East Asia

ASCL 09.01 Urban Lives & Livelihoods in Contemporary China: Language, Culture and Narrative

This is the Director's Course for the LSA+ program in Beijing. Having completed the prerequisites listed below, the program participants have established a foundational understanding of the language and culture of China.

In this course, students will learn about the lives of ordinary people in post-reform China. In keeping with the overall goals of this LSA+ program, we will be paying particular attention to "language"—a category that is broader than just the vocabulary and grammar which you will be learning in your Chinese language courses this summer. You will be learning how Chinese urban residents modulate their linguistic output (via accent, diction, or dialect) to navigate their world; you will also become familiar with common social discourses and narratives that people in China use to describe their experiences. In the course of conversations with people in Beijing and other cities, you will explore how "language" shapes everything from the names given to babies to decisions about studying a foreign language like English. In addition, you will discuss and contextualize the ways that book authors, filmmakers, poets, and everyday people use language to represent "lives in China," whether their own or others'.

The final course project will involve conducting an interview with a local resident of Beijing. Early in the term, all students in the course will be placed into small teams, and each team will spend time with a local family that has volunteered to host our students a few times during the summer. Toward the end of the term, each team will arrange to interview one member of the family by asking them to respond to the essay the group composed and shared with the family member in advance (see the schedule for details).

• Dist: SOC; WCult: NW
• Yan

ASCL 09.31 The Language-Culture Nexus in Contemporary Japan

"The Language-Culture Nexus in Contemporary Japan" is the Director's Course for the LSA+ in Japan. It has been developed to enhance your ten-week linguistic and cultural immersion in one of the major cities of Japan!

With the one-year of Japanese language training and ASCL 10.03 (Introduction to Japanese Culture) under your belt, you have already acquired so much knowledge about the language and culture of Japan. Now, you will be tasked to connect the dots between theory and practice as well as language and culture—Do Japanese people speak like the textbook or anime? What's the difference between a regional dialect and the "standard Japanese"? How do we sound kawaii or bro- ey in Japanese? —You will find out the answers to these questions and more.

Unlike our regular Japan-related courses taught on campus, a significant amount of learning will depend on your own research, data collection, and analyses. Try to become an autonomous learner and actively engage with your locals. If you do so, you will be amazed at how much knowledge and experience you have absorbed at the end of the term.

• Dist: SOC; WCult: NW
• Schmidt-Hori

ASCL 60.03 Frontier in Traditional Chinese Thought: Beyond the Great Wall and the Becoming of China

The conceptions of frontier, frontier-heartland relations, unity and territoriality are crucial to the formation of the Chinese cultural and spatial identity from the ancient time to today. At the moment, the frontier space beyond the Great Wall takes up more than half of the entire Chinese territory. The ways Chinese people deal with their ethnic minority regions, differentiate the northerners and the southerners, view their own culture and cultural others and imagine their regional and global roles can all be related to the spatial conceptions with regard to the frontier in pre-modern China. This course will trace the development of these conceptions through a variety of philosophical, cosmological, religious, historical, geographical, and literary texts and images. Classical Chinese texts however are not categorized by discipline but represent a body of interdisciplinary knowledge that reflects the culture's thoughts and values. The course will deal with the materials in a way that relive their a-disciplinary nature while maintaining a critical perspective on them. When relevant, the course will also examine broader theoretical issues such as political morality, gender and sexuality, and border-crossing.

• Dist: TMV; WCult: NW
• Xie

ASCL 60.04 Modern Chinese Literature and Society

• Dist: LIT; WCult: NW
• Xie

ASCL 60.05 Love and Desire in Modern Chinese Literature

Spanning a selection of short stories and novels from the early twentieth century to the turn of the millennium, this course explores connections between themes of filial piety, nationalism, revolutionary idealism, nostalgia for the past, ideological constraints placed on love, and attempts to subvert those constraints. Readings and discussions will relate the works covered to key intellectual and political movements, connecting ideas of individual romance and disillusionment to larger issues of modernity and globalization.

• Dist: LIT; WCult: NW
• Gibbs

ASCL 60.10 Eco-Fiction: Ghost Stories in Premodern China

In this class, we will read a selection of stories (anecdotes, full-fledged tales, novel excerpts) from a variety of Chinese literary texts from the third to the nineteenth centuries that feature ghosts. We will consider these ghost stories as a means through which premodern Chinese literary authors explored the natural and the human world ecologically: for example, reflecting on ways of forming connections between human beings and between human beings and other types of being both animate and inanimate. As close reading is the key skill that students will learn and practice throughout the quarter, the class will also incorporate creative writing exercises and creative assignments for students to have an in-depth understanding of techniques of storytelling. Towards this goal, we will be reading selected theoretical texts on ecocriticism and narratology and discussing how premodern Chinese literary texts can respond to questions and propositions posed by modern theorists in creative ways.

• Dist: LIT, WCult: NW
• Zheng

ASCL 60.11 Introduction to Chinese Poetry

• Dist: LIT, WCult: NW
• A. Wang

ASCL 60.12 The Natural Environment, Fantastic Worlds, and the Human Realm in Chinese Literature

• Dist: LIT, WCult: NW
• A. Wang

ASCL 60.19/LING 11.02, Languages of China

In this course, we will survey both the history of language in China, and the current linguistic situation. Topics will include geographical and genealogical classification of languages in China; the phonological and grammatical systems of representative languages; the reconstruction of Middle and Old Chinese; ways of writing both Sinitic and non-Sinitic languages; language as a marker of ethnic identity; and past and present language policies, both governmental and non-governmental.

• Dist: SOC; WCult: NW. Fulfills LRP.
• Pulju

ASCL 60.20 Languages and Scripts of Gender, Class, and Nation

While language is commonly believed to be a great "tool" with which we describe our feelings and physical phenomena, it is also the portal through which we understand the world. In other words, language defines, constrains, and colors human experiences. With this premise as the basis, this course attempts to expand our horizons by examining the ways the spoken languages of Japan, Korea, and China convey concepts such as masculinity, femininity, affection, status, and solidarity. In the latter half of the term, we will also explore the layers of complexity embedded in the writing systems of these three nations. In so doing, we will shed light on each society's historical negotiation of its national identity, Sinophilia, and desire to become a first-class nation of the modern world. No previous knowledge of an Asian language is required.

• Dist: INT or TMV; WCult: NW. Fulfills LRP.
• Schmidt-Hori

ASCL 60.21 Body Politics in Japan: Beauty, Disfigurement, Corporeality

The body is a tangible, self-evident entity. Or is it? The premise of JAPN 62.01 is that the body is a political, ethical, sociocultural, and historical phenomenon deeply ingrained in our perceptions of self, other, and the world. This course is an endeavor to understand the politics of the body in premodern and modern Japan through a wide range of primary and secondary texts. In order to consider the multiple perspectives of the body across time, the readings are organized thematically, covering topics from physical beauty as virtue/vice, symbolic meanings of hair and clothing, aesthetics of the Tale of Genji, to disfigurement, disability, aging, race, among other things. This course is open to everyone and no knowledge of Japanese literature or language is required.

• Dist: INT or TMV; WCult: NW
• Schmidt-Hori

ASCL 60.23 Critiquing Modern Japan through the Works of Murakami Haruki

The students will read and discuss several works of Japan's best-known contemporary author, Murakami Haruki. Through focusing on the recurrent themes of violence, isolation, disconnection, materialism, apathy, and sexuality in Murakami's fictions, the students will consider the various societal issues of post-1970s Japan.

• Dist: LIT; WCult: NW
• Schmidt-Hori

ASCL 60.24 Image and Text in Modernizing Japan

Images and text have been variously combined in the Japanese tradition, from the ancient picture scrolls to today's manga (comics). This course traces the evolution of such media in early modern Japan, with a focus on the late nineteenth century shift from the "communal reading" of visually-oriented texts to the silent, solitary reading of fiction. Some consideration will also be given to the re- emergence of the visual imagination in film, manga, and animation.

• Dist: LIT; WCult: NW
• Dorsey

ASCL 60.25 The Art of War: Stories, Paintings, Films, and Propaganda from Japan's Modern Wars

In this course we will examine the relationship between a wide variety of cultural artifacts and modern Japan's experience of war, particularly WW II. Topics addressed within this context include: government censorship, literary subversion, popular culture versus high culture, visual versus written media, postwar cultural memory, the ideology of suicide squads, and the mentality of victimhood. No Japanese language is required for the course, but students with sufficient ability will be expected to make use of original sources.

• Dist: LIT; WCult: NW
• Dorsey

ASCL 60.26 Thinking of Contemporary Issues in Japan through Graphic Novels (Manga)

This course aims to explore some of the critical and interconnected issues of contemporary Japan as they are represented in graphic novels (manga): gender roles (Ōoku, Little Miss P, The Way of Househusband), same-sex intimacy (My Brother's Husband, Whispered Words), disabilities (Real, Silent Voice), body image (In Clothes Called Fat), and more. For the first week, students will learn the basic mechanics of manga, its history, and significance both within Japan and on a global scale, which will help them better understand this medium vis-à-vis "comic books" in the United States. Beginning in Week 2, students will carefully read the assigned work (usually multiple volumes per day; one volume ranges from 200–250 pages) while taking detailed notes. Though it is important for the students to enjoy and appreciate the form and content of the assigned primary texts, they are also expected to read the works introspectively—"What do I think about this trope/story/character and why? Is my evaluation valid?"—and comparatively. All the assigned works are written in English and posted on Canvas. No prerequisites.

• Dist: LIT; WCult: NW
• Schmidt-Hori

ASCL 60.30 Modern Korean Literature in Global Context

With our understanding of Korea and Korean literature increasingly reaching beyond the confines of the peninsula, this course explores modern Korean literatures both from the Korean peninsula and in diaspora. It will introduce participants to canonical works in modern Korean literature and well-known works from Korean diaspora communities in Japan, the US, and China, as well as to the critical discussions surrounding them. We will closely examine how each work, with its particular content and form, engages with the historical development and contemporary dynamics of modern Korea and Korean diaspora communities. From literary and cultural perspectives, this course addresses and problematizes some of the most difficult issues that modern Korea has been working hard to deal with, including colonial modernity, the US occupation and the division, democratic movement and trauma, overseas Koreans, gender and sexuality, and so on.

• Dist: INT or LIT; WCult: NW
• Xie

ASCL 60.92 Theory and Practice of Translation

If the act of translation is straightforward, why are there so many Japanese words for it—honyaku, gendaigo-yaku, eyaku, chokuyaku, iyaku, and even chōyaku? This course will explore the theory and practice of translation, considering the various strategies translators have used in working across English and Japanese, two utterly different languages. We'll look at Japanese and English textbook translations, manga and young adult "translations" of classics like the Tale of Genji, Murakami Haruki's translation of Salinger and Jay Rubin's translations of Murakami. In conversation with some seminal texts of translation theory (read in English), we'll try our hand at translating poetry, jokes, songs, puns, prose and more. Open to students who have completed Japanese 31, the equivalent, or with the permission of the instructor.

• Dist: LIT; WCult: NW
• Dorsey

ASCL 61.01/REL 10 The Religions of China

An introduction to China's three major religions—Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism—through the reading of classic texts. Also, a look at important elements in Chinese folk religion: ancestor worship, temples, heavens and hells, and forms of divination. Special attention will be paid to the importance of government in Chinese religious thought and to continuity and change in the history of Chinese religion.

• Dist: TMV; WCult: NW
• Raz

ASCL 61.05/REL 19.29 Women and Religion in Japan

This course examines how Japanese religious traditions (such as Shinto, Buddhism, and others) have informed the lives of women in premodern and modern Japan, and the roles that women have played as nuns, patrons, lay practitioners, and religious specialists. We will examine both what religious traditions said about women and womanhood, and how women interacted with religious views and practices, many of which denigrated or limited women's participation.

• Dist: TMV
• Simpson

ASCL 61.10 Japanese Martial Arts: History, Philosophy, Practice

This course will apply noetic (intellectual) and somatic (bodily) approaches to an understanding of a pillar of Japanese history and culture: the martial arts. In the classroom we will read about the emergence of the warrior caste (the samurai), the codification of its tenets (bushido), and the evolution of these traditions through modern times; in the gym we will practice the martial art of aikido as a means of embodying that history. The course will also include an exploration of intersections between the martial arts and conflict resolution, gendered identities, cross-cultural communication, and globalization.

• Dist: TMW; WCult: NW
• Dorsey

ASCL 61.11 / REL 46 Daoism: Transformations of Tradition

In this course we will explore the historical developments and transformations of Daoism from its ancient roots to present-day practices. We will begin by looking at early traditions of immortality seekers and self-cultivation and at the religious and philosophical ideas in the ancient Chinese texts of the Laozi, Zhuangzi, and Guanzi. We will also examine recent archaeological findings, imperial religious practices, and the complex interaction of Daoism with Buddhism. We will in addition look at contemporary Daoist practices in China and Taiwan. Along the way we will devote special attention to meditation and divination techniques; alchemy and sexual techniques for transcendence; the place of women and the feminine in Daoism. Open to all classes.

• Dist: TMV; WCult: NW
• Raz

ASCL 61.12 / REL 47 Buddhism in China

A study of the advent of Buddhism in China, its accommodating yet transforming response to Chinese traditions and values, the emergence of the authentically Chinese schools of T'ien-T'ai, Hua-yen, Ch'an, and Pure Land Buddhism, and the enduring Buddhist heritage of China. Open to all classes.

• Dist: TMV, WCult: NW
• Feezell

ASCL 61.20 / JWST 11.03 The History of Jews in China

This course moves away from a Eurocentric lens of Chinese and Jewish history by uncovering a lost and global history of Chinese and Jewish encounters, from the early Sino-Middle Eastern-European interactions and through missionary and colonial endeavors in the late 19^th and the first half of the 20^th century, and then to China and Israel's relationship in the late 20^th and 21s century. It situates China and the Jews in global and national historical narratives as imagined spaces and communities; ancient civilizations and cultures; as inspirations of European Enlightenment and as anti-images of European modernity; models of and space for nationalistic as well as revolutionary projects, as well as the Chinese and Jewish re-imaginations. Emphasizing methodological issues and disciplinary dialogues, this course encourages students to reflect on the historical and political conditions of knowledge production while training students in innovative and boundary-crossing modes of inquiry.

• Dist: INT, SOC, WCult: NW
• Zhou

ASCL 62.02 Traditional Performance in China: Past and Present

From folksong collection in Confucian times to current efforts at preserving Intangible Cultural Heritage, this course begins by introducing traditional ideas about the folk and folk culture in China, and how the relationship between folk and elite has changed over time, with special emphasis on the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Through the examination of local traditions of storytelling, epic singing, folksongs, ritual, and local drama from various time periods and geographical areas, students will gain a deeper, more nuanced understanding of the diversity of regional and ethnic expressive forms within China and how they continue to develop over time through the present day. During this course, you will also become familiar with important theories from folklore studies and learn to apply them in analyzing performances and texts—skills that can be fruitfully extended to both personal and professional areas of your life in the future.

• Dist: LIT; WCult: NW
• Gibbs

ASCL 62.03 / ARTH 34.02 Chinese Painting

This course surveys the Chinese painting tradition, from the second half of the first millennium BCE to the present. Following a dynastic timeline, the course covers important painting genres including funerary, religious, figures and portraiture, landscape, ink, bird-and-flower, and oil painting and considers them in the context of the shifting historical and cultural context of China. Key themes of the course include the relationship between the art of painting and religious beliefs, political ideology, self-expression, premodern painting theories and criticism, and encounters between the East and the West.

• Dist: ART; WCult: NW
• Liu

ASCL 62.06 Exploring Korea Through Film

This course explores cinematic representations of Korean history and the diverse interpretations of social, cultural, and political issues portrayed in modern and contemporary Korean films. The course is structured by thematic issues, including Korean ideas about politics and monarchy, North Korea's self-identity, rapid industrialism, South Korea's democratic movement, and Korean's concept of love. The class will view Korean films, and also read novels depicting similar issues and compare and contrast the theatrical and literary representations.

• Dist: SOC; WCult: NW
• Kim

ASCL 62.07/ARTH 32.11 Introduction to Korean Art

This course will introduce the arts and culture of Korea from the prehistoric period through the twentieth century. Significant examples of painting, ceramics, sculpture, and architecture will be closely examined in their political, social, and cultural (Chinese and Japanese) contexts. We will explore how different cultures and ideas produced distinctive aesthetics, and how East Asian motifs were incorporated into traditional Korean art. We will see how Korea struggled to find its artistic identity within the international context during the 20^th century. No prior knowledge of Korean art or history, or of the Chinese or Korean language, is expected.

• Dist: ART; WCult: NW
• Kim

ASCL 62.08/ARTH 62.20 Modern and Contemporary Korean Art

This course examines the art and culture of Korea from the late nineteenth century through the twentieth century. During this period Korea experienced the fall of its 500-year-long dynasty, annexation to Japan, the Korean war, division into two Koreas, and internationalization/globalization. The class will explore how visual art, including paintings, photographs, posters, ceramics, and film, reflected and expressed the political, socio-economic, and cultural changes and concerns of each period, in both South and North Korea.

• Dist: ART, WCult: NW
• Kim

ASCL 62.09 /FILM 47.19 Japanese Anime and the Idea of the Posthuman - Krieger's Virtual Girlfriend

An examination of major trends in popular visual culture in Japan since the 1980s focused on the growth in production and distribution of animated films, tv series, and video games. Screenings will include works by Miyazaki Hayao, Rintaro, Takahata Isao, and Kon Satoshi. Readings will include both critical and historical sources that will provide the social and economic contexts for the development of the anime industry, theories of animation, and the global impact of Japanese popular culture.

• Dist: ART; WCult: NW
• Washburn

ASCL 62.10/ARTH 32.21 Sacred Art and Architecture of Japan

Drawing on examples from the prehistoric to the contemporary eras, this course examines the relationship of Japan's sacred architectural, sculptural and painting traditions to doctrinal sources and ritual practices while considering the social and political contexts in which these arts were created and utilized. This course provides a thorough overview of Japanese belief systems and related cultural practices. There are no prerequisites for this course.

• Dist: ART; WCult: NW
• Hockley

ASCL 62.11/ARTH 32.22 The Japanese Painting Tradition

This course provides a comprehensive introduction to the Japanese painting tradition from the prehistoric era through the late twentieth century. The intention is to define the unique aesthetic experience offered by Japanese sacred and secular painting by surveying a broad range of themes, formats, and styles. It will explore, in particular, the dynamic between indigenous sensibilities and the traditions Japanese artists borrowed from continental Asia and the West.

• Dist: ART; WCult: NW
• Hockley

ASCL 62.12/ARTH 62.30 Japanese Prints

A survey of the Japanese print tradition from its inception in the seventeenth century through modern prints in the early twentieth century, this course emphasizes the relationship between prints and the political, social, and cultural milieu in which they circulated. The curriculum includes applications of recent critiques and theoretical approaches from fields as diverse as sexuality and gender studies, mass culture and media studies, aesthetics of popular arts, and the sociology of consumption.

• Dist: ART, WCult: NW
• Hockley

ASCL 62.13/ARTH 62.81 Women, Gender, and Art in East Asia

This course will focus on women as the subjects, the creators, and the patrons of art in China, Korea, and Japan from the 16th century to the present. It will be organized chronologically, culturally, and thematically. This will involve an exploration of powerful matrons of art and their aspirations, a historical survey of women artists and their artistic contributions, and an examination of the religious and secular images of women and its limitations. The course will also look at contemporary artists and investigate their artistic discourses, messages, and experimentations. Extensive attention will be given to the creation, modification, and persistence of these images throughout history, due to various social, economical, psychological, and intellectual conditions. This course will develop students' thinking skills in the history of art and improve their ability to conduct research and communicate both orally and in writing within the discipline. This course requires no previous coursework or experience, but is intended for those who like interdisciplinary approaches to art and culture.

• Dist: ART; WCult: NW
• Kim

ASCL 63.01/ANTH 045 Asian Medical Systems

This course investigates systems of healing practiced in, and derived from, Asia. We will focus primarily on three Asian medical systems: Ayurveda, Chinese medicine, and Tibetan medicine. We will strive to understand how these medical systems are based on coherent logics that are not only biologically but also culturally determined. We will also analyze the deployment of these medical systems in non-Asian contexts and examine the relationship between Asian systems and "western" biomedicine.

• Dist: SOC, WCult: NW
• Craig

ASCL 64.01 Cultural Struggles in Colonial Korea

This course explores Korean history between 1876 and 1945, as Korea entered the modern period. First, we will examine how Japan, China, and Korea responded to Western imperialism in the 19th century, and then how China and Korea responded to Japanese imperialism early in the 20th century. The second half of the class will explore the Japanese colonial government's assimilation policy during the colonial period in Korea, and how Korea was affected by and reacted to various aspects of this policy. The establishment of historiography, formulation of aesthetic and cultural cannons, and shaping of images of Koreans and their land will be explored by examining diverse media including literature, photographs, exhibition catalogues, and other primary sources. The class will conclude with the continuing legacy of the Japanese colonial period. All readings are in English. No prior knowledge of Korea or Korean language assumed.

• Dist: SOC; WCult: NW
• Kim

ASCL 64.03/HIST 78.02 North Korea, Origins and Transition

This course explores the history of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) from a global perspective. Topics include the Japanese colonial legacies; liberation, division, and foreign occupation between 1945 and 1950; the meanings of the Korean War; comparing Kim Il-Sung's North Korean revolution with Park Chung-hee's state building in the South; the reality of "Self-Reliance"; social control and everyday life; and issues around human rights, famine, and defectors.

• Dist: SOC, WCult: NW
• Suh

ASCL 64.04/HIST 78/REL 32 Christianity in Korea

This course examines Korean Christians' beliefs and practices, which have shaped and brought tensions to current socio-religious phenomena. Topics include the Korean origins of Christianity, the encounter between Catholicism and Neo-Confucianism in the eighteenth century, Protestant missionaries' role in medicine and education, the rise of nationalism and Christianity under Japanese colonialism, churches in North Korea, Pentecostalism under South Korea's rapid industrialization and democratization, Korean missionaries around the world, and Christian musicians and entertainers in Korea, as well as the interface between gender and Korean Christian culture.

• Dist: TMV, WCult: NW
• Suh

ASCL 64.05/HIST 78.03 The Two Koreas, 1948-Present

This course explores the emergence of the two Koreas, from a global perspective. Beginning with the legacies of the Chosŏn Dynasty, we will examine the impact of Japanese colonialism on the divergence of the two nation-states: the Republic of Korea (South Korea) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). Analyzing scholarly writings and primary sources, the course will focus on the domestic and international processes through which the two regimes clashed and competed in the context of the Cold War. We will primarily focus on drastic differences manifested between the two countries' ideologies, cultures, and political economies, but also pay attention to unexpected parallels experienced by Koreans across the hostile division. Students will pursue a final research project, in consultation with the instructor, on a comparison of their choice related to the themes of this course. No prior knowledge of the Koreas or the Korean language is expected.

• Dist: SOC, WCult: NW
• Suh

ASCL 64.08/HIST 05.03 The History of China since 1800

This survey course traces China's social, political, and cultural development from the relative peace and prosperity of the high Qing period, through the devastating wars and imperialist incursions of the nineteenth century, to the efforts, both vain and fruitful, to build an independent and powerful new nation. Open to all classes.

• Dist: SOC, WCult: NW
• Lu

ASCL 64.09/HIST 72.01 Late Imperial China in Global Context

China's history, from the 3rd century BCE to the twentieth century, examined in the context of global developments in demography, economy, urbanization, technology, trade, and the arts. Open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

• Dist: SOC, WCult: NW
• ASCL Faculty

ASCL 64.11/HIST 5.05 The Emergence of Modern Japan

A survey of Japanese history from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. Topics to be covered include the building of a modern state and the growth of political opposition, industrialization and its social consequences, the rise and fall of the Japanese colonial empire, and the postwar economic 'miracle.'

• Dist: SOC, WCult: NW
• Ericson

ASCL 64.12/HIST 079 Postwar Japan

This course examines the internal and external forces that have shaped Japan's government, economy, and society since 1945. Topics to be treated include American Occupation reforms, the conservative hegemony in politics, rapid economic growth and its costs, the mass middle-class society, and Japan's changing world role. Open to all classes.

• Dist: SOC, WCult: NW
• Ericson

ASCL 64.13/HIST 74 Intellectual History of East Asia

A comparative exploration of Chinese and Japanese thought, from the formation of Confucianism in the Warring States period to the confrontation between traditional thought and the imported ideologies of the twentieth centuries. In writing assignments, students may concentrate upon either Chinese or Japanese topics. Open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

• Dist: TMV; WCult: NW
• ASCL Faculty

ASCL 64.14/HIST 78.04 Slaves and Rebels in Korea, 1392-1910

This course explores the history of Choson Korea (1392-1910) through the experiences of outcasts and commoners. By examining the desires and despair of peasants, slaves, rebels, entertainers, and religious minorities, this course assesses the foundation of the state and the operation of society as manifested at the margins of society. How did the religious and intellectual heritage of Korea legitimize hereditary status, slave ownership, gender division, and regional discrimination? In what ways did ordinary people conform to or struggle against elite governing? Docs the longevity of the Chason dynasty testify to the successful control of the status system by those at the top? Or does the stability elucidate social mobility and dynamic interactions across the status divisions? Focusing on various status groups illuminates the mechanisms of domination, compliance, and resistance carried out at the micro level. The experiences of the underrepresented shed light on the transition to modern Korea and present the complicated process of constructing Korean identity over time. A background in Korean history is not required.

• Dist: SOC; WCult: NW
• Suh

ASCL 64.15 / HIST 72.03 Nationalism and Revolution in China, 1890-Present

This course examines the dynamics of China's revolutionary ideology in the context of the modern world through the lens of nationalism. By employing a range of discussions of China's nationalist discourse, we will encounter and construe the voices of various groups of people for whom the rhetoric and ideology of nationalism emerged as a question or dilemma, developed as a motivating force, and fermented as a problem. The course proceeds chronologically, beginning in the late nineteenth century and moving to the present. Each week's readings, including primary and secondary texts, also discuss particular aspects of nationalism and its connection to China's revolutionary agenda. Focusing on China and its Asian surroundings, this course will explore major historical themes, including reform versus revolution, intellectuals and society, center and locality, ethnicity and identity, violence and confrontation, foreign relations and national strategies, charisma and mass movements, and nation-building and propaganda. Not open to students who have received credit for HIST 90.16.

• Dist: SOC; WCult: NW
• Lu

ASCL 64.16 / HIST 72.04 China to 1800

This course explores China's history from its ancient origins to the end of the 18th century. It examines the profound economic, social, and cultural changes that have shaped China over time, including geography, dynastic rise and fall, relationships with nomadic societies, political philosophy, gender and family dynamics, and global interactions. The course also investigates the contemporary use of China's pre-modern history in politics and popular culture. Through primary sources, field trips, and digital activities, students will develop historical analysis and argumentation skills. No prior knowledge of Chinese culture, history, or language is necessary.

• Dist: INT or SOC, WCult: NW
• Lu

ASCL 67.01 /GOVT 40.03 Politics of Japan

This course offers a survey of Japanese politics with a focus on understanding the electoral and policy-making processes in Japan from theoretical and comparative perspectives. No prior knowledge of Japanese politics is required. The course will explore electoral systems and voting behavior, candidate selection and electoral campaign, dynamics of party competition, executive-legislative relationships, local politics and central-local relationships, the roles of the mass media and civil society in policy making, etc.

• Dist: INT or SOC; WCult: NW
• Horiuchi

ASCL 67.03 Conflict, Control, and Controversy in Chinese Politics

This course introduces students to key concepts, actors, and events in Chinese politics.  What is the nature of accountability and informal institutions within the Middle Kingdom?  Does democracy or China's current system of rule have bigger advantages?  What are the key sources of China's remarkable economic growth?  What are China's strategies in light of its challenges in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and the South China Sea?  Students will confront these and a wide range of other pivotal economic, security, and global controversies.  Students will debate and assess the merits of China's policies on issues such as the China model, economic growth, authoritarian resilience, decentralization, informal institutions, media censorship as well as the relations of China's government with domestic, regional and international actors.

• Dist: SOC; WCult: NW
• Rezvani

ASCL 67.10 Cultures of Business, Labor, and Wealth in Contemporary China

[Business in Asia course]

This course examines discourses of work, wealth, ethics, and status in contemporary Chinese society through the lenses of ethnography, film, and literature. Topics covered include the effects of market reform and neoliberal desires on conceptions of consumption, philanthropy, and "social quality" (suzhi), ways in which gendered identities are negotiated in different professions, the experiences of migrant workers in Chinese cities, and the intersection of entrepreneurship and the arts.

• Dist: SOC; WCult: NW
• Gibbs

ASCL 67.11 / HIST 72.06 Business History of Modern China

[Business in Asia course]

This course explores China's transformation through business history, examining how enterprises have navigated the nation's blend of capitalism and single-party rule. It delves into cycles of prosperity and decline, from the Qing Dynasty to its current status as a global economic power. Using case studies, the course analyzes diverse actors — from family firms to foreign traders, ordinary workers to tech giants — to understand China's model of capitalism and socialism and its global impact.

• Dist: SOC; WCult: NW
• Lu

ASCL 67.20 The Commodification of Japan's (Self-)Image in the Global Marketplace

[Business in Asia course]

The images of Japan comprise many dichotomies: infantile schoolgirl femininity and curmudgeon-samurai masculinity; voracious neophilia and stubborn neophobia; embracement of foreign tourists and rejection of immigrants; cool and weird; rude and polite; stoic and hedonistic; and more. Such paradoxical images of Japan, accurate or exaggerated, circulate around the globe, creating global discourses of Japanese-ness, a mirror for Japan to see itself. The massive network of images and narratives about Japanese-ness provides rich marketing cues for government agencies, private industries, and creators of cultural products and help them strategize the process of commodifying Japan's self-image in the global marketplace. 

This course traces the evolution of Japan's self-image, especially since 1945, and analyzes how Japan's changing self-images have influenced the nation's economic strategies over time. We will pay particular attention to how the tangible and intangible products of geek culture (otaku) and girly aesthetics (kawaii), which were marginalized in the West until recently, came to be mainstreamed globally since the early 2000s. 

This class is open to all students who are interested in Japanese culture, business, or both.
Though there are no prerequisites, ASCL 10.03 is recommended. 

• Dist: SOC; WCult: NW
• Schmidt-Hori

ASCL 69.04 Chinese Religions in Taiwan

This course examines Chinese religious traditions as practiced in Taiwan. Due to its particular history, Taiwan has preserved a tremendously rich, varied, and complex religious landscape. While most of these religious traditions had originated in China over the previous millennia, their current conditions in Taiwan present us with an almost unique laboratory of traditional religions within contemporary, modern settings.

The course surveys developments of traditional Chinese religions and their current practices in Taiwan. We will discuss the diversity and complexity of Chinese religions, the development of popular, Confucian, Daoist and Buddhist traditions and practices in China and their transmission to Taiwan.

• Dist: TMV, WCult: NW
• Raz

ASCL 69.22 Reading Edo-Tokyo: An Interdisciplinary Approach

For the past two centuries, Edo-Tokyo has been the spatial, temporal, and conceptual focal point of Japan's political, economic, and aesthetic modernization. We will explore the city's historical and cultural transformation between the early nineteenth century and the present using three separate but interrelated disciplinary rubrics for "reading" the city: (1) urban visuality, (2) literary and filmic textuality, and (3) ethnography. While the course moves through these three rubrics roughly in order, our goal will to be develop synthetic approaches to analyzing the broader urban "text" known as "Edo-Tokyo."

• Dist: Soc; WCult: NW
• ASCL Faculty

ASCL 69.23 Shogun and Samurai: Japan in the Age of the Warrior

This course explores the origins and development of the warrior class that dominated and redefined the political economy and high culture of Japan between the twelfth and nineteenth centuries. Through readings, discussions, lectures, and films, we will examine such topics as the rise of the samurai, the transition from imperial to warrior government, the evolution of samurai values and beliefs, and the legacy of warrior rule and culture for modern Japan.

• Dist: SOC, WCult: NW
• LSA+ staff

ASCL 69.24 Japan at the Margins: Place and Displacement in Postwar Film and Fiction

This course examines cinematic and literary representations of displaced people living on the margins of Japanese society and of the spaces they are forced to inhabit. Vagabonds, gangsters, sex workers, rogue cops, war widows, dispossessed lovers, abandoned children—these have all been recurring figures throughout Japanese cultural history, but they have a occupied place an especially important place in film and fiction from the late 1940s to the present day. Aesthetic representations of the plight of the displaced challenge the dominant postwar narrative of Japan as a successful liberal democracy and economic superpower.

• Dist: LIT, WCult: NW
• Washburn