYC.

This course explores literary representations of childhood in modern Japan, expanding into how manga, anime, and film have also dealt with the topos. Through literary and visual texts that problematize spaces, memories, ideals, rights, and propagandic power of childhood, students will think through and discuss broader issues of age, gender, identity politics, generational trauma, history of social structures, and the future of human society.

This course takes an anthropological perspective on life in China today with special attention to the legacies of the country’s socialist past. We start with a brief look at the ideological and institutional frameworks employed by the Communist Party to organize the daily life of its citizens in the decades leading into the People’s Republic. We will then read about how economic and social reforms instituted since the 1980s, in particular changes to the work unit and household registration system, have resulted in dramatically different opportunities and expectations for Chinese citizens attempting to navigate career opportunities, search for romantic partners, move through communal and private spaces and engage in consumptive activities. Exploring the experiences of rural peasants, urban workers, and laborers who move between countryside and city as well as between nations, we will examine how class, gender, and sexuality come to be refigured as China integrates into the global market economy. Scholarly texts will be supplemented with political speeches, short work of fiction and essays, and films.

This seminar explores formal experimentation in modern and contemporary Chinese poetry, focusing on the long poem and the poetic sequence from the early twentieth century to the present. We examine how poets adapted extended forms to pursue historical reckonings, revitalize vernacular Chinese, sharpen the moral imagination, and articulate existential anguish or social protest in times of colonial warfare, political oppression, and human suffering. Tracing a century-long trajectory from the early experimental works of Liang Qichao and Lu Xun to contemporary masterpieces by Zhai Yongming, Bei Dao, Ouyang Jianghe, and others, the seminar investigates how extended poetic forms dialogue with visual art, multimedia, traditional landscape painting and so on to interrogate social transformation, political exile, environmental degradation, and global capitalism.

​​​​​​​Prerequisite: Reading knowledge of modern Chinese

Premodern Chinese literati have long been regarded as active historical agents who shaped “This Culture of Ours”—a metonym for civilization in the premodern Sinitic context—while they also fed from, partook in, and influenced popular and foreign cultures. Besides “literary writings” like poetry and prose, literati also engaged in calligraphy, painting, and antiquarianism under the umbrella term of “literary or cultural arts.” In turn, the creation and appreciation of artwork were intrinsic to the aesthetic life of literati community and further established their self-identity. At the same time, social exclusivity, (self-)doubt and identity crises, along with the looming threat of cultural decline, have continually haunted this literati community throughout the ages.

Covering the long trajectory of imperial China, this course reveals the birth and development of literati culture. In particular, we take an interdisciplinary approach, introducing intellectual and poetic discourses, socio-historical contexts, literary criticism, visual and material culture, to envision a “common ground” for their civil world. Textual, visual sources plus material objects are meant to have conversations with each other in this course. Important issues include historical transformations of the elite class, cultural geography in different eras, materiality and visuality of elite calligraphy and painting, literati self-expression through aesthetic practice, the roles of the court and literati in producing and preserving art, as well as other relevant issues such as gender studies, vernacular literature, and commodity society.

This course is cross-listed in AMEC and CPLT. For undergraduates, no background in Chinese language is required in this course, and all reading materials—either translation of primary sources or secondary scholarship—are accessible in English.

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 is centered around a set of high-resolution digital images of murals photographed by Thomas Laird, author of the massive compilation Murals of Tibet (Taschen, 2018). Undergraduate and graduate students will research the historical, religious and artistic significance of the images and embedded captions. Students will explore the relation between text and image, material culture, and narrative in Tibetan, Himalayan, Chinese and other comparative contexts in a seminar-style class, supplemented by guest speakers and workshops. The recently developed "Edition Crafter" interface will provide the technology and platform for a small-scale pilot online presentation of findings from the Norbulingka murals. The course offers a model for engaging digital collections while serving to make material cultural objects accessible to broader audiences.

The following questions will provide theoretical lenses and themes as we explore the work of murals: How can we study murals as a visual medium? What purpose do murals serve? What narrative function do they perform? How can we study the engagement and reception of murals by spectators and worshippers? In what ways does a mural transform the physical space in which it is made? How do murals interact with other media, including poetry, prose, and prayer? What is the relationship between image and text? Who made the murals? Who were the painters? Murals in Tibetan and Himalayan contexts will also be discussed in a global framework, including analogous cases in Renaissance Italy, Nubian Egypt, Silk Road Buddhist cave paintings in India, China, and Central Asia, and Southeast Asian Buddhist murals.

Exploring the intersections of empire, religion, and statecraft, this course examines how religious institutions, practices, and actors shaped the making and governance of states in early modern and modern East Asia. Focusing on the Qing Empire, including its governance of Tibet and Mongolia, as well as Joseon Korea and Tokugawa and Meiji Japan, the course considers the diverse roles that Buddhism, Confucianism, and other religious traditions played in political authority, social organization, and imperial and state-building projects. Through a comparative approach, the course ultimately asks how religion shaped the formation and development of early modern and modern East Asian polities, and how states and empires, in turn, transformed religious institutions and practices.

This course is the first in a series of “Topics in Asian Religion” classes, meant to integrate first-and second-year graduate students, and faculty, in the Religions of South Asia and East Asian Religions subfields. This year’s topic is images – and the nested issues of icons, representation, vision, presence, internalization, manufacture and disposal, empowerment, animation, political contexts, and violence. Course texts will be a combination of theoretical explorations of images and what they “do” or “want” and particular case studies of South Asian and East Asian images, from the early centuries CE to yesterday. The learning goals of the course are the following: (1)to introduce seminal interpretive and/or methodological issues in the contemporary study of religions and images; (2) to read several theoretical “classics” in the field, to provide a foundation for further reading; (3) to sample, where possible, new writing in the field; and (4) to encourage students to think of ways in which the several issuesand authors surveyed might provide models for their own ongoing research work.

This is an introduction to reading Korean Buddhist texts. These texts, mostly written in Classical Chinese, include apologetics, doctrinal exegeses, edifying tracts, Sŏn texts, devotional writings, temple gazetteers, divination books, ritual manuals, and literary poems and essays. Throughout the course, we will read excerpts from different genres in different styles, gaining exposure to the diversity of Korean Buddhist texts and developing the skills to read other Korean Buddhist texts necessary for research. 

This course traces Korean history from the earliest recorded kingdoms to 1900, situating the development of Korean civilization within both East Asian and global contexts. Students will explore major political, social, intellectual, cultural, and diplomatic issues of premodern Korea through diverse interpretive approaches and a wide range of primary sources that illuminate both everyday life and broader historical transformations. No prior knowledge of Korean history is required, and all readings are in English.

The story of empire-building in early China—and, by extension, much of Chinese history—has long been told through the narrative of unification. This course reconsiders unification through the lens of empire: a political formation that governed vast ethnic, cultural, linguistic, and regional diversity. Rather than treating the Qin and Han empires as successful projects of homogenization, the course examines how imperial rule depended on uneven integration and the management of differences. Through excavated manuscripts, archaeology, and comparative scholarship on empire, students will explore the tensions between centralizing ideologies and the diverse local realities of early China.

This class will examine armed conflict in the Asia-Pacific region in the 1930s and 1940s through the narratives of both the dominant powers and those marginalized. Through analysis of primary sources such as: maps, interviews, speeches, photographs, and newspapers, students will learn about the nuance of perspectives, juxtaposing dominant narratives with those frequently ignored or forgotten. Following the conflict chronologically (1931-1945), students will explore the ways individuals conformed or resisted colonial control. Students will be challenged to make clear and persuasive arguments in the face of ambiguous to morally reprehensible realities.

This interdisciplinary seminar explores tourism to, from, and within China over the course of a millennium from the Song dynasty to the present. Topics include tourism as a cultural practice, tourism in empire building, and tourism as a political, economic, and social project. Over the course of the semester we will examine literary works, films, photos, historical records, and secondary readings that implicate what tourism can show us about China and China’s place in the world.

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

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.

This course is the second half of Elementary Korean (continuation of First-Year Korean I), designed to
help beginners solidify their foundation in Korean language, structure, and culture. Building upon the
skills established in the previous semester, students will continue to develop balanced proficiency in the
interpersonal (communicative), interpretive (reading & listening), and presentational (formal spoken &
written) modes, as well as cultural competence.

This course is the second half of the intermediate-level Korean course, intended for students who have successfully completed Intermediate Korean I or demonstrate equivalent proficiency. It is designed to further develop students’ communicative competence by expanding their ability to understand and produce longer and more complex spoken and written Korean. Through an integrated approach, the course emphasizes meaningful language use in a variety of everyday and social contexts while strengthening vocabulary, grammatical accuracy, and cultural understanding.

Upon successfully completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Comprehend and produce longer, connected spoken Korean on familiar topics and everyday and social situations.
• Read and write paragraph-length texts that describe, narrate, and express opinions on personal, cultural, and social topics.
• Communicate about a range of experiences, perspectives, and everyday issues by combining familiar vocabulary, grammatical structures, and expressions.
• Interpret and respond to Korean media and authentic materials that reflect contemporary social and cultural issues.
• Demonstrate increased cultural awareness and apply appropriate language and communication strategies in various real-life contexts.

By the end of the course, students will demonstrate greater fluency and confidence in Korean, expanded vocabulary and grammatical control, and an increased ability to communicate effectively across a broader range of personal, social, and cultural contexts.

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.

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 course develops students’ proficiency in formal and professional communication in Korean for business contexts. It deepens their understanding of Korean corporate culture, business practices, and broader socio-economic trends, while fostering the ability to analyze and respond critically to business-related issues using appropriate linguistic and cultural strategies.

Prerequisites: KORN UN3006 or the equivalent.

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 develops greater proficiency in literary/classical Tibetan, which is the formal language used in all Tibetan publications and foundational to regional dialects. Students engage with diverse genres of writing, including ancient Buddhist canonical and Tibetan historical works, to support their academic research.

Prerequisites: VIET W1101-W1102 or the instructors permission. This course further develops students familiarity with the linguistic and grammatical structures of Vietnamese, a major language of Southeast Asia.

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.