Femininities: Asia studies the politics and aesthetics of representing femininity in Asia across a variety of Asian screen cultures, literatures, and political-economic contexts. We will study foundational scholarly writing on the topic as well as consider fiction writing and feature and documentary films about femininity. What has embodying, rejecting, representing, or refusing to represent femininity come to mean in the globalized, neoliberal economies and mobile societies of South, Southeast, and East Asia?

Full details for ASIAN 1103 - FWS: Femininities: Asia

The great Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, is one of the principal monuments of world literature. This vast, enthralling, and powerful tale of intra-familial war and world historical decline (of which the famous Bhagavad Gita forms but a small part) transformed the religious and literary consciousness of India, and exercised a broad impact throughout South and Southeast Asia. This course will introduce students to this remarkable text and the literary tradition it inaugurated, through selected readings from the epic itself, along with samples of later renditions of its narrative (including contemporary theatrical, TV, and comic book versions).

Full details for ASIAN 1106 - FWS: The Great Epic of India

This First-Year Writing Seminar is about Asian Literature, Religion, and Culture and provides the opportunity to write extensively about these issues.  Topics vary by section.

Full details for ASIAN 1111 - FWS: Literature, Culture, Religion

This course surveys modern Chinese history from 1600 to present. Time will be devoted to each of the three major periods into which modern Chinese history is conventionally divided: the Imperial Era (1600-1911), the Republican Era (1911-1949), and the People's Republic of China (1949-present). It guides students through pivotal events in modern Chinese history, and uncovers the origins of China's painful transition from a powerful early modern empire to a country torn by civil unrest and imperialist invasion, and then from a vanguard of world revolution to a post-communist party-state whose global power is on the rise.

Catalog Distribution: (GLC-AS, HA-AS, HST-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 1192 - Modern China

What is Southeast Asia? How does this faraway, "exotic," region intersect with our realities? This course introduces key questions in the study of Southeast Asia (which includes Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) and its diasporas using cinematic, literary, historical and scholarly materials. This introduction to Southeast Asia's historical, religious, literary, visual, and political traditions -- and the ways in which scholars have thought about them -- addresses a variety of themes  including notions of kinship, gender, political conflict, colonialism, media and the arts, sexuality, textual and visual genres, and forms of belief and belonging. Students will have an opportunity to investigate topics of interest to them, in the form of research essays as well as small-scale fieldwork, curatorial, or media projects.

Catalog Distribution: (ALC-AS, CA-AS, HST-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 2208 - Introduction to Southeast Asia

This course serves as a general introduction to the study of Japan in the humanities. Through literature, film, art, and pop culture, we will explore how "Japaneseness" and "Japanese culture" have historically been constructed, debated, and rethought from early history to the present from a variety of perspectives and academic disciplines. All texts will be available in English; no prior knowledge of Japanese language, history, or culture required.

Catalog Distribution: (ALC-AS, CA-AS, HST-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 2211 - Introduction to Japan

This is an introduction of Chinese civilization from ancient times up to the end of the Chinese empire in 1911. It is intended to familiarize students with the major concepts of Chinese history, society, and culture, focusing on the stories of people that have been often neglected in canonical histories, such as the merchants, women, travelers, and ethnic minorities from the thirteenth to the nineteenth century.

Catalog Distribution: (GLC-AS, HA-AS, HST-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 2230 - Introduction to China: Outsiders in History

This course combines hands-on instruction in gamelan, Indonesia's most prominent form of traditional music, and the academic study of the broader range of music found in contemporary Indonesia, including Western-oriented and hybrid popular forms. Students thus engage with music directly, and use it as a lens to examine the myriad social and cultural forces that shape it, and that are shaped by it.

Catalog Distribution: (ALC-AS, LA-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 2245 - Gamelan in Indonesian History and Cultures

For millennia, Buddhist monks, merchants, pilgrims, diplomats, and adventurers have moved around the Indian Ocean arena circulating Buddhist teachings and powerful objects.  In doing so they helped create Buddhist communities in the places we now refer to as southern China, India, Sri Lanka, and Southeast Asia.  The course explores these circulatory histories by focusing on case studies in each of four historical periods: premodern (esp. early second millennium A.D.); the era of 19th-century colonial projects; mid-20th-century nation-state formation in South and Southeast Asia; and contemporary (early 21st century) times.  Drawing together materials from Indian Ocean studies, Buddhist studies, and critical studies of colonialism, modernity, and nation-state formation, this course attends to the ways in which changing trans-regional conditions shape local Buddhisms, how Buddhist collectives around the Indian Ocean arena shape one another, and how trade, religion, and politics interact.

Catalog Distribution: (HA-AS, HST-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 2248 - Buddhists in the Indian Ocean Arena: Past and Present

An exploration of processes of change in health care practices in China. Focuses on key transitions, such as the emergence of canonical medicine, of Daoist approaches to healing and longevity, of "scholar physicians," and of "traditional Chinese medicine" in modern China. Inquries into the development of healing practices in relation to both popular and specialist views of the body and disease; health care as organized by individuals, families, communities, and states; the transmission of medical knowledge; and healer-patient relations. Course readings include primary texts in translation as well as secondary materials.

Catalog Distribution: (ALC-AS, HA-AS, HST-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 2262 - Medicine and Healing in China

This course introduces Korean popular culture in global context. Beginning with cultural forms of the late Chosŏn period, the course will also examine popular culture during the Japanese colonial period, the post-war period, the democratization period, and contemporary Korea. Through analysis of numerous forms of media, including films, television, music, literature, and music videos, the course will trace the emergence of the "Korean Wave" in East Asia and its subsequent global impact. In our examination of North and South Korean cultural products, we will discuss theories of transnationalism, globalization, and cultural politics. The course will consider the increasing global circulation of Korean popular culture through new media and K-Pop's transculturation of forms of American music such as rap and hip-hop. Readings for the course will be in English or in English translation and no prior knowledge of Korean culture is required.

Catalog Distribution: (ALC-AS, CA-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 2269 - Korean Popular Culture

This is an introductory course designed for, though not limited to, non-majors with or without any knowledge of Chinese language, history, or culture. It offers a guided survey of the history and development of the major literary themes, genres, and traditions that still today are assumed to be an integral part of China's cultural identity. Readings include works of poetry, prose and fiction, all in English translation.

Catalog Distribution: (ALC-AS, LA-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 2271 - China's Literary Heritage: An Introduction in Translation

This course serves as both an introduction to the academic study of religion and a survey of major topics in the intersections of religious communities and environmentally sustainable practices. Using real cases of environmentally sustainable, religiously oriented communities, we explore how myth, ritual, symbols, doctrines, and ideologies of time and space are activated in practical living decisions. This class involves readings of both primary sources, poetry and literature, secondary sources, films and site visits.

Catalog Distribution: (ETM-AS, GLC-AS, KCM-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 2273 - Religion and Ecological Sustainability

The largest of the three great Islamic empires of the early modern era, the Mughal empire at its height ruled over most of the Indian subcontinent, and more than 100 million subjects. This course offers a survey of the Mughal empire between c. 1500 and 1800, exploring how Mughal imperial culture reflected the cultural and religious diversity of India. We will consider how the rise and fall of the Mughals was connected to broader global transformations in early modern world, and how the rise of British power in India was shaped by the legacies of Mughal rule. Primary sources include court chronicles, biographies of emperors, as well as Mughal painting and architecture.

Catalog Distribution: (HA-AS, HST-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 2274 - Mughal India and the Early Modern World, c. 1500-1800

In this sophomore seminar, we will explore cultural, political, and social debates in China's transition from an early modern empire to a republic, and then from a vanguard of world revolution to a post-communist party-state. Through examining primary sources in various forms (treatise, speech, and film), we will focus on issues such as Confucianism, Western-inspired cultural and legal concepts, nationalism, communism, feminism, liberalism, as well as indigenous understandings and appropriations of imported -isms. The course is organized around four debates: those between constitutional reformers and revolutionaries at turn of the 20th century; between New Culture radicals and statist reformers in the 1920s and 1930s; between politicians who resorted to social and political revolutions to "save China" and writers who believed in the transformative power of "culture;" and between liberals and "leftist" intellectuals in post-1989 China; with an interlude addressing the 1960s and the 1970s, when dissenting voices were encouraged in some ways and brutally suppressed in others. Students will participate in four debates organized at the end of each 3-week section. Each student will submit four short response papers on the four social debates the course covers. In consultation with the instructor, each student will choose a social debate from modern China that is NOT addressed in the classroom, developing a historiographical paper as his/her final essay. There is no prerequisite, but pre-acquired knowledge in Chinese history and civilization is helpful.

Catalog Distribution: (GLC-AS, HA-AS, HST-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 2283 - Social Debates in China

From the poet-kings of medieval Persia to the trading networks of the famed "Silk Road" to the wandering mystics of Herat to the constitutional revolution of Iran to the colonial and post-colonial occupations of contemporary Afghanistan, this course offers a broad cultural and political history of Iranian and Turkic Central Asia. In addition, we will explore the highly complex intellectual, artistic, and architectural trends and "cross-cultural" exchanges that formed the backbone of many disparate Iranian-Turkic cultures. 

Catalog Distribution: (HA-AS, HST-AS, SCD-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 2294 - Of Saints, Poets, and Revolutionaries: Medieval and Modern Iran and Central Asia

This course reads classic authors from China's early twentieth century and then uses them to understand the most contemporary Chinese literature. We will engage with contemporary conversations about authoritarianism, gender, and the rural/urban divide by thinking through foundational debates over nation, revolution, and modernity. Most importantly, we will see how expression in art informs and sometimes exceeds the life of ideas. All works in this course will be available in English; all primary texts will also be available in simplified Chinese.

Catalog Distribution: (ALC-AS, LA-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 3303 - Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Chinese Literature

A historical review of the fragile and volatile U.S.-China relationship from the opening by Richard Nixon in the early 1970s until the present. Several individual sessions will be led by current or former executive branch or congressional officials, business people, journalists, representatives of nongovernmental organizations and others who have worked in China or have participated in the making of U.S. policy toward China.

Catalog Distribution: (HA-AS, HST-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 3305 - Seminar on American Relations with China

If you have ever wondered what the Vietnam War was all about, how did it begin, how was it fought, why was it so controversial, why did the American people turn against it, why was it important, why were generations of American students taught the North Vietnamese version of the war, why the South Vietnamese allies of the United States were abandoned, and what happened to the Vietnamese and the Americans as a result of the war—then this class is for you! With fresh eyes and surprising insights, it will take you beyond the fashionable fictions and clichés to look at the twenty-five years during which the United States, through six presidential administrations, was involved in Vietnamese affairs (1950-1975). For decades, Americans have been meditating on "the lessons of the Vietnam War", but it turns out that neither was any lesson ever learned nor were the so-called "lessons" even plausibly related to actual events. Today, Americans continue to be taught myths about the Vietnam War. This course shows why these myths obstruct a realistic understanding of American history during the past half-century.

Catalog Distribution: (GLC-AS, HA-AS, HST-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 3312 - What was the Vietnam War?

This course examines Korean literature and performance traditions from the Chosŏn dynasty (1392-1910) to the present. Through performance workshops, the course enables students to experience how Korean epic and lyric traditions were performed in the past and how they continue to flourish in the present across various media, including recorded music, written texts, and film. We will examine how Korean literature and performance traditions have transformed over time, with attention given to how these traditions speak to local and global audiences following the Korean Wave. The course concludes with recent developments in Korean popular music, including K-pop bands and K-hip-hop. Readings for the course will be in English or in English translation and no prior knowledge of Korean culture is necessary.

Catalog Distribution: (ALC-AS, LA-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 3314 - Korean Literature and Performance: From P'ansori to K-Pop

The arts of Southeast Asia are studied in their social context, since in traditional societies creative processes are often mapped on the sequence of events that compose human lives. We will be looking particularly at the gendered ways in which bodies are mapped on the land, and how these various framings are often reflected in the unique relationships that emerge between works of art and textual sources. The South Asian epics of the Ramayana (Story of Rama) and the Mahabharata will be explored during the semester as infinitely renewable sources of inspiration.

Catalog Distribution: (ALC-AS, CA-AS, HST-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 3350 - The Arts of Southeast Asia

The Korean War (1950-1953) followed the Chinese Civil War (1945-1949) when the People's Republic of China promoted communist revolutions in Korea and Vietnam that were resisted by the United States. Often called "the forgotten war," the Korean War was a time of great suffering for the Korean people, involved the armies of several countries, and had a large influence not only on the subsequent history of Korea but also on the direction of the Cold War and on American politics, society, and military organization. This course will examine the war and why it became important for Americans to forget it. American memories of the war were swamped by the experience of the Vietnam War, but deeper than that was the troubling adjustment to the Cold War after the sense of accomplishment produced by the end of the Second World War. It was the beginning of the American perception of limitations on what the United States could and should do to promote its interests in global affairs.

Catalog Distribution: (HA-AS, HST-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 3358 - Why Forget the Korean War?

This course offers an introduction to the global issue of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and other mass atrocities, and an in-depth look at two contemporary genocides in Asia: in China, and in Burma (Myanmar). First, we will study how genocide works: its prerequisites, its warning signs, and how it is carried out. We review the history of genocide in international law after WWII, the UN Genocide Convention, and the checkered history of failing to prevent genocides (Cambodia, Rwanda, etc.), but also some successes. Then, we focus on the new 21st century genocides under way in Xinjiang, China and against the Rohingya in Burma: the background, the events, the actors involved, the key role of media and propaganda, and why Burma's government expels people, while China's instead focuses on forced identity conversion and the erasure of languages and cultures, so that people paradoxically are "ethnically cleansed in place."

Catalog Distribution: (CA-AS, HST-AS, SCD-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 3365 - Genocide Today: The Erasure of Cultures

The course will be thoroughly comparative in order to highlight both the specificity of each country as well as more generalizable dynamics of 21st century development. It will be divided into a number of inter-related modules. After a framing lecture, we will briefly cover the two countries' distinct experiences with colonialism and centralized planning. Then we will move on to dynamics of growth, which will seek to explain the relative success of China in the era of market reforms. In analyzing political consequences, we will assess how new forms of cooperation and conflict have emerged. This will involve attention to both internal dynamics as well as how rapid development has seen an increasing accumulation of political power in the East. It goes without saying that accelerating growth has led to huge social change, resulting in profound reorganizations of Chinese and Indian society. Finally, the course will conclude by returning to our original question – is this indeed The Asian Century? What does the rise of China and India mean for the rest of the world, and how are these two giant nations likely to develop in the future?

Catalog Distribution: (GLC-AS, LA-AS, SSC-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 3380 - The Asian Century: The Rise of China and India

This course examines Southeast Asia's history from earliest times up until the mid-eighteenth century. The genesis of traditional kingdoms, the role of monumental architecture (such as Angkor in Cambodia and Borobodur in Indonesia), and the forging of maritime trade links across the region are all covered. Religion - both indigenous to Southeast Asia and the great imports of Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam - are also surveyed in the various premodern polities that dotted Southeast Asia. This course questions the region's early connections with China, India, and Arabia, and asks what is indigenous about Southeast Asian history, and what has been borrowed over the centuries. Open to undergraduates, both majors and non-majors in History, and to graduate students, though with separate requirements.

Catalog Distribution: (HA-AS, HST-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 3397 - Monsoon Kingdoms: Pre-Modern Southeast Asian History

Supervised reading and research on the problem selected for honors work.

Full details for ASIAN 4401 - Asian Studies Honors Course

The student, under faculty direction, prepares an honors essay.

Full details for ASIAN 4402 - Asian Studies Honors: Senior Essay

Intensive reading under the direction of a member of the staff.

Full details for ASIAN 4403 - Supervised Reading

Examines the new cinemas of Southeast Asia and their engagement with contemporary discourses of gender and sexuality. It pays special attention to the ways in which sexuality and gendered embodiment are at present linked to citizenship and other forms of belonging and to how the films draw on Buddhist and Islamic traditions of representation and belief. Focusing on globally circulating Southeast Asian films of the past 15 years, the course draws on current writings in feminism, Buddhist studies, affect theory, queer studies, postcolonial theory, and film studies to ask what new understandings of subjectivity might emerge from these cinemas and their political contexts. Films are drawn from both mainstream and independent cinema and will include the work of directors such as Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Danny and Oxide Pang, Yau Ching, Thunska Pansittivorakul, Garin Nugroho, and Jean-Jacques Annaud.

Catalog Distribution: (ALC-AS, LA-AS, SCD-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 4451 - Gender and Sexuality in Southeast Asian Cinema

One of the pressing concerns for scholars of print culture is how to access the impact of print in the Chinese context. This course will examine the current scholarship on the history of Chinese books within a broader comparative framework of the history of book in general. The readings deal with the impact of print and the growth of book market on the intellectual, social, and political transformation of Chinese society, focusing on the culture and technology of printing as an indispensable condition of textual production, circulation, and reception. By suggesting the history of book not merely as the study of publishing and publishers but as an interdisciplinary approach to combine literary criticism, material culture, and history of the broader social conditions, this seminar aims to provide students an opportunity to conceive their own theoretical framework upon which more specialized research can be built.

Catalog Distribution: ( ALC-AS, LA-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 4459 - History of Book in China

Collaborations among and between Asian and Asian American artists in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have sought to redefine kinship by exploring the politics of belonging, generational dis/connections, and the legacy of the Cold War. Through examining collaborative, multi-media artworks and performances by artists who engage with such questions, this course delves into, and expands on, the discourses of transnational and trans-Pacific Asia. With the history of anti-Asian racism and lingering Cold War geopolitics increasingly visible due to Covid-19, students will also critically explore the praxis of reparative kinship, in which settler colonialism and anti-Black racism continue to fracture our work on ecological decolonialization and make alliances against white supremacy fragile. For longer description and instructor bio visit the Society for the Humanities website.

Catalog Distribution: (ALC-AS, LA-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 4467 - The Kinship of Repair: Asian and Asian American Artists in Collaboration

An introduction to the key reference and research works available for Japanese studies (both print and digital).  Uses of databases and reference works on a given theme will be modelled in the class hour.  Students will then practice with these resources for homework, according to their selected research projects, and report back on issues.  The course will also touch on book history.

Full details for ASIAN 6612 - Japanese Bibliography and Research Methods

This course examines Korean literature and performance traditions from the Chosŏn dynasty (1392-1910) to the present. Through performance workshops, the course enables students to experience how Korean epic and lyric traditions were performed in the past and how they continue to flourish in the present across various media, including recorded music, written texts, and film. We will examine how Korean literature and performance traditions have transformed over time, with attention given to how these traditions speak to local and global audiences following the Korean Wave. The course concludes with recent developments in Korean popular music, including K-pop bands and K-hip-hop. Readings for the course will be in English or in English translation and no prior knowledge of Korean culture is necessary.

Full details for ASIAN 6614 - Korean Literature and Performance: From P'ansori to K-Pop

This course argues that modern literary strictures – such as market forces, censorship, and new media forms – are contiguous with and interpretable in the same way as more traditional literary strictures like meter, rhyme, and tonal regulation. It asks how we can come to a more thorough understanding of contemporary art by treating its sociological and political context as a source of generative restraint. Theoretical texts will range from Foucault to Vaclav Havel; primary texts will be drawn from contemporary Chinese fiction, poetry and film. All texts will be made available in English for non-Chinese speakers.

Full details for ASIAN 6621 - Literary Stricture

Examines the new cinemas of Southeast Asia and their engagement with contemporary discourses of gender and sexuality. It pays special attention to the ways in which sexuality and gendered embodiment are at present linked to citizenship and other forms of belonging and to how the films draw on Buddhist and Islamic traditions of representation and belief. Focusing on globally circulating Southeast Asian films of the past 15 years, the course draws on current writings in feminism, Buddhist studies, affect theory, queer studies, postcolonial theory, and film studies to ask what new understandings of subjectivity might emerge from these cinemas and their political contexts. Films are drawn from both mainstream and independent cinema and will include the work of directors such as Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Danny and Oxide Pang, Yau Ching, Thunska Pansittivorakul, Garin Nugroho, and Jean-Jacques Annaud.

Full details for ASIAN 6631 - Gender and Sexuality in Southeast Asian Cinema

One of the pressing concerns for scholars of print culture is how to access the impact of print in the Chinese context. This course will examine the current scholarship on the history of Chinese books within a broader comparative framework of the history of book in general. The readings deal with the impact of print and the growth of book market on the intellectual, social, and political transformation of Chinese society, focusing on the culture and technology of printing as an indispensable condition of textual production, circulation, and reception. By suggesting the history of book not merely as the study of publishing and publishers but as an interdisciplinary approach to combine literary criticism, material culture, and history of the broader social conditions, this seminar aims to provide students an opportunity to conceive their own theoretical framework upon which more specialized research can be built.

Full details for ASIAN 6660 - History of Book in China

This course offers an introduction to the global issue of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and other mass atrocities, and an in-depth look at two contemporary genocides in Asia: in China, and in Burma (Myanmar). First, we will study how genocide works: its prerequisites, its warning signs, and how it is carried out. We review the history of genocide in international law after WWII, the UN Genocide Convention, and the checkered history of failing to prevent genocides (Cambodia, Rwanda, etc.), but also some successes. Then, we focus on the new 21st century genocides under way in Xinjiang, China and against the Rohingya in Burma: the background, the events, the actors involved, the key role of media and propaganda, and why Burma's government expels people, while China's instead focuses on forced identity conversion and the erasure of languages and cultures, so that people paradoxically are "ethnically cleansed in place."

Full details for ASIAN 6665 - Genocide Today: The Erasure of Cultures

Collaborations among and between Asian and Asian American artists in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have sought to redefine kinship by exploring the politics of belonging, generational dis/connections, and the legacy of the Cold War. Through examining collaborative, multi-media artworks and performances by artists who engage with such questions, this seminar delves into, and expands on, the discourses of transnational and trans-Pacific Asia. With the history of anti-Asian racism and lingering Cold War geopolitics increasingly visible due to Covid-19, students will also critically explore the praxis of reparative kinship, in which settler colonialism and anti-Black racism continue to fracture our work on ecological decolonialization and make alliances against white supremacy fragile. For longer description and instructor bio visit the Society for the Humanities website.

Full details for ASIAN 6667 - The Kinship of Repair: Asian and Asian American Artists in Collaboration

The course will be thoroughly comparative in order to highlight both the specificity of each country as well as more generalizable dynamics of 21st century development. It will be divided into a number of inter-related modules. After a framing lecture, we will briefly cover the two countries' distinct experiences with colonialism and centralized planning. Then we will move on to dynamics of growth, which will seek to explain the relative success of China in the era of market reforms. In analyzing political consequences, we will assess how new forms of cooperation and conflict have emerged. This will involve attention to both internal dynamics as well as how rapid development has seen an increasing accumulation of political power in the East. It goes without saying that accelerating growth has led to huge social change, resulting in profound reorganizations of Chinese and Indian society. Finally, the course will conclude by returning to our original question – is this indeed The Asian Century? What does the rise of China and India mean for the rest of the world, and how are these two giant nations likely to develop in the future?

Full details for ASIAN 6680 - The Asian Century: The Rise of China and India

This course examines Southeast Asia's history from earliest times up until the mid-eighteenth century. The genesis of traditional kingdoms, the role of monumental architecture (such as Angkor in Cambodia and Borobodur in Indonesia), and the forging of maritime trade links across the region are all covered. Religion - both indigenous to Southeast Asia and the great imports of Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam - are also surveyed in the various premodern polities that dotted Southeast Asia. This course questions the region's early connections with China, India, and Arabia, and asks what is indigenous about Southeast Asian history, and what has been borrowed over the centuries. Open to undergraduates, both majors and non-majors in History, and to graduate students, though with separate requirements.

Full details for ASIAN 6697 - Monsoon Kingdoms: Pre-Modern Southeast Asian History

Guided independent study for graduate students.

Full details for ASIAN 7703 - Directed Research

The course will introduce foundational knowledge of Bengali language and elements of culture from Bangladesh and West Bengal to anyone interested in Bengal, e.g. those planning to travel to Bangladesh and West Bengal, India.

Full details for BENGL 1100 - Elements of Bengali Language and Culture

Intended for beginners or students placed by examination. The emphasis is on basic grammar, speaking, and comprehension skills; Bengali script will also be introduced.

Full details for BENGL 1121 - Elementary Bengali I

Continuing focus on reading, writing, and conversational skills, this course is designed to advance students' oral competence and enhance comprehension skills through reading, conversations, and listening.

Full details for BENGL 2201 - Intermediate Bengali I

Continuing instruction in Bengali at the advanced level focusing on conversation, interview, and discussion skills.

Full details for BENGL 3301 - Advanced Bengali I

Topics vary by semester in relation to student needs.

Full details for BENGL 5509 - Graduate Studies in Bengali

This course is designed to equip the beginning learners with the reading and writing skills that are the essential first steps in learning the language. Burmese script is beautiful and not very complicated, but it is based on principles that are unlike any European language. In this first semester, you will develop competency in reading and writing it. You will also learn some basic spoken Burmese and essential grammatical concepts. Some of the assignments are completed online using interactive video and audio materials.

Full details for BURM 1121 - Elementary Burmese (Myanmar) I

This course is for you if you have taken first-year Burmese at Cornell or learned some Burmese elsewhere and know how to read and write Burmese script. You will continue learning all major aspects of the language at the intermediate level, including the reading and understanding of formal-style texts. In spoken Burmese, you will practice communicating at the increasingly complicated and practically useful level. Some of the assignments are completed online using interactive video and audio materials.

Full details for BURM 2201 - Intermediate Burmese (Myanmar) I

This course is taught at the advanced level with focus on further development of all four skills. All materials used in the course are authentic Burmese stories, current event reports, radio plays, etc. The particular materials used in any given year may vary depending on the proficiency level of the students. For students who are involved in Burma/Myanmar related research, their projects may also become part of the course.

Full details for BURM 3301 - Advanced Burmese (Myanmar) I

This course will further advance the student's reading skills and, if needed, writing as well. Burmese texts of advanced-level complexity will be read, analyzed, and translated to English. A certain amount of discussion in Burmese and English is also part of the course, but the primary objective is to learn to read and understand the typical texts that appear on websites about current events, cultural trends, news from around the world, as well as short literary works by contemporary authors, especially those that reflect the country's history, geography, and ethnic diversity. Heritage speakers of Burmese as well as students who are learning Burmese as a foreign language are welcome. Reading materials are selected depending on the needs and interests of the students and differ from year to year.

Full details for BURM 3309 - Advanced Readings in Burmese (Myanmar) I

For complete beginners only, providing a thorough grounding in conversational and reading skills. Students with any previous background or training in the language will need to take the Mandarin Placement Test to determine which Chinese course will best suit their needs.  

Full details for CHIN 1101 - Beginning Mandarin I

Intended primarily for students whose family language is Mandarin but who have had little or no formal training. The focus is on reading, writing and speaking, as well as culture, and current events in the Chinese speaking community.

Full details for CHIN 1109 - Beginning Chinese Reading and Writing for Students of Chinese Heritage I

This course helps students develop basic skills in Mandarin Chinese, at a moderate pace. For complete beginners only.

Full details for CHIN 1121 - Beginning Mandarin for Professional Students I

A continuation of CHIN 1122 .  This course helps students develop basic skills in Mandarin Chinese, at a moderate pace. For non-heritage learners only. 

Full details for CHIN 1123 - Beginning Mandarin for Professional Students III

Continuing instruction in written and spoken Chinese with particular emphasis on consolidating basic conversational skills and improving reading confidence and ability.

Full details for CHIN 2201 - Intermediate Mandarin I

This course focuses on reading and writing Chinese at the intermediate level for Chinese heritage students who grew up speaking Chinese with family members. Students will read authentic texts written by iconic Chinese figures such as Xu Dishan and Hu Shih (a Cornell alumnus, class of 1914), and practice writing while exploring various aspects of Chinese culture. Students will exit the course with a book of their own in Chinese as the course project documenting their learning during the semester. This course helps students further solidify their foundation for Chinese study at the next level as well as enhance their awareness of and overall competence in cross-cultural communication.

Full details for CHIN 2209 - Intermediate Chinese Reading and Writing for Students of Chinese Heritage I

Continuing instruction in spoken and written Chinese Mandarin via authentic multimedia materials. 

Full details for CHIN 3301 - High Intermediate Mandarin I

Continuing instruction in spoken and written Chinese Mandarin via authentic multimedia materials.

Full details for CHIN 3341 - High Intermediate Mandarin I: CAPS in D.C.

Reading, discussion, and composition at advanced levels.

Full details for CHIN 4411 - Advanced Mandarin I

This advanced course aims to further develop the four communication skills in Chinese: speaking, listening, reading, and writing, through learning materials and activities on various topics related to China Studies, including authentic Chinese texts and TV programs, class discussions on various issues, and compositions.  Students can also expect to broaden their knowledge of Chinese culture and society through this course.  Classical Chinese will be introduced in this class to help students further understand written/formal Chinese as well as Chinese culture.

Full details for CHIN 4427 - High Advanced Mandarin I

Reading, discussion, and composition at advanced levels.

Full details for CHIN 4441 - Advanced Mandarin I: CAPS in D.C.

This course is designed for students who have satisfactorily finished CHIN 4427 or the equivalent.  The focus of the course is on formal Chinese, and the main aim of this course is to help students achieve an advanced level of Chinese performance, so that they may combine Chinese with their work in their majors.  The course material will be formal Chinese writings by native speakers, mostly for native speakers, related to students' majors and fields of interest.  In addition, classical Chinese will also be introduced through readings as a means to enhance students' understanding of the language.

Full details for CHIN 4443 - High Advanced Mandarin I: CAPS in D.C.

Intended for advanced language study.

Full details for CHIN 4445 - Directed Study: CAPS in D.C.

Reading, discussion, and composition at advanced levels.

Full details for CHIN 4451 - Advanced Mandarin I: CAPS in Beijing

This course is designed for students who have satisfactorily finished CHIN 2210 or CHIN 4412, or the equivalent. The focus of the course is on formal Chinese, and the main aim of this course is to help students achieve an advanced level of Chinese performance, so that they may combine Chinese with their work in their majors. The course material will be formal Chinese writings by native speakers, mostly for native speakers, related to students' majors and fields of interest. In addition, classical Chinese will also be introduced through readings as a means to enhance student's understanding of the language.

Full details for CHIN 4453 - High Advanced Mandarin I: CAPS in Beijing

Students learn the fundamental grammar and vocabulary of Classical Chinese by analyzing and translating short passages from early sources.

Catalog Distribution: (ALC-AS, LA-AS)

Full details for CHLIT 2213 - Introduction to Classical Chinese I

A guided reading in the original language designed to introduce students to a variety of genres and styles of classical Chinese literature while at the same time helping students achieve competence in reading classical Chinese at an advanced level. The syllabus, with a rotating thematic focus, normally includes philosophical works, historical texts, poetry and prose, anecdotes and fiction. Please consult the Department of Asian Studies course offerings for each year's thematic focus.

Catalog Distribution: (ALC-AS, HST-AS, LA-AS)

Full details for CHLIT 3307 - Readings in Classical Chinese Literature

The goal of the class is to introduce intermediate students of classical Chinese to the critical study and translation of Chinese temple inscriptions. Most of our inscriptions come from steles erected in rural temples, and do not fit easily into the rubrics of Daoism or Buddhism. Some include prayers and others are meditations on the dynamic interaction of local communities and powerful deities.

Catalog Distribution: (HA-AS, HST-AS)

Full details for CHLIT 3398 - Where Humans and the Spirits Meet: Reading Chinese Temple Inscriptions

Students choose a faculty member to oversee this independent study. The student and the faculty member work together to develop course content.

Full details for CHLIT 4421 - Directed Study

The goal of the class is to introduce intermediate students of classical Chinese to the critical study and translation of Chinese temple inscriptions. Most of our inscriptions come from steles erected in rural temples, and do not fit easily into the rubrics of Daoism or Buddhism. Some include prayers and others are meditations on the dynamic interaction of local communities and powerful deities.

Full details for CHLIT 5598 - Where Humans and the Spirits Meet: Reading Chinese Temple Inscriptions

A guided reading in the original language designed to introduce students to a variety of genres and styles of classical Chinese literature while at the same time helping students achieve competence in reading classical Chinese at an advanced level. The syllabus, with a rotating thematic focus, normally includes philosophical works, historical texts, poetry and prose, anecdotes and fiction. Please consult the Department of Asian Studies course offerings for each year's thematic focus. A final research project on an approved topic pertaining to the central theme of this course is required. 

Full details for CHLIT 6607 - Readings in Classical Chinese Literature

Students choose a faculty member to oversee this independent study. The student and the faculty member work together to develop class readings.

Full details for CHLIT 6621 - Advanced Directed Reading

Designed for students who are complete beginners in the Hindi language. Students enter this course with no or little prior knowledge in Hindi. The course aims to help students acquire competence in the four skills (Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing) of the Hindi language by utilizing tools of basic grammar, vocabulary, cultural points, and other oral and written activities. By the end of this course, students can communicate in basic everyday Hindi, and perform all the hands-on tasks and functions necessary to survive in India and/or similar context.

Full details for HINDI 1101 - Elementary Hindi I

This is an intermediate-level course in Hindi. Students' competence in all four language areas will become extraordinarily strong and solid. This course will work on building up their confidence in describing complicated situations and ideas in the target language, improve their ability to read and write with better flow and accuracy, and increase their listening comprehension to more detailed and complicated materials.

Full details for HINDI 2201 - Intermediate Hindi I

Throughout this course sequence all aspects of language learning are practiced; listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Video materials are used and the emphasis is on the conversational aspect of the language.

Full details for HINDI 2203 - Intermediate Hindi Reading and Writing for Heritage Students I

Selected readings in modern Hindi literature. Continued work on fluency in speaking Hindi on an advanced level. There will be a combination of different reading materials from literature, journals, newspapers, and many social, entertainment, and political magazines in Hindi. Discussions will be based on those readings and articles, hence giving opportunities to express views and opinions in a fluent and effective manner.

Full details for HINDI 3301 - Advanced Hindi I

This course is designed for students with no previous knowledge of Indonesian language who expect to participate in university programs in Indonesian-speaking areas of the world. Students will learn enough phrases to be able to handle very simple interactions and express very simple needs and to behave appropriately in Indonesian settings. Cultural information will be taught in English. The language component will be taught in Indonesian. Through assigned recordings in Canvas and independent learning, students will also gain a better understanding of Indonesian sounds, ways of life, natural environments, as well as the history and current place of Indonesian in Southeast Asia.

Full details for INDO 1100 - Elements of Indonesian Language and Culture

Gives a thorough grounding in basic speaking, listening, reading and writing skills.

Full details for INDO 1121 - Elementary Indonesian I

Develops all four skills: reading, writing, speaking, and listening comprehension.

Full details for INDO 2201 - Intermediate Indonesian I

Practical language course at a high intermediate and low advanced level in which students read and discuss selected materials on issues of their academic interests, write essays, and make oral presentations.

Full details for INDO 3301 - Advanced Indonesian I

A critical academic language course at a higher advanced level that sharpens students' proficiency of integrated language skills from an advanced high or above level, based on the ACTFL proficiency benchmarks. Students read, discuss, debate and explore hypotheses on issues from specialized disciplines to broader abstract ideas.

Full details for INDO 4401 - Advanced Indonesian for Research I

Gives a thorough grounding in all four language skills-speaking, listening, reading, and writing-at the beginning level. The lecture provides explanation, analysis, and cultural background. Sections are conducted entirely in Japanese.

Full details for JAPAN 1101 - Elementary Japanese I

This course provides widely applicable language proficiency as an integrated Japanese course, which develops all four language skills (speaking, listening, reading, and writing) at the post-elementary level.

Full details for JAPAN 2201 - Intermediate Japanese I

For students who have learned basic Japanese skills and would like to develop higher skills in reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

Full details for JAPAN 3301 - High Intermediate Japanese I

Develops reading, writing and oral communication skills at the advanced level.

Full details for JAPAN 4401 - Advanced Japanese I

This is a Japanese course to develop both oral and written communication skills focusing on a variety of current events and social phenomena in Japan.

Full details for JAPAN 4421 - Special Topics

Students choose a faculty member to oversee this independent study. The student and the faculty member work together to develop class readings.

Full details for JPLIT 6625 - Directed Readings

Guided independent study for graduate students.

Full details for JPLIT 6627 - Advanced Directed Readings

The course will introduce basic Khmer/Cambodian language and culture to anyone with interest in the subject matter, those planning to travel to Cambodia, heritage students, etc.

Full details for KHMER 1100 - Elements of Khmer Language and Culture

Gives a thorough grounding in speaking and reading.

Full details for KHMER 1121 - Elementary Khmer I

Continuing instruction in spoken and written Khmer. Intermediate level of reading Khmer.

Full details for KHMER 2201 - Intermediate Khmer I

Continuing instruction in spoken and written Khmer; emphasis on enlarging vocabulary, increasing reading speed, and reading various genres and styles of prose.

Full details for KHMER 3301 - Advanced Khmer I

Intended for advanced language study.

Full details for KHMER 4431 - Directed Study

Designed for students with no or very little knowledge of Korean in order to acquire the 4 skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) of the Korean language and to become familiar with its culture. Students will learn the Korean writing system and basic survival language skills. Basic knowledge of Korean grammar, vocabulary, expressions and cultural points will be given during the lecture. Students will then have an opportunity to practice the learned knowledge in sections. By the end of the semester, students will be able to exchange in simple conversations with native Koreans about the subjects that are familiar to them: introducing oneself, describing events or objects, asking and giving directions to and from a certain place, talking about plans in the near future, etc.

Full details for KOREA 1101 - Elementary Korean I

Designed for Korean heritage students who already have some level of speaking and listening competence in Korean, but have limited linguistic proficiency of reading and writing. The course first introduces basic conversational and grammatical structures and idiomatic expressions. It will then focus on speaking, reading and writing skills through short stories, essays and Korean folktales. Students will be able to create a dialogue regarding topics such as greetings, leave-taking, campus life, Korean language class, daily life, and life in Seoul.

Full details for KOREA 1109 - Elementary Korean Reading and Writing I

Designed for intermediate learners of Korean. Students will achieve a higher level of communicative competence through practicing the target language in a wide range of speech events. Specifically, students will compare and contrast cultural differences, describe their own experiences and events, discuss opinions on various topics and participate in speech events. Students will command a lengthy discourse regarding various topics such as weather and seasons, clothing and fashion, travel, public transportation, shopping and life in Korea.

Full details for KOREA 2201 - Intermediate Korean I

Designed for the Korean heritage students who can understand and speak Korean, but especially need to refine their reading and writing skills. Students will acquire concrete knowledge of grammar to use in everyday conversation, will be able to read passages faster, and will minimize their spelling errors in writing, through frequent discussion and composition about Korean culture, society and history. They will become confident in reading paragraph-length readings in Korean, be able to write their reflections on the passages that they have read, and speak with ease when participating in the classroom discussions. Various projects will enhance students' overall linguistic and intercultural competence.

Full details for KOREA 2209 - Intermediate Korean Reading and Writing I

Designed for high intermediate learners of Korean. It aims to help students achieve high levels of language proficiency by introducing a wide range of authentic reading materials. The course provides students with reading materials from writings in various genres and styles such as newspaper editorials, columns, essays, short stories, and other literary writings. Students will discuss and write an essay on topics regarding living in Korea, popular Korean food, dating culture in Korea, tour sites and regional products, Korean wave, address terms and interpersonal relations, and famous Korean people.

Full details for KOREA 3301 - High Intermediate Korean I

This 1-credit optional course aims to expand the students' vocabulary, and advance their speaking and reading skills as well as enhance their knowledge and deepen their cultural understanding by attaching to non-language courses throughout the University.

Full details for KOREA 3316 - Korean Language Across the Curriculum (LAC)

Designed for students who have completed the intermediate level of Korean, to acquire advanced language skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing) through Content-Based Instruction and Project-Based Language Learning. Students will gain profound knowledge in various fields on Korea through discussion and composition: current issues in Korean society, Korean people's thoughts and mind, tradition, history and culture. With frequent discussions and compositions on various contemporary news articles, medical drama series, and documentaries, students are encouraged to become Intercultural Communicative Citizens and learn the contents through the language. The expected student outcome is to gain confidence in the academic level of discussions and compositions by critical thinking and analyzing.

Full details for KOREA 4401 - Advanced Korean I

Intended for beginners. The emphasis is on basic grammar, speaking, and comprehension skills, using culturally appropriate materials and texts. Devanagari script for reading and writing is also introduced.

Full details for NEPAL 1101 - Elementary Nepali I

Intermediate instruction in spoken grammar and verbal comprehension skills, with special attention to developing technical vocabularies and other verbal skills appropriate to students' professional fields.

Full details for NEPAL 2201 - Intermediate Nepali Conversation I

Reading of advanced texts, together with advanced drill on the spoken language.

Full details for NEPAL 3301 - Advanced Nepali I

This course introduces students to Punjabi, a major language of northern India and Pakistan. Beginning with the study of the Gurmukhi script, the course offers an intensive study of the speaking, reading, and writing of the language. This is approached through the theme-based syllabus, a discussion in small groups and paired activities on the cultural background of Punjab and Punjabi culture.

Full details for PUNJB 1121 - Elementary Punjabi I

Further develops students' skills in Punjabi, a major language of northern India and Pakistan. Continuing with the study of the Gurmukhi script, the course offers an intensive study of the speaking, reading, and writing of the language. This is approached through the theme-based syllabus, a discussion in small groups and paired activities on the cultural background of Punjab and Punjabi culture.

Full details for PUNJB 2201 - Intermediate Punjabi I

An introduction to the essentials of Sanskrit grammar. Designed to enable the student to read classical and epic Sanskrit as soon as possible.

Full details for SANSK 1131 - Elementary Sanskrit I

Readings from simple Sanskrit poetry: the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.

Full details for SANSK 2251 - Intermediate Sanskrit I

Selected readings in Sanskrit literary and philosophical texts.

Full details for SANSK 3301 - Advanced Sanskrit I

This course will introduce the basic Sinhala language elements and elements of Sri Lankan culture for those who are interested in the field of language and culture. Also for those planning to travel to Sri Lanka, heritage students, etc.

Full details for SINHA 1100 - Elements of Sinhala Language and Culture

Semi-intensive introduction to colloquial Sinhala, intended for beginners. A thorough grounding is given in all the language skills; listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

Full details for SINHA 1121 - Elementary Sinhala I

This course further develops student competence in colloquial Sinhala, attending to all the language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. In addition, this course prepares students for the transition to literary Sinhala.

Full details for SINHA 2201 - Intermediate Sinhala I

This one-semester course provides an introduction to the distinctive grammatical forms and vocabulary used in Literary Sinhala. While focused particularly on the development of reading skills, the course also introduces students to Literary Sinhala composition, and builds students' listening comprehension of semi-literary Sinhala forms (such as those used in radio and TV news).

Full details for SINHA 3301 - Literary Sinhala I

This one-semester course further develops students' comprehension of written Literary Sinhala, using sample materials from a variety of genres prepared by the instructor, as well as excerpts from texts relevant to graduate student research (when appropriate).

Full details for SINHA 4400 - Literary Sinhala II

The course will introduce very basic functional uses of Tagalog/Filipino language and elements of Filipino culture to interested students like heritage learners and those who are planning to travel briefly to the Philippines to participate in a short project or study abroad program in the country.

Full details for TAG 1100 - Elements of Tagalog-Filipino Language and Culture

Gives a thorough grounding in basic speaking and listening skills with an introduction to reading and writing.

Full details for TAG 1121 - Elementary Tagalog-Filipino I

Develops all four skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

Full details for TAG 2201 - Intermediate Tagalog-Filipino I

Continuing instruction on conversational skills but with emphasis on reading and writing. Selected core readings in contemporary Tagalog literature are used, but students, in consultation with the instructor, may select some of the class materials.

Full details for TAG 3301 - Advanced Tagalog-Filipino I

Introduces students to the basic grammatical and syntactical skills required to function adequately in a Tamil-speaking environment. Of particular interest to students planning to conduct scholarly research or fieldwork in that region of the world. Introduces students to the rich culture of the Indian subcontinent where Tamil is spoken.

Full details for TAMIL 1121 - Elementary Tamil I

Full details for TAMIL 4431 - Directed Study

This beginning level course provides a solid grounding in all four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) with an emphasis on speaking and listening comprehension.  The aim is to enable learners to think in Thai and learn to converse and "get around" in certain basic situations in daily life.

Full details for THAI 1121 - Elementary Thai I

Continues to develop and comprehensively extends the four language skills acquired at the Elementary level (listening, speaking, reading, and writing).

Full details for THAI 2201 - Intermediate Thai I

Develops advanced speaking skill with emphasis on selected readings in Thai from various fields, for example, History, Anthropology, Government, Economics, Agriculture, as well as other professional schools.  The readings are supplemented with visual materials such as video clips and films.

Full details for THAI 3301 - Advanced Thai I

Reading of significant novels, short stories, and poetry written since 1850 and other classical works.

Catalog Distribution: (CA-AS)

Full details for THAI 3303 - Thai Literature I

Topics vary by semester in relation to student needs.

Full details for THAI 5509 - Graduate Studies in Thai

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.

Full details for TIBET 1111 - Elementary Modern Tibetan I

Introduces students to the grammar of Classical Literary Tibetan as found in Indian treatises translated from Sanskrit into Tibetan, as well as indigenous Tibetan philosophical works. The course progresses through a sequence of the basic rudiments of the language, including an introduction to the script and its romanization, pronunciation (central Lhasan dialect), normative dictionary order, and the basic categories of grammar. Following these preliminaries, students proceed to guided readings in Tibetan literature designed to introduce them to the formal approach of Tibetan lexical semantics with an emphasis on the role of verbs in determining argument realization options. Over the duration of the course, students encounter new vocabulary (and associated Buddhist concept hierarchies) and increasingly complex sentence structures. This course thus provides a solid foundation for the later exploration of other genres of literature and styles of composition.

Full details for TIBET 1121 - Elementary Classical Tibetan I

For those whose knowledge is equivalent to a student who has completed the first-year course. The course focuses on the further development of their skills in using the language to engage with practical topics and situations, such as seeing a doctor, reading news, writing letters, and listening to music.

Full details for TIBET 2211 - Intermediate Modern Tibetan I

This course is designed to develop competence in Urdu reading and writing for students with a first-year knowledge of Hindi and knowledge of Urdu script. The goal of this course is to improve listening, speaking, reading and writing abilities in Urdu. By the end of the course, students will have the ability to read articles, write short stories and translate Urdu writings. May be taken concurrently with Intermediate Hindi.

Full details for URDU 2225 - Intermediate Urdu Reading and Writing I

Designed for those students who have either taken Intermediate Urdu or are at the same level of competency in reading and writing skills. The goals of this class are to improve Urdu literary reading and writing abilities, primarily through reading various forms of Urdu prose. In addition, students learn about various genres of Urdu poetry and watch video clips and lectures that enhance listening and speaking abilities as well as the understanding and appreciation of Urdu culture.

Full details for URDU 3325 - Literary Reading and Writing in Advanced Urdu

Topics vary by semester in relation to student needs.

Full details for URDU 5509 - Graduate Studies in Urdu

This course gives a thorough grounding in basic speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills in Vietnamese.

Full details for VIET 1121 - Elementary Vietnamese I

Continuing instruction in spoken and written Vietnamese.

Full details for VIET 2201 - Intermediate Vietnamese I

Continuing instruction in spoken and written Vietnamese. Introduction to reading newspapers; the course emphasizes on enlarging vocabulary and increasing reading speed by reading various genres and styles of prose.

Full details for VIET 3301 - Advanced Vietnamese I