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 and instructor.

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

Is a Buddha statue sacred? Are churches built by Christians? In collaboration with the Johnson Museum, we will explore the multiple meanings of religious objects and sites to better understand the lives of communities in Southeast Asia. We will "look" at art pieces that index a religious reality, and "read" them to understand their makings, usages, meanings, and contemporary relevance, as objects of devotion ("sacred" contexts), as well "art" sitting in museums, looked at by tourists, or as "objects" traded for their economic value ("mundane" contexts). We will do free writing, write labels, describe objects' physicality and symbolisms. We will do close reading of articles. You will build on these skills, as you "craft" your final with the support of your peers.

Full details for ASIAN 1117 - FWS: Crafting Religion: Material Culture in Southeast Asia

Buddhist texts and teachers often refer to "liberation," and "enlightenment." But what do Buddhists mean by "freedom"? How do Buddhist thought and practice address the human need for comfort and ways of inhabiting social and personal adversity? Looking at historical and modern-contemporary materials - including Buddhist writings, podcasts, and visual materials - we explore these and related questions. At the same time, working with different textual forms, we explore approaches to writing. What makes writing accessible and engaging? How can we describe richly and make our analyses and arguments clear? For academic writing and in our wider personal and professional lives, writing skills are a source of power, as well as an expression of creativity. Our assignments build writerly skills, and confidence, exploring summary, description, analysis and argument. We will write in a range of genres including more academic and journalistic pieces. Writing work takes place in and outside of class, through both independent and peer-work, and several assignments are workshopped through multiple drafts with the professor.

Full details for ASIAN 1118 - FWS: Power, Protection, and Liberation: Buddhist Paths to Flourishing

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. (GE)

Full details for ASIAN 2211 - Introduction to Japan

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. No previous knowledge of musical notation or performance experience necessary. (SC)

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

How did Japan evolve from samurai to superpower? We investigate this transformation in Japanese and world history over a two-semester sequence. Students are free to enroll in either semester independently. (All are welcome, but none required, to enroll in both semesters.) We begin in early Japan: the birthplace of the sun goddess Amaterasu, the imperial court devoted to her, and the samurai who rose to rule under her sway. Early Japan was also home to con-men and courtesans, mischievous gods and warring Buddhists, the world's first (and female!) novelist, and a surprisingly cosmopolitan culture of artists and scientists, comedians and entrepreneurs, human traffickers and international travelers. Our first semester exploring this eclectic culture culminates in the early modern era (1600-1868), when under samurai rule, Japan developed many modern elements that laid the groundwork for the revolutionary changes and superpower status examined in the second semester. We chart Japan's development not only through big events but also everyday life, delving into gender and sexuality, family and labor, arts and entertainment, and more. (SC)

Full details for ASIAN 2261 - From Samurai to Superpower: Japan in World History I

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. (SC)

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 Choson 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 explore 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. Readings for the course will be in English or in English translation and no prior knowledge of Korean culture is required. (SC)

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 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. (LL)

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

This course introduces the academic study of religion. 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. (RL)

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. (SC)

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

The samurai looms large in Japanese history, often serving as one of the most recognizable symbols of Japan to global audiences. Yet this quintessentially “Japanese” identity was also held by Japanese Christians, Koreans, Ming-dynasty refugees, women, Europeans, and even formerly enslaved Africans. Furthermore, far from being mere warriors, samurai filled many other roles, including those of doctors, naturalists, cosmographers, and popular fiction writers. By challenging the traditional image of the samurai, we will uncover the complexities of early modern Japanese culture and society. We will trace the samurai’s trajectory from their emergence in the 8th and 9th centuries to their zenith as the “Great Unifiers” of the Warring States period. We will then consider their stagnation and decline during Japan’s “Great Peace” and their eventual disappearance in the 1870s. We will also become critical consumers of various forms of samurai-related media—from Edo-period fiction, kabuki plays, and woodblock prints to contemporary anime, period films, and video games. Through this exploration, we will develop a more nuanced understanding of the samurai and their significance in Japanese history. No knowledge of Japanese is required. All readings will be provided in English translation. (SC)

Full details for ASIAN 2276 - Tales of the Samurai

This course serves as an introduction to key concepts in the study of the Fantastic, a fundamental analytic category in several academic disciplines, including literature, psychology, anthropology, art, and religion. Asia, the continent with the world’s largest population and the birthplace for several major religious traditions, is replete with narratives, beliefs and artistic practices which traverse the Fantastic’s diffuse aspects and explore its myriad dimensions. Our encounter with such phenomena will be concentrated on three of its key genres with roots in Asian and Asian-inspired religious movements: gods, ghosts, and gurus. Accordingly, course readings will discuss case studies from Hinduism, Buddhism, Traditional Chinese Religions, Vietnamese Cao Ðài, and other such sectarian perspectives. Beyond gaining an empirical understanding of how each of these traditions has interpreted the classifications of god, ghost, and guru, we will also consider how religious practitioners have articulated their ideas about these entities in storytelling, visual objects, cinematic productions and other arenas of cultural expression. Overall, these inquiries will encourage students to critically engage with the following question: “How can studies of Fantastical Figures affirm and expand conventional notions of religion?” (RL)

Full details for ASIAN 2287 - Gods, Ghosts, and Gurus: A Global Exploration of the Fantastic in Asian Religions

This course reexamines Korea’s place in East Asia by studying transnational cultural and intellectual interactions that Korea has had with China and Japan. The course is divided into three parts. First, it examines Korea’s centuries-long participation in the China-centered East Asian world order and its exit from that world order around the turn of the twentieth century. Second, it turns to Japan’s emergence as an expansionist power in East Asia, replacing China’s long-term hegemony in the region, and the diverse ways Koreans and other East Asians, including the Japanese, coped with the Japan-centered new formation of the East Asian world order in the first half of the twentieth century. Third, the course moves to contemporary Korea and investigates the impact of the so-called Korean Wave (the global popularity of Korean popular culture) on Japanese society and Korea-Japan relations, giving students a chance to think deeply about the effects of Japanese colonialism on contemporary Korea-Japan relations and the possible role of culture in smoothing over ongoing political and diplomatic tensions between the two neighboring countries. (SC)

Full details for ASIAN 2296 - Korea and East Asia

To what extent does the ideal of the US as a vanguard for democracy and freedom in the world match up with other aspects-military, economic, and humanitarian-of US foreign policy? This same question about the degree to which discourses and practices correspond might be asked of other countries, like the Soviet Union, China, and Britain, but this course examines the ways in which US foreign policy has been deployed over the course of the twentieth century and the ways those policies have been perceived and received by people living in Latin America and Southeast Asia. Particular case studies will be addressed stemming from the faculty's specializations (for example, Vietnam, Cambodia, Guatemala, and Chile) and the emphasis is on the role of the United States in Latin America and Southeast Asia. Prominent themes will include forms of subversion, from military muscle to economic coercion, and how and why they have changed over time; meanings of liberty, democracy, freedom, and sovereignty in different places and times; popular responses to policies and actions of foreign administrations; the relationships between sovereign states and transnational corporations; the uses and abuses of History in the formulation and justification of policy initiatives and in local responses to them; and the complexities involved in discerning internal and external forces in an increasingly transnational world. (SC)

Full details for ASIAN 2951 - Foreign Policy as Subversion

In this course, we will be exploring the vast range of Japanese poetry—one of the most influential poetic traditions in the world—from its earliest incarnations to the present day. Over the course of the semester, our investigations will range from the ancient poems of the Man’yoshu, to the haiku of Issa and Basho, to the emergence of modern free verse poetry, and finally contemporary poetry in the age of the internet. At the forefront will be how literature connects to other media, by looking at poems composed through audio, film, painting, video games, and the computer. To do so, we will be taking a hands-on approach: students will not only analyze the form and content of Japanese poetry throughout the ages, but will also engage in critical poetic production themselves, trying their hand at composing poems in a variety of modes akin to the works under consideration. All texts will be available in both English and Japanese; class discussion and all assignments will be in English. No prior knowledge of Japanese language, history, or culture required. (LL)

Full details for ASIAN 3317 - Japanese Poetry

This course examines major writers, works, and developments in modern and contemporary Korean literature from the early twentieth century to the present. Beginning with the cultural transition at the end of the Choson dynasty, we will consider how social issues such as class, gender, sexuality, race, migration, and the environment factor into literary constructions of the self, community, and nation. The course integrates creative writing workshops to illuminate the process of literary composition and deepen analytical engagement. We will engage numerous theoretical frameworks to explore and interpret Korean literature in a transnational and global context, including (post)colonial criticism, feminist criticism, and ecocriticism. Readings for the course will be in English or in English translation and no prior knowledge of Korea is required. (LL)

Full details for ASIAN 3324 - Modern and Contemporary Korean Literature

This course will give students the historical background and theoretical tools to understand the politics of Southeast Asia, one of the world's most diverse and fascinating regions. The first part of the course traces Southeast Asia's political development from the colonial period to the present day, examining common themes such as decolonization, state building, war and insurgency, ethnic relations, democratization, economic development, and nationalism. The second part of the course focuses on key issues in contemporary Southeast Asian politics, including political culture, representation and mass politics, globalization, regional politics, and civil violence. Our course will concentrate primarily but not exclusively on the six largest countries in the region-Burma, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam-using the comparative method to understand variation across time, across countries, and within countries. (SC)

Full details for ASIAN 3334 - Southeast Asian Politics

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. Special emphasis will be devoted to localized encounters in Indonesia, Cambodia, Burma/Myanmar, Vietnam, and Thailand. (SC)

Full details for ASIAN 3350 - The Arts of Southeast Asia

This course offers an introduction to the global issue of genocide and other mass atrocities, with an in-depth look at two genocides in Asia ongoing since 2017: in China, and in Burma (Myanmar). First, we will study how genocide works: the prerequisites, warning signs, and how it is carried out. We study the creation of the term genocide as a new crime in international law after WWII, in the UN Genocide Convention, and the checkered history of failing to prevent new genocides (incl. in Cambodia, Rwanda, etc.), but also some successes. Then, we focus on the new genocides under way against the Uyghurs in China and against the Rohingya in Burma: background, events, actors involved, the role of media and propaganda, and why Burma expels people while China force-assimilates people in place. (SC)

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

How does one study Islam from an anthropological perspective? Through close readings of recent ethnographies, canonical texts, theoretical works, and critiques of the genre, we will understand the major debates and intellectual trends that have defined the anthropology of Islam from its earliest inception through the present day. Geographic areas covered include South Asia, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, America, North Africa, and West Africa. (RL)

Full details for ASIAN 3386 - Islam and the Ethnographic Imagination

China is often thought of as being isolated from the outside world. It is imagined as existing in historic seclusion, and, following the establishment of the People's Republic, as pursuing a path of autarky. Such separation has then only been somewhat modified by the set of economic reforms that Deng Xiaoping first instituted in the late 1970s. In this lecture we will seek to turn such conventional wisdom on its head through examining what China is via a consideration of transnational currents within the country's development. However, the course's primary focus will not be upon the past, but rather the present and attempting to determine just where the point of intersection between China and the rest of the world is. Coming to terms with such an issue will provide those who enroll in the class with a deeper, more nuanced, understanding of China's rise and this trend's implications for the rest of the world. We will accomplish this task through a combination of surveying the existing literature on China and transnational politics, and considering new theoretical perspectives on both. (SC)

Full details for ASIAN 3395 - What is China?

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. (SC)

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

This seminar offers an examination of Japanese foreign relations and engagements during the Tokugawa Period (1603–1868). This period has traditionally been organized through the frame of Japanese isolationism (sakoku, lit. “closed country”). A retroactive application of Englebert Kaempfer’s conception of Japanese foreign politics, the term sakoku remains entrenched in twentieth-century understandings of the period’s transregional and transcultural dynamics. This course guides students through a reconsideration of the isolationist historiography of early modern Japan, known to famed Japanologist Donald Keene as the “world within walls.” Upon further study of the "four gateways," which facilitated trade with the Dutch, Chinese, Korean, Ryukyuans, and Ainu, recent scholarship has moved towards a pluralistic understanding of sakoku, with the corrective terminology “maritime prohibitions” serving to highlight the multifocal, dynamic, and diachronic aspects of the concept. By examining historical documents, world maps, cosmographic writings, and literary evidence, we will explore the various modalities by which Japanese agents imagined, encountered, and ordered the outside world. No knowledge of Japanese required. (SC)

Full details for ASIAN 3705 - Gateways of Tokugawa Japan: Global Encounters and Reframing the “Closed Country”

This course explores the Buddhist tradition of Zen through a focus on the major figures in its Japanese context who have contributed to its foundational practices and promulgation and its revitalization after periods of decline. We begin with the introduction of Buddhism into Japan in the 6th century and the issues surrounding the establishment of the “six schools” of Buddhism in the 8th century and the prestige and dominance of the Tendai School on Mt. Hiei. This allows us to see the uniquely Japanese context of religious debates. We then turn to an exploration of the Zen thinkers Eisai, Dôgen, Keizan, and Hakuin and see how these thinkers all introduced ideas to Japanese Zen practice that led the tradition into new directions from its Chinese origins: tea cultivation, work practice, and monastic reform. Last, we study how Zen came to be regarded as the “way of the warrior” and a symbol of Japanese uniqueness and militarism. The course ends with an exploration of Zen expansion in the US in the 20th century and the “Dôgen boom” in American literary theory. (RL)

Full details for ASIAN 4021 - Zen Buddhism and its Japanese Context: Major Thinkers

Buddhist ideas, practices, and institutions play many roles in the political life of South and Southeast Asia, in the present day and throughout the long history of these regions. This course approaches “politics” broadly. Thus, the course explores how persons invoke Buddhist concepts and understandings of Buddhist traditions when acting for and against state and sovereign powers, but also how Buddhist ideas and institutions are drawn into other social projects that shape the flow and accumulation of social capital, economic benefit, and authority. Case studies and theoretical works address historical, modern, and contemporary materials. Assignments include the opportunity for students to focus on a contemporary regional location of their choice. (RL)

Full details for ASIAN 4023 - Buddhism and Politics in South and Southeast Asia

This is an events-based course. Students will attend ten seminars in the South Asia Program seminar series. The work of scholars, filmmakers, and artists presenting research in the series spans the region and its diasporas (e.g., India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bhutan, and Indian Ocean worlds). Topics considered will cross the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Students will attend these events and engage with the material presented in short response papers and supplemental readings. The objective of this course is to offer students, whether they are familiar with the region or not, new perspectives on the lived experiences of South Asia. Students will also become familiar with interdisciplinary area studies as an intellectual project. (SC)

Full details for ASIAN 4377 - Issues in South Asian Studies

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

Overview of the history of the Japanese language followed by intensive examination of issues of interest to participants. Students should have reading knowledge of Japanese. (LL)

Full details for ASIAN 4411 - History of the Japanese Language

Chinese discourses have long linked the circulation of cosmic energies, political power, and bodily vitalities. In these models political order, spiritual cultivation, and health are achieved and enhanced through harmonizing these flows across the levels of Heaven-and-Earth, state, and humankind. It is when these movements are blocked or out of synchrony that we find disordered climates, societies, and illness. In this course, we will examine the historical emergence and development of these models of politically resonant persons and bodily centered polities, reading across primary texts in translation from these otherwise often separated fields. For alternate frameworks of analysis as well as for comparative perspectives, we will also examine theories of power and embodiment from other cultures, including recent scholarship in anthropology and critical theory. (SC)

Full details for ASIAN 4429 - Vitality and Power in China

This course will treat the classical Indian tradition as a case study in comparative poetics. We will read works of Sanskrit poetry in translation, along with selections from the works of both Sanskrit and early modern and contemporary Western literary and aesthetic theorists. We will look at the way contemporary developments in aesthetics have shaped the reception of Sanskrit poetry and poetic theory over the past two centuries, as well as using parallel readings in classical Indian and contemporary theory to explore the broader normative question of how theoretical resources should be deployed in the interpretation of other, particularly classical literatures. (LL)

Full details for ASIAN 4446 - Classical Indian Poetry and Comparative Poetics

Seminar intended to examine the increasingly complex relationship that has evolved between China and the rest of the international system, with particular focus on the rise of Chinese nationalism and the extent to which those in Tibet, Xinjiang, and, to a lesser extent, Taiwan, are contesting such a trend. In so doing, the course emphasizes the interrelated, yet often contradictory, challenges facing Beijing in regards to the task of furthering the cause of national unity while promoting policies of integration with international society and interdependence with the global economy. (SC)

Full details for ASIAN 4448 - China, Tibet and Xinjiang

China, a cultural giant of East Asia, made a passive entrance into modernity. With the advent of Western and American colonialism and imperialism, coupled with recent successes in westernization by the Japanese, Chinese artists had to redefine their roles as well as their visions. This turmoil bore witness to a vibrant beginning in modern Chinese art. Interactions between the Chinese themselves, and Chinese interactions with foreigners in the major cities of Shanghai and Beijing, fostered new directions in Chinese art and helped shape western visions of Chinese art history. Issues covered include: Chinese debates on western influence--their theoretical foundations and rationales; New visions for the future of Chinese art in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; Pluralistic approaches and arguments on Chinese identity in the modern era; Collecting art and the vision of history; The identity of traditional literati painters in the modern era-their roles, artworks, and deeds; Foreigners in China-the formation of major European collections of Chinese art, and the formation of Chinese art history in the West. (SC)

Full details for ASIAN 4473 - Modern Chinese Art

What does it mean to be “modern”? How is it tied to one’s (person, community, country, government, stakeholders) desires and aspirations for the future? How does it relate to one’s past? In this seminar we explore how idea(l)s of modernity have taken shape, how they were received and articulated, and how they continue to change. We will read scholarship addressing idea(l)s of modernity in relation to health, technology, the environment, politics, gender, the economy, and more. Reading materials will adapt to seminar members’ interests.

Full details for ASIAN 4480 - Projects of Modernity in Asia

When Beijing hosted the summer Olympics in 2008, its opening ceremony left viewers, journalists, and visitors impressed and sometimes alarmed by its enormity, encompassing a massive cast of dancers, musicians, and other performers led by iconic film director Zhang Yimou. It was judged as not just a celebration or an artistic achievement, but as a message: China was ready to overwhelm the world. Size mattered, likely in the moment's design, and certainly in its reception and interpretation. This interdisciplinary seminar takes an innovative approach to politics in Asia, considering size and its meanings: from the small and the close-knit to the expansive and powerful. We will consider especially the varied techniques of their political, public, and pop cultural representations. (SC)

Full details for ASIAN 4707 - Scale, Size, and the Politics of Expression in Asia

This course is an introduction to ideological and narrative disputes in the field of Asian Studies, intended for new M.A. students and other graduate students in the field. It is intended to provide examples of and practice in cultural criticism, to help assess and resist received wisdom, and to aid in opening transnational scholarship to new ideas and new voices. (SC)

Full details for ASIAN 5500 - Who Speaks for Asia?

This course explores the Buddhist tradition of Zen through a focus on the major figures in its Japanese context who have contributed to its foundational practices and promulgation and its revitalization after periods of decline. We begin with the introduction of Buddhism into Japan in the 6th century and the issues surrounding the establishment of the “six schools” of Buddhism in the 8th century and the prestige and dominance of the Tendai School on Mt. Hiei. This allows us to see the uniquely Japanese context of religious debates. We then turn to an exploration of the Zen thinkers Eisai, Dôgen, Keizan, and Hakuin and see how these thinkers all introduced ideas to Japanese Zen practice that led the tradition into new directions from its Chinese origins: tea cultivation, work practice, and monastic reform. Last, we study how Zen came to be regarded as the “way of the warrior” and a symbol of Japanese uniqueness and militarism. The course ends with an exploration of Zen expansion in the US in the 20th century and the “Dôgen boom” in American literary theory. (RL)

Full details for ASIAN 6021 - Zen Buddhism and its Japanese Context: Major Thinkers

Buddhist ideas, practices, and institutions play many roles in the political life of South and Southeast Asia, in the present day and throughout the long history of these regions. This course approaches “politics” broadly. Thus, the course explores how persons invoke Buddhist concepts and understandings of Buddhist traditions when acting for and against state and sovereign powers, but also how Buddhist ideas and institutions are drawn into other social projects that shape the flow and accumulation of social capital, economic benefit, and authority. Case studies and theoretical works address historical, modern, and contemporary materials. Assignments include the opportunity for students to focus on a contemporary regional location of their choice.(RL)

Full details for ASIAN 6023 - Buddhism and Politics in South and Southeast Asia

This is an events-based course. Students will attend ten seminars in the South Asia Program seminar series. The work of scholars, filmmakers, and artists presenting research in the series spans the region and its diasporas (e.g., India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bhutan, and Indian Ocean worlds). Topics considered will cross the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Students will attend these events and engage with the material presented in short response papers and supplemental readings. The objective of this course is to offer students, whether they are familiar with the region or not, new perspectives on the lived experiences of South Asia. Students will also become familiar with interdisciplinary area studies as an intellectual project. (SC)

Full details for ASIAN 6377 - Issues in South Asian Studies

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. (LL)

Full details for ASIAN 6612 - Japanese Bibliography and Research Methods

To hone our skills in the analysis of topics in Asian studies, we will review critically a number of switchpoints that have produced conceptual difference in recent scholarly work. Asia scholars have laid claim to the historical, to modernity, coloniality, postcoloniality, religion, affect, temporality, race, capital, (mass) media, embodiment, the translocal, and the posthuman as the bases for producing conceptual difference. Each of these switchpoints has allowed for valuable interventions from Asian Studies into the humanities and social sciences. We will develop questions, criteria, and critiques to thoroughly test our tools of analysis and work toward yet other methods. Contemporary academia valorizes the production of conceptual difference. Thus, evaluation criteria routinely include originality and innovation. This is a valuable point of departure that allows us to ask, What kind of conceptual difference do we want to produce in our work? What kind of conceptual difference is intellectually rigorous? Asia as Question does not merely provide intellectual history but rather tests out—and creates—contemporary, critical approaches. As such, it interrogates especially notions of region and area; work on temporality; new ontologies; and current approaches to media ecologies. (SC)

Full details for ASIAN 6622 - Asia, Theory, Critique

This course will give students the historical background and theoretical tools to understand the politics of Southeast Asia, one of the world's most diverse and fascinating regions. The first part of the course traces Southeast Asia's political development from the colonial period to the present day, examining common themes such as decolonization, state building, war and insurgency, ethnic relations, democratization, economic development, and nationalism. The second part of the course focuses on key issues in contemporary Southeast Asian politics, including political culture, representation and mass politics, globalization, regional politics, and civil violence. Our course will concentrate primarily but not exclusively on the six largest countries in the region-Burma, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam-using the comparative method to understand variation across time, across countries, and within countries. (SC)

Full details for ASIAN 6647 - Southeast Asian Politics

This course will treat the classical Indian tradition as a case study in comparative poetics. We will read works of Sanskrit poetry in translation, along with selections from the works of both Sanskrit and early modern and contemporary Western literary and aesthetic theorists. We will look at the way contemporary developments in aesthetics have shaped the reception of Sanskrit poetry and poetic theory over the past two centuries, as well as using parallel readings in classical Indian and contemporary theory to explore the broader normative question of how theoretical resources should be deployed in the interpretation of other, particularly classical literatures. (LL)

Full details for ASIAN 6648 - Classical Indian Poetry and Comparative Poetics

This course offers an introduction to the global issue of genocide and other mass atrocities, with an in-depth look at two genocides in Asia ongoing since 2017: in China, and in Burma (Myanmar). First, we will study how genocide works: the prerequisites, warning signs, and how it is carried out. We study the creation of the term genocide as a new crime in international law after WWII, in the UN Genocide Convention, and the checkered history of failing to prevent new genocides (incl. in Cambodia, Rwanda, etc.), but also some successes. Then, we focus on the new genocides under way against the Uyghurs in China and against the Rohingya in Burma: background, events, actors involved, the role of media and propaganda, and why Burma expels people while China force-assimilates people in place. (SC)

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

China, a cultural giant of East Asia, made a passive entrance into modernity. With the advent of Western and American colonialism and imperialism, coupled with recent successes in westernization by the Japanese, Chinese artists had to redefine their roles as well as their visions. This turmoil bore witness to a vibrant beginning in modern Chinese art. Interactions between the Chinese themselves, and Chinese interactions with foreigners in the major cities of Shanghai and Beijing, fostered new directions in Chinese art and helped shape western visions of Chinese art history. Issues covered include: Chinese debates on western influence--their theoretical foundations and rationales; New visions for the future of Chinese art in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; Pluralistic approaches and arguments on Chinese identity in the modern era; Collecting art and the vision of history; The identity of traditional literati painters in the modern era-their roles, artworks, and deeds; Foreigners in China-the formation of major European collections of Chinese art, and the formation of Chinese art history in the West. (SC)

Full details for ASIAN 6673 - Modern Chinese Art

What does it mean to be “modern”? How is it tied to one’s (person, community, country, government, stakeholders) desires and aspirations for the future? How does it relate to one’s past? In this seminar we explore how idea(l)s of modernity have taken shape, how they were received and articulated, and how they continue to change. We will read scholarship addressing idea(l)s of modernity in relation to health, technology, the environment, politics, gender, the economy, and more. Reading materials will adapt to seminar members’ interests. (SC)

Full details for ASIAN 6678 - Projects of Modernity in Asia

How does one study Islam from an anthropological perspective? Through close readings of recent ethnographies, canonical texts, theoretical works, and critiques of the genre, we will understand the major debates and intellectual trends that have defined the anthropology of Islam from its earliest inception through the present day. Geographic areas covered include South Asia, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, America, North Africa, and West Africa. (RL)

Full details for ASIAN 6686 - Islam and the Ethnographic Imagination

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. (SC)

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

This seminar offers an examination of Japanese foreign relations and engagements during the Tokugawa Period (1603–1868). This period has traditionally been organized through the frame of Japanese isolationism (sakoku, lit. “closed country”). A retroactive application of Englebert Kaempfer’s conception of Japanese foreign politics, the term sakoku remains entrenched in twentieth-century understandings of the period’s transregional and transcultural dynamics. This course guides students through a reconsideration of the isolationist historiography of early modern Japan, known to famed Japanologist Donald Keene as the “world within walls.” Upon further study of the "four gateways," which facilitated trade with the Dutch, Chinese, Korean, Ryukyuans, and Ainu, recent scholarship has moved towards a pluralistic understanding of sakoku, with the corrective terminology “maritime prohibitions” serving to highlight the multifocal, dynamic, and diachronic aspects of the concept. By examining historical documents, world maps, cosmographic writings, and literary evidence, we will explore the various modalities by which Japanese agents imagined, encountered, and ordered the outside world. No knowledge of Japanese required.

Full details for ASIAN 6705 - Gateways of Tokugawa Japan: Global Encounters and Reframing the “Closed Country”

When Beijing hosted the summer Olympics in 2008, its opening ceremony left viewers, journalists, and visitors impressed and sometimes alarmed by its enormity, encompassing a massive cast of dancers, musicians, and other performers led by iconic film director Zhang Yimou. It was judged as not just a celebration or an artistic achievement, but as a message: China was ready to overwhelm the world. Size mattered, likely in the moment's design, and certainly in its reception and interpretation. This interdisciplinary seminar takes an innovative approach to politics in Asia, considering size and its meanings: from the small and the close-knit to the expansive and powerful. We will consider especially the varied techniques of their political, public, and pop cultural representations. (SC)

Full details for ASIAN 6707 - Scale, Size, and the Politics of Expression in Asia

Guided independent study for graduate students.

Full details for ASIAN 7703 - Directed Research

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

Full details for BENGL 1121 - Elementary Bangla-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 Bangla-Bengali I

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

Full details for BENGL 3301 - Advanced Bangla-Bengali I

Topics vary by semester in relation to student needs.

Full details for BENGL 5509 - Graduate Studies in Bangla-Bengali

This course is designed to give beginning learners a solid foundation in reading and writing Burmese. Reading and writing skills are essential first steps to learning the language, and this is the only course where you will learn the script. You will also learn some basic spoken Burmese and important 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 elementary Burmese at Cornell or learned some Burmese elsewhere and know how to read and write Burmese script. You will continue developing proficiency in learning all major aspects of the language with a focus on reading authentic texts, engaging with audio-video clips and at the intermediate level, including reading and understanding formal-style texts. Some of the assignments are completed online using interactive video and audio materials.

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

This course develops your Burmese language skills further, targeting growth in all four core areas: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. All materials used in the course are authentic Burmese short stories, current event reports, various digital media such as blogs and YouTube videos. 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 develop the student's reading proficiency in Burmese. Challenging authentic texts will be read, analyzed, and translated to English. A certain amount of discussion in Burmese 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, as well as short literary works by contemporary authors. 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

Designed for complete beginners, 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. For non-heritage learners only.

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 non-heritage learners 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. If you grew up hearing and speaking Chinese and have very limited reading and writing proficiency, but have a goal of becoming a true bilingual of English and Chinese, this course is designed with you in mind.

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

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

Full details for CHIN 3301 - High Intermediate Mandarin I

Continuing instruction in spoken Chinese and in various genres and styles of written Chinese.

Full details for CHIN 3351 - High Intermediate Mandarin I: CAPS in Beijing

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. These include authentic Chinese texts and TV programs, class discussions on contemporary issues, and written compositions. Students can also expect to broaden their knowledge of Chinese culture and society through this course. Classical Chinese will be introduced to help students further develop their understanding of written and formal Chinese, as well as deepen their appreciation of Chinese culture.

Full details for CHIN 4427 - High Advanced Mandarin I

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.

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. (LL)

Full details for CHLIT 3307 - 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 course content. (LL)

Full details for CHLIT 4421 - Directed Study

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

Full details for CHLIT 6621 - Advanced Directed Reading

Designed for students who have no prior background in Hindi and wish to develop some basic speaking and written skills. This course offers a balanced treatment of speaking, listening comprehension, reading, and writing skills. By the end of the Elementary Hindi sequence, students will be able to (1) converse and comprehend conversations on topics such as personal needs and social activities; (2) listen and communicate main ideas of simple stories and conversations in Hindi; (3) read aloud/pronounce and write in Hindi-Urdu scripts at satisfactory speed; (4) familiarize themselves with the language through the meaning cultural contexts and background.

Full details for HINDI 1121 - 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 for students with no previous knowledge of Indonesian or Malay language. Students will learn enough phrases to be able to handle very simple interactions, express very simple needs, and behave appropriately in Indonesian settings. Cultural information will be taught in English. Indonesianists of Cornell share fun information about their fields of expertise regarding Indonesia. 80% of the course, the Bahasa Indonesia language component, will be practiced.

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 - High Intermediate 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 laboratory provides explanation, analysis, and cultural background. Daily lectures 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

Overview of the history of the Japanese language followed by intensive examination of issues of interest to participants. Students should have reading knowledge of Japanese. (LL)

Full details for JAPAN 4410 - History of the Japanese Language

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

This 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

The course develops students’ comprehension of written Literary Khmer using samples materials from a variety of genres including excerpts from texts/novels, news articles, and poetry as well as texts relevant to graduate student research (when appropriate). This course is applied to persons who want to continue to learn Khmer and want to pursue the language study in the future.

Full details for KHMER 4401 - Readings in Khmer Literature 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 lab. Students will then have an opportunity to practice the learned knowledge in lectures. By the end of the semester, students will be able to engage in simple conversations with native Koreans on subjects familiar to them such as, introducing oneself, describing events or objects in the present and past, asking for and giving directions to and from certain places, talking about future plans, 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. Korean typing skill is required.

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

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. Korean typing skill is required.

Full details for KOREA 4401 - Advanced Korean I

This course is designed for beginners with no prior knowledge of the Nepali language. It focuses on developing essential language skills—speaking, listening, reading, and writing—through the use of culturally relevant materials and texts. Emphasis is placed on foundational grammar structures and practical communication. Students will also be introduced to the Devanagari script for reading and writing in Nepali.

Full details for NEPAL 1121 - Elementary Nepali I

This course focuses on reading, writing, and conversational skills, aiming to strengthen oral proficiency and improve comprehension through reading, conversations, and listening activities.

Full details for NEPAL 2201 - Intermediate Nepali I

This course offers advanced-level Nepali instruction, emphasizing conversation, interviews, and discussion skills.

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

Topics vary by semester in relation to student needs.

Full details for PUNJB 5509 - Graduate Studies in Punjabi

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

This 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

Further develops students' written and oral proficiency in order to allow them to function adequately in a Tamil-speaking environment. Of particular interest to students planning to conduct scholarly research or fieldwork in a Tamil-speaking context. Develops the students' appreciation for the rich culture of the Indian subcontinent where Tamil is spoken.

Full details for TAMIL 2201 - Intermediate Tamil I

Intended for advanced language study.

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.

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

This two-semester class is designed to assist students who already have the equivalent of at least one year of Tibetan language study. The course is intended to build on this foundation so that students gain greater proficiency in reading a variety of classical Tibetan writing styles and genres, including (especially in the second semester) texts relevant to their research.The syllabus is largely structured around readings in A Classical Tibetan Reader, supported by relevant instruction and exercises on key grammatical points using selections from the Clear Mirror. Students will learn to identify commonly found vocabulary, grammatical constructions and other conventions appearing in Classical Tibetan texts, including religious, historical and literary genres. At the end of the semester, students will also be introduced to texts in the dbu-med script and the abbreviated words (skung yig) often employed in these.

Full details for TIBET 2201 - Intermediate 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 class is designed to assist students who already have the equivalent of at least two years of Classical Tibetan language study. The course is intended to build on this foundation so that students gain greater proficiency in reading a variety of classical Tibetan writing styles and genres, including texts relevant to their research.

Full details for TIBET 3301 - Advanced Classical Tibetan I

For those whose knowledge is equivalent to a student who has completed the second-year course. The course develops students' reading comprehension skills through reading selected modern Tibetan literature. Tibetan is used as the medium of instruction and interaction to develop oral fluency and proficiency.

Full details for TIBET 3311 - Advanced 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 is designed for anyone wishing to gain some basic Vietnamese language skills and learn various elements of Vietnamese culture. Those who are planning to take short trips to Vietnam will find this course particularly useful. Due to the flip classroom nature of the course, it is intended for sophomores and up.

Full details for VIET 1100 - Elements of Vietnamese Language and Culture

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