80-level Courses: Advanced Seminars
Advanced seminars are ASCL's capstone courses for majors. They may be discipline specific or interdisciplinary. They foreground current theoretical and methodological considerations of the field. They satisfy the culminating experience requirement.
ASCL 80.01 Colonial Photography in Asia and the Middle East
This course examines the uses of photography by colonial governments, anthropologists, commercial photographers, and tourists in nineteenth-century Asia and the Middle East. It also addresses indigenous uses of photography that conform with and/or react against colonialist uses of the medium. The primary focus of the course is on photographs, but consideration is also given to the diffusion of photographic images into other media including news publications, government documents, scientific studies, travelogues, fiction, textbooks, and museum displays.
- Dist: INT or ART; WCult: CI
- Hockley
- Not to be offered in the period from 22F through 23S
ASCL 80.03/ARTH 82.01 Arts and Culture of Korea's Last Dynasty
This course provides an introduction to the arts and culture of the Joseon dynasty (1392-1910), which was founded on Confucianism. We will examine Confucian philosophy and how Confucian ideas shaped the social hierarchy, gender roles, and aesthetic values through exploration of the architecture of royal palaces and aristocratic houses, paintings both sacred and secular, ceramics, textiles and other crafts. Use of color, symbolic motifs, and stories in the arts and culture will be investigated. Understanding Korea's final 500-year dynasty will deepen your comprehension of contemporary Korean culture as it manifests the legacy Joseon Korea.
- Dist: INT or ART; WCult: NW
- Kim
- Not to be offered in the period from 22F through 23S
ASCL 80.05 Regional Identity in Modern Chinese Literature
How does the concept of "region" in contemporary Chinese literature connect to discussions of gender, ethnicity, tradition/modernity, country/city, and north/south? In this course, we will examine ways in which contemporary writers have evoked place through literature, looking at how social discussions occur across/between spaces. Students will be encouraged to explore authors, places, and subtopics related to their own interests in the final papers. No knowledge of the Chinese language is required for this course, although students who can read Chinese are encouraged to make use of Chinese-language materials.
- Dist: LIT; WCult: NW
- Gibbs
- 22F: 10A
ASCL 80.07 History of Development in Asia
For more than a century, development has been a central theme in the study of Asian politics, culture, and societies. But what is "development," exactly? This seminar explores the history of development in Asia by treating development as a species of politics, rather than a socio-economic process. In the assigned readings and discussions, we will examine the complex interactions between development and empire in various places in Asia, in both colonial and postcolonial contexts. We will also compare recent efforts by scholars to develop new methodological approaches to the study of development ideas and practices in Asia. In addition to completing the assigned readings, each student will write an article-length paper about a particular topic or event in the history of development in Asia. This paper must be based on original research in primary sources.
- Dist: INT or SOC, WCult:NW
- Miller
- Not to be offered in the period from 22F through 23S
ASCL 80.08/HIST 77 Imperialism in Modern East Asia
An examination of Western and Japanese imperialism in East Asia from the Opium War to the Pacific War. Subjects to be treated include the imposition of unequal treaties, the "scramble for concessions" in China, the creation of Japan's formal and informal empires, and the rise and fall of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. Open to all classes.
- Dist: INT or SOC, WCult: NW
- Ericson
- 23W: 2A
ASCL 80.09 / HIST 96.40 War and Peace in Korea, 1231-1876
This seminar examines Korea's responses to the three foreign intrusions: The Mongol Invasions of 1231–1271, the East Asian War of (or the Japanese Invasions of) 1592–1598, and the Manchu Invasions of 1627–1636. When compared, the three moments of national crises elucidate interregional forces that shaped political, diplomatic, and cultural changes in the Korean peninsula. Korea's experiences of conflicts, negotiation, and endurance shed light on the meaning of being a neighbor to the rising and declining empires in East Asia.
- Dist: SOC; WCult: NW
- Suh
- 23S: 10A