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

The Huns are commonly known as invaders from Asia in the fourth century CE who dominated Eastern Europe and campaigned in Western Europe until defeated in the mid-sixth century. This tale is but one aspect of a larger story about Huns and other peoples in nearly every part of Eurasia who were affected by them. The content of this writing seminar will include written accounts of the Huns and of events in the history of the Huns and in the histories of the peoples affected by them, epic tales such as the "Nibelungenlied," geographic factors in their history, information about the life of Attila, the most famous leader of the Huns, and archaeological evidence.

Full details for ASIAN 1116 - FWS: The Huns

Interdisciplinary introduction to Chinese culture especially designed for students not majoring in Asian Studies. Explores literature, history, religion, and art, and other aspects of China's rich and diverse heritage, from earliest times to the present.

Catalog Distribution: (CA-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 2212 - Introduction to China

In 1868, samurai revolutionaries and their allies seized the reins of power and established a new capital they called Tokyo.  Against all odds, this fragile regime survived and made Tokyo a center of power that would transform both Japan and the world.  This survey of Japanese history explores the rise and fall of Japan as a modern imperial power; its foreign relations; its economic and scientific development from "feudalism" to futuristic technologies; and Japan's many modern revolutions, from the rule of the samurai to Westernization and democracy, from democratic collapse to fascism and World War II, and from Japan's postwar rebirth to the present.  We will examine not only big events but also everyday life, including gender and sexuality, family and schools, and art and popular culture.

Catalog Distribution: (HA-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 2222 - The World of Modern Japan

This course will explore religious traditions in South Asia (Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka) and East Asia (China, Japan, and Korea) including Hinduism, Buddhism (South Asian and East Asian), Sikhism, Confucianism, Daoism, and Shintō. We will also encounter a wide range of religious expressions, including myth, ritual, pilgrimage, mysticism, meditation, and other spiritual technologies.

Catalog Distribution: (HA-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 2250 - Introduction to Asian Religions

This course explores the breadth of music found in present day China, Japan, and Korea--from indigenous musical traditions, through adaptations of Western art music, up to the latest popular styles--as well as the presence of traditional East Asian musics outside East Asia, including right here at Cornell. In both cases, music offers a lens for examining the myriad social and cultural forces that shape it, and that are shaped by it. The course's academic focus on critical reading and listening, written assignments, and discussion is complemented by opportunities to engage directly with music, whether attending conferences or participating in workshops with student-led ensembles.

Catalog Distribution: (CA-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 2259 - Music in and of East Asia

Japanese pop culture—anime, manga, video games, music and more—has been a major phenomenon with massive worldwide popularity for the last three decades. In this course, we will explore a wide range of Japanese pop cultural forms, exploring the interactions between different media, Japanese pop culture as global pop culture, and a variety of modes of analyzing visual and audio materials. We will also see how pop cultural works themselves, in their content and form, engage with questions of gender, technology, fandom, nation, and the environment. No prior knowledge of Japanese language, culture, or history required. All readings and screenings will be available in English or with English subtitles.

Catalog Distribution: (CA-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 2260 - Japanese Pop Culture

Students will study Chinese myths from the earliest times. Focus will be on understanding how people have used myth to create and convey meaning, on examining the form Chinese myths take, and on considering how they are related to religion, literature, historical accounts, and intellectual trends.

Catalog Distribution: (LA-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 2279 - Chinese Mythology

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: (HA-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 2283 - Social Debates in China

East Asian martial arts are often portrayed as ancient, timeless, and even mystical, but they have a history. In this course we explore how military techniques intended for use in war, policing, and banditry came to be practiced as methods of moral, spiritual, and physical self-cultivation. We examine the historical dynamics that shape martial arts transformation, transmission, and spread. All students conduct at least one field trip to a local martial arts demonstration or school, and consider the question: "What is East Asian about East Asian martial arts in Ithaca?" 

Catalog Distribution: (HA-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 2290 - East Asian Martial Arts

The Great Qing (1644-1911), a multi-ethnic empire that conquered China proper from the northeastern borderlands, expanded into central Asia, Mongolia, and Tibet, and consolidated the China-based empire's control over its southwestern frontiers. An heir to both Chinese and Inner Asian traditions, the Qing empire laid the foundation for the modern Chinese nation-state. In this course, students will focus on the political, legal, social, cultural, and intellectual aspects of China's last empire. Students will also locate the early modern Chinese empire in a regional and global context, examining its power influence in Korea and Southeast Asia, and its encounters and interactions with Western and Japanese imperialist powers. These encounters and interactions contributed to the domestic turmoil and foreign invasions that would eventually led to the decline and demise of the Chinese empire, but they also gave rise to new forces that would shape the fate of modern China in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Catalog Distribution: (HA-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 2293 - Making of an Empire 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)

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

This course provides students with an analytical framework to understand China's ongoing economic transformation. The courses goals include: 1) to familiarize students with different perspectives on China's economic development and future prospects; 2) to provide a close working knowledge of the evolving current situation, with a focus on internal variation within China—telling different Chinese stories, not one "China story"—and particularly emphasizing urbanization and the goal of shifting from manufacturing and export-led to services and domestic-led economy; and 3) to give students hands-on experience using Chinese economic data in the context of a brief research note. Each week will connect to current events and debates, with students writing three blog posts over the course of the semester to bring academic research and social scientific analysis to bear upon policy-relevant questions and developments.

Catalog Distribution: (SBA-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 3304 - China's Next Economy

Beginning with the mid-nineteenth century, the course traces dynamic relays and reciprocal influences among woodblock prints, maps, fiction, films, anime, comics, and digital arts in Japan. We will consider the extensive cultural commentary that has surrounded the emergence of new media in an attempt to assess their transformative aesthetic, social, and political implications. The course will use materials with translations or subtitles in English.

Catalog Distribution: (CA-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 3318 - Literature and Media in Japan

There are 39 countries, 35 dependencies, and 6 disputed territories with populations of less than one million. There are 27 countries and one dependence with populations between one and five million. These places are located on every continent of the world. What historical contexts led to the existence of these polities, what are their roles in the modern world, what are their futures and why is it important to know about them? This course is both a survey and an analysis of them and of how the world looks from their vantages; it aims to open a view of the world much larger than the common focus on a limited number of large and medium-sized countries and to see how these small countries reveal a great diversity of human experience and  help us to understand the contemporary world.

Catalog Distribution: (HA-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 3319 - Small Countries in a Big World

People outside China often talk about "China's rise," the changes in world economics and politics that come from the increase of the power of the People's Republic. From a domestic perspective, though, China's rise represents a promise to regular people that they will lead richer lives, both literally and figuratively. This course will examine the nature and history of that promise as it is experienced through literature, film, and other cultural texts. Why and how do PRC citizens want to get rich, and what happens when they don't? How does economic class shape identity in contemporary China? Can parts of the population be happy outside of the pursuit of material wealth? All texts in the course will be available in English, and most primary texts will be available in Chinese; writing assignments will be submitted in English.

Catalog Distribution: (LA-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 3352 - Getting Rich in Modern China

This course explores central dynamics and challenges in Buddhism as it established itself in Japan. We focus on six major figures central to the history of Japanese Buddhism: Saichô (767-822), Kûkai (774-835), Hônen (1133-1212), Nichiren (1222-1282), Dôgen (1200-1253), and Hakuin (1686-1769). We study their lives, key writings, core practices and doctrines and central dynamics, especially the 1) establishment of Mahâyâna ordination, 2) grounding of esoteric practice in Japan and the accommodation to Japanese understandings of the natural world 3) popularization of Buddhist religious practice for commoners through nembutsu recitation and narrative traditions, 4) uses of Buddhism as a political, proto-nationalist ideology; and 5) the establishment of Zen meditation as an iconic "Japanese" form of Buddhism. Readings are primary sources in translation with secondary sources to provide context and supplement the lectures.

Full details for ASIAN 3359 - Japanese Buddhism

This course offers two things: an introduction to the global issue of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and other mass atrocities, and an in-depth look at two ongoing 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 also review the creation of the term genocide as a new crime 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 in Burma, respectively, analyzing the background, the events, the actors involved, and the key role of media and propaganda.

Catalog Distribution: (CA-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 3365 - Genocide Today

The course will survey in translation a selection of major works of poetry, drama, and aesthetic theory and criticism from the Sanskrit literary tradition of ancient India. Beginning with selections from the Sanskrit epic Ramayana, traditionally regarded as the "first poem" in the Indian tradition, we will turn tosurvey prominent examples from the ongoing tradition of epic poetry, the rise of romantic and heroic drama through the works of the fifth century Gupta poet Kalidasa and his successors, and the extensive corpus of Sanskrit and Prakrit lyric poetry from the 2nd to the 12th century AD.

Catalog Distribution: (LA-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 3366 - Poetry of Classical India

A modern country and an ancient civilization, India has been imagined through the ages in many different ways. This introductory course focuses on the 20th and 21st centuries, drawing on films (Bollywood and Hollywood), TV shows, music, novels, and political thought. Readings from Gandhi, Ambedkar, Tagore, Kipling, Forster, Premchand, Senapati, Manto, Ananthamurthy and Roy as well as such diasporic writers as Rushdie, Lahiri, and Naipaul.

Catalog Distribution: (LA-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 3368 - Imagining India, Home and Diaspora

This course traces the development of travel writing from the Han dynasty (206 B.C.–A.D. 221) to the Song dynasty (960–1279). Special attention is paid to the ways in which Chinese writers have ceaselessly negotiated humankind's relationship with the natural world in their accounts of travel—both imagined and actual. Readings selected for investigation are assigned in English translation.

Catalog Distribution: (CA-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 3370 - Nature Imagined and Experienced: Ancient Chinese Travel Literature

This course explores the practice, theory, and methodology of humanities research, critical analysis, and communication through writing and oral presentation. We will study the work and impact of humanists (scholars of literature, history, theory, art, visual studies, film, anthropology, gender and sexuality studies), who pose big questions about the human condition. By reading and analyzing their scholarship—critiquing them and engaging their ideas—we will craft our own methods and voices. Students will refine their research methods (library research, note taking, organizing material, bibliographies, citation methods, proposals, outlines, etc.) and design their own independent research project. Students enrolled in this seminar will have the opportunity to participate in the Humanities Scholars Program.

Catalog Distribution: (CA-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 3375 - Humanities Scholars Research Methods

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: (LA-AS)

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

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.

Catalog Distribution: (CA-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 3386 - Islam and the Ethnographic Imagination

Surveys the modern history of Southeast Asia with special attention to colonialism, the Chinese diaspora, and socio-cultural institutions.  Considers global transformations that brought "the West" into people's lives in Southeast Asia.  Focuses on the development of the modern nation-state, but also questions the narrative by incorporating groups that are typically excluded.  Assigns primary texts in translation. 

Catalog Distribution: (HA-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 3396 - Transnational Local: Southeast Asian History from the Eighteenth Century

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 4404 - Supervised Reading

Visions of bodily corruption preoccupy ruler and ruled alike and prompt campaigns for moral, medical, and legal reform in periods of both stability and revolution.  This seminar explores the links between political, sexual, and scientific revolutions in early modern and modern Asia.  The focus is on China and Japan, with secondary attention to South Asia and Korea.  Interaction with the West is a major theme.  Topics include disease control, birth control and population control, body modification, the history of masculinity, honorific violence and sexual violence, the science of sex, normative and stigmatized sexualities, fashion, disability, and eugenics.  The course begins with an exploration of regimes of the body in "traditional" Asian cultures.  The course then turns to the medicalization and modernization of the body under the major rival political movements in Asia: feminism, imperialism, nationalism, and communism.

Catalog Distribution: (HA-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 4415 - The Body Politic in Asia

What is disability? How do the artistic, literary, and media practices of those who self-identify as disabled center non-normative forms of sensation, movement, and cognition? In this seminar, we will explore various forms of cultural production from disabled communities and practitioners in Japan, from disability rights activist-poets with cerebral palsy to outsider art collectives, Deaf filmmakers, and activities surrounding the upcoming 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. We will also engage with representations of disability in Japanese film, television, anime, manga, and literature, as well as some of the most significant English-language works in disability studies. No prior knowledge of Japanese language, culture, or history required. All readings will be available in English.  

Catalog Distribution: (CA-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 4420 - Cultures of Disability in Japan

This course will explore the culture and society of Choson Korea (1392—1897) through a variety of historical, literary, and visual representations. Following the major political, social, and cultural transformations that shaped Choson Korea, such as Confucianism and the introduction of the patriarchy; changes to relationships among family, class, and gender; the Hideyoshi invasion and the collapse of the Ming dynasty; and the flourishing of commerce and foreign trade, we will examine a variety of discursive practices for constructing individual and collective identities and analyze how these identities changed over time in relation to shifting historical conditions in Choson Korea.

Catalog Distribution: (HA-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 4426 - Narrating Choson Korea: History and Memory

Topics will change in relation to curricular needs in the South Asia Program and the Department of Asian Studies. Spring Topic: Tamil Migration and Integration in Urban Contexts: This course examines the articulation between migration, identity and space to analyse the forms of integration of the Tamil populations in several cities in South Asia (Jaffna, Colombo, Chennai), Southeast Asia (Singapore, Kuala Lumpur), Europe (Paris) and North America (Montreal). Through an examination of the social, cultural, political and religious dimensions of Tamil urban life and the territorialization of Tamil identity, this class will enable students to asses the integration of Tamil populations in various urban contexts and at different scales. We will consider intra- and inter-communal struggles, interethnic conflicts, as well as conflicts with authorities, to examine Tamils' geographical distribution and integration. Using a wide array of sources ranging from scientific studies, maps and photographs, to literary and cinematographic works, students will be introduced to the approaches and methods of human geography.

Full details for ASIAN 4437 - Topics in Tamil Studies

This course will explore the origins and early developments of a movement in Indian Buddhism known as the Great Vehicle. We will intensively examine a small slice of this movement's voluminous literature so as to better understand its call for a new spiritual orientation within Buddhism. Topics of discussion will include the career of the bodhisattva, the lay/monk distinction, attitudes of Mahayanists toward women and other Buddhists, and the development of Buddhist utopias and transcendent buddhas. 

Catalog Distribution: (CA-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 4441 - Mahayana Buddhism

Theories of modernization have inspired, informed, and plagued histories of middle and late imperial China.  For the Song-Qing eras (roughly 10th-19th centuries), comparative studies have variously found and sought to explain modernization emerging earlier than in Europe, an absence of modernization, or alternative paths of modernization.  Regional models have argued for pan-East Asian systems and patterns of modernization.  Global models have argued that China had a vital role in European development as a provenance of modernizing institutions and ideas, as a source of exploited resources, or otherwise as an integral part of global systems.  In this course we explore these historiographical debates and develop critical perspectives, including approaches to escaping Eurocentric and teleological frameworks.

Catalog Distribution: (HA-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 4461 - China's Early Modern

As the English East India Company conquered vast Indian territories in the late 1700s, it was besieged with allegations of corruption against its leading officials. This course will examine the origins of modern imperialism through the lens of corruption, exploring how corruption scandals became sites for generating new ideas and practices of empire. As well as reading prominent figures of the European enlightenment, including Adam Smith, Edmund Burke, and Denis Diderot, we will also study major Indian writers on corruption, including the historian Ghulam Husain, and the liberal reformer, Ram Mohan Roy. Students will conduct primary research into eighteenth century imperial corruption scandals, and consider the larger question of how modern ideas of political reform grew out of early modern theories of corruption.

Full details for ASIAN 4465 - Scandal, Corruption, and the Making of the British Empire in India

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.

Catalog Distribution: (HA-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 4473 - Modern Chinese Art

Full details for ASIAN 4489 - Religion, Food Systems, and Ecology

A topics course related to Southeast Asian Studies.

Full details for ASIAN 4494 - Topics in Southeast Asian Studies

This course presents theories of language teaching and learning, and shows how they apply to Asian language course structure, classroom instruction, and assessment techniques.  Students will observe classes taught by experienced teachers, discuss language learning theory and practice, and design and implement their own class activities. 

Full details for ASIAN 5505 - Methodology of Asian Language Learning and Teaching

A topics course related to Southeast Asian Studies. 

Full details for ASIAN 6604 - Topics in Southeast Asian Studies

This course is a workshop for the composition, revision and publication of scholarly journal articles. Students will survey the journals in their particular discipline inside Asian Studies, learn about editorial processes and peer review, and read and think more generally about the genre, form and function of written scholarship. In the second half of the class, essays being prepared for publication will be shared with colleagues and discussed in a supportive workshop setting. Students should choose and bring a thoroughly researched seminar paper (more than twenty pages, less than forty) or equivalent essay that they would like to revise for publication; this paper should be complete before the workshop begins. A-level research will be accepted, but this course itself will not prepare students to pass their A levels.

Full details for ASIAN 6608 - Scholarly Writing for Publication

Visions of bodily corruption preoccupy ruler and ruled alike and prompt campaigns for moral, medical, and legal reform in periods of both stability and revolution.  This seminar explores the links between political, sexual, and scientific revolutions in early modern and modern Asia.  The focus is on China and Japan, with secondary attention to South Asia and Korea.  Interaction with the West is a major theme.  Topics include disease control, birth control and population control, body modification, the history of masculinity, honorific violence and sexual violence, the science of sex, normative and stigmatized sexualities, fashion, disability, and eugenics.  The course begins with an exploration of regimes of the body in "traditional" Asian cultures.  The course then turns to the medicalization and modernization of the body under the major rival political movements in Asia: feminism, imperialism, nationalism, and communism.

Full details for ASIAN 6615 - The Body Politic in Asia

The course provides an introduction to various aspects of translation theory, and emphasizes relations between translation theory and trauma theory, post-structuralism, post-colonial theory, and debates on comparative literature, "world literature," and area studies.

Full details for ASIAN 6619 - Translation, in Theory

Readings in bka' 'gyur texts (Indian scriptures translated into Tibetan) at the intermediate/advanced level.

Full details for ASIAN 6635 - Readings in Classical Tibetan

Theories of modernization have inspired, informed, and plagued histories of middle and late imperial China.  For the Song-Qing eras (roughly 10th-19th centuries), comparative studies have variously found and sought to explain modernization emerging earlier than in Europe, an absence of modernization, or alternative paths of modernization.  Regional models have argued for pan-East Asian systems and patterns of modernization.  Global models have argued that China had a vital role in European development as a provenance of modernizing institutions and ideas, as a source of exploited resources, or otherwise as an integral part of global systems.  In this course we explore these historiographical debates and develop critical perspectives, including approaches to escaping Eurocentric and teleological frameworks.

Full details for ASIAN 6661 - China's Early Modern

This course offers two things: an introduction to the global issue of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and other mass atrocities, and an in-depth look at two ongoing 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 also review the creation of the term genocide as a new crime 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 in Burma, respectively, analyzing the background, the events, the actors involved, and the key role of media and propaganda.

Full details for ASIAN 6665 - Genocide Today

This course traces the development of travel writing from the Han dynasty (206 B.C.–A.D. 221) to the Song dynasty (960–1279). Special attention is paid to the ways in which Chinese writers have ceaselessly negotiated humankind's relationship with the natural world in their accounts of travel—both imagined and actual. Readings selected for investigation are assigned in English translation. A final research paper on an approved topic pertaining to the central theme of this course is required.

Full details for ASIAN 6670 - Nature Imagined and Experienced: Ancient Chinese Travel Literature

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.

Full details for ASIAN 6673 - Modern Chinese Art

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

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.

Full details for ASIAN 6686 - Islam and the Ethnographic Imagination

Surveys the modern history of Southeast Asia with special attentions to colonialism, the Chinese diaspora, and socio-cultural institutions. Considers global transformations that brought "the West" into people's lives in Southeast Asia. Focuses on the development of the modern nation-state, but also questions the narrative by incorporating groups that are typically excluded. Assigns primary texts in translation.

Full details for ASIAN 6696 - Transnational Local: Southeast Asian History from the Eighteenth Century

Guided independent study for graduate students.

Full details for ASIAN 7704 - Directed Research

Enables students to read and comprehend basic Bengali texts as well as speak and write in the language.

Full details for BENGL 1122 - Elementary Bengali II

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 2202 - Intermediate Bengali II

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

Full details for BENGL 3302 - Advanced Bengali II

The skills learned in the first semester are reinforced and expanded in this course. The focus is on building up confidence in speaking and understanding spoken Burmese that you will need if you visit the country. Significant practical skills are learned along with essential information on some customs and traditions of Burmese culture. Knowledge and understanding of grammar is also an important part of the course.

Full details for BURM 1122 - Elementary Burmese (Myanmar) II

Continuing instruction in Burmese at the higher intermediate level with a focus on improving oral expression, reading and interpretation of written texts, and further development of listening skills using language learning materials based on authentic audio-video clips.

Full details for BURM 2202 - Intermediate Burmese (Myanmar) II

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 3302 - Advanced Burmese (Myanmar) II

This course will further advance the student's reading skills. 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.

Catalog Distribution: (GB)

Full details for BURM 3310 - Advanced Reading in Burmese (Myanmar) II

For 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 1102 - Beginning Mandarin II

Continuation of CHIN 1109. Intended primarily for students whose family language is Mandarin but have had little or no formal training. The focus is on characters, reading comprehension, composition, grammar, standard pronunciation, cultural aspects, and current events in the Chinese speaking community.

Full details for CHIN 1110 - Beginning Chinese Reading and Writing for Students of Chinese Heritage II

A continuation of  CHIN 1121. This course helps students develop basic skills in Mandarin Chinese, at a moderate pace. For complete beginners only.

Full details for CHIN 1122 - Beginning Mandarin for Professional Students II

A continuation of  CHIN 1123 . This course helps students develop basic skills in Mandarin Chinese, at a moderate pace. For non-heritage learners only. 

Full details for CHIN 1124 - Beginning Mandarin for Professional Students IV

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 2202 - Intermediate Mandarin II

If your long-time goal is to become a true bilingual of English and Chinese, this course will be the next great step you need to take.  This course uses authentic articles from the Chinese version of New York Times and focuses on how to read effectively, write clearly through 1) learning both semi-formal and formal vocabulary, modern idiomatic expressions, advanced sentence structures and the major features that characterize the advanced Chinese; 2) exploring together with your classmates the different aspects of Chinese culture or events that interest you; 3) completing a book of their own in Chinese as the course project that documents their learning that takes place during the semester.  This course helps students further solidify the foundation for their Chinese study for their next level as well as enhance their awareness and overall competence for cross-cultural communications.

Full details for CHIN 2210 - Intermediate Chinese Reading and Writing for Students of Chinese Heritage II

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

Full details for CHIN 3302 - High Intermediate Mandarin II

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 CHIN 3316 - Mandarin Foreign Language Across the Curriculum (FLAC)

Reading, discussion, and composition at advanced levels.

Full details for CHIN 4412 - Advanced Mandarin II

This course aims to help students achieve an advanced level of performance both in speaking and writing through reading authentic Chinese materials, watching TV shows, various writing exercises and class discussions on social and cultural topics on contemporary China.  Classical Chinese will be introduced in this class as part of the course supplementary readings.

Full details for CHIN 4428 - High Advanced Mandarin II

Students read from early Classical Chinese texts and learn to use advanced sources for solving textual problems.

Catalog Distribution: (LA-AS)

Full details for CHLIT 2214 - Introduction to Classical Chinese II

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 4422 - Directed Study

This is a seminar designed for first- and second-year graduate students who intend to pursue advanced study in the field of medieval China studies. It introduces students to the materials and tools that are essential for conducting research in the literature and culture of the period as well as the larger issues of goals and methods. In particular, students will examine prevalent practices and trends that define the scholarship on medieval China in the past few decades; they will also consider the question concerning future directions and opportunities that may be available to scholars in the field.  A final research paper on an approved topic is required.

Full details for CHLIT 6616 - Studies in Medieval Chinese Literature and Culture

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 6622 - Advanced Directed Reading

Designed for students who have either completed one semester of Hindi at Cornell or demonstrate same level of competency in Hindi. The main focus of this course is to reinforce and build students language acquisition in the four skills (Listening, Speaking, Reading & 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 are able to 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 1102 - Elementary Hindi II

HINDI 2202 is the continuation of HINDI 2201. The main emphasis in this course is to reinforce  the linguistic functions learned in HINDI 2201, and to build comparatively more complex functions suitable for intermediate level in Hindi. Students' competence in all four language skills will be improved in order to perform higher level tasks and function.

Full details for HINDI 2202 - Intermediate Hindi II

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 2204 - Intermediate Hindi Reading and Writing for Heritage Students II

This is a continuation of HINDI 3301. 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 3302 - Advanced Hindi II

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 Blackboard 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 1122 - Elementary Indonesian II

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

Full details for INDO 2202 - Intermediate Indonesian II

Practical language course on an 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 3302 - Advanced Indonesian II

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 1102 - Elementary Japanese II

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 2202 - Intermediate Japanese II

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 3302 - Continuing Intermediate Japanese II

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

Full details for JAPAN 4402 - Advanced Japanese II

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

Full details for JPLIT 6628 - Advanced Directed Readings

Gives a thorough grounding in speaking and reading.

Full details for KHMER 1122 - Elementary Khmer II

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 3302 - Advanced Khmer II

Continuation of KOREA 1101 .  Designed to help students acquire the 4 skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) of the Korean language and to become familiar with its culture. Basic knowledge of Korean grammar, vocabulary, expressions and cultural points will be given during the lecture. The students will then have an opportunity to practice the learned knowledge in sections. The goal of this course is to refine their survival skills in Korean. 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: school life, family and friends, traffic and transportation, vacation plans, food and restaurant, hobbies, etc.

Full details for KOREA 1102 - Elementary Korean II

Continuation of KOREA 1109. Focuses on communicative skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing by introducing a wide range of linguistic resources. Students will command daily conversation in different cultural contexts and develop an ability to summarize and reflect on literacy texts and films both in oral and written modes. Students will be able to create a discourse regarding topics such as birthday, campus life, family, shopping and hobbies. Also, students will write and revise their own work regularly to improve linguistic accuracy and reduce error production.

Full details for KOREA 1110 - Elementary Korean Reading and Writing II

Continuation of KOREA 2201 . The course helps students develop further communicative competence by understanding and producing complex linguistic structures and pragmatically appropriate expressions in cultural contexts. Students will use linguistic tools to describe and express their stance, justification, attitudes, evaluation and complex clausal relations. Students will command a lengthy discourse regarding various topics such as holidays, marriage, birthday, doctor-patient talk and job interview.

Full details for KOREA 2202 - Intermediate Korean II

Continuation of KOREA 2209. Designed for 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, and will minimize their spelling errors in writing, through frequent discussion and composition about Korean culture, society and history. The survey group project on the cultural differences, and the individual project on one's life will enhance students' overall linguistic skills.

Full details for KOREA 2210 - Intermediate Korean Reading and Writing II

Continuation of KOREA 3301. Students will continue to refine their high-intermediate language skills. Authentic published materials and documentary video-clips will be introduced in order for students to be exposed to an advanced level of Korean. Students will discuss and write an essay on topics regarding information age, health, the origin of Valentine's Day, culture of advertisement and Korean folktales. Students are given the opportunity to do research on Korean culture and society following an academic research format and give an oral presentation in class.

Full details for KOREA 3302 - High Intermediate Korean II

Continuation of KOREA 4401.  Designed to acquire profound knowledge on various fields of Korea: Current issues in Korean society, Korean people's thoughts and mind, tradition, history and culture. In the first half of the semester, students will learn professional vocabulary and expressions from the textbook to be able to discuss various topics on Korean society. In the second half of the semester, students will watch various Korean TV documentary programs and read the contemporary novel chapter by chapter to analyze. Students will gain confidence in the academic level of discussions and compositions.

Full details for KOREA 4402 - Advanced Korean II

The course will introduce basic Nepali language and elements of Nepalese culture to anyone who is interested in the subject matter, e.g. those planning to travel to Nepal, those having a desire to know about Nepalese culture, or those having the goal to excel in Nepalese language skills in the future.

Full details for NEPAL 1100 - Elements of Nepali Language and Culture

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 1102 - Elementary Nepali II

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 2202 - Intermediate Nepali Conversation II

Systematic review of written grammar and reading comprehension, with special attention to the technical vocabularies, necessary writing skills, and published materials typical of advanced students' professional fields.

Full details for NEPAL 2204 - Intermediate Nepali Composition II

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

Full details for NEPAL 3302 - Advanced Nepali II

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 1122 - Elementary Punjabi II

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 2202 - Intermediate Punjabi II

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 1132 - Elementary Sanskrit II

Review of grammar and reading of selections from Sanskrit epic poetry and narrative prose.

Full details for SANSK 2252 - Intermediate Sanskrit II

Selected readings in Sanskrit literary and philosophical texts.

Full details for SANSK 3302 - Advanced Sanskrit II

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 1122 - Elementary Sinhala II

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 2202 - Intermediate Sinhala II

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 1122 - Elementary Tagalog/Filipino II

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

Full details for TAG 2202 - Intermediate Tagalog/Filipino II

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 reading materials.

Full details for TAG 3302 - Advanced Tagalog/Filipino II

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 2202 - Intermediate Tamil II

Full details for TAMIL 4432 - Directed Study

THAI 1100 introduces basic spoken Thai and various aspects of Thai culture for short-term visitors.  Through active, participatory learning this course cultivates a working knowledge of the Thai language and develops a cultural "intuition" that is meaningful and functional for achieving a smooth transition and successful experience in Thailand.  This course is for students who are personally interested in Thai culture as well as those participating in university projects in Thailand.

Full details for THAI 1100 - Elements of Thai Language and Culture

This beginning level course provides a solid grounding in all four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) with an emphasis on reading and writing. The aim is to enable learners to continue the process of thinking in Thai and learning to converse and "get around" in certain basic situations in daily life with an additional of basic literacy skill.

Full details for THAI 1122 - Elementary Thai II

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

Full details for THAI 2202 - Intermediate Thai II

Develops conversational skill along with reading and writing skills at a High Intermediate level.

Full details for THAI 2204 - Intermediate Thai Composition and Conversation II

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 3302 - Advanced Thai II

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

Catalog Distribution: (CA-AS)

Full details for THAI 3304 - Thai Literature II

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 1112 - Elementary Modern Tibetan II

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 1122 - Elementary Classical Tibetan II

This two-semester class is designed to assist students who already have the equivalent of at least two-years 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.

Full details for TIBET 2202 - Intermediate Classical Tibetan II

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 2212 - Intermediate Modern Tibetan II

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 3312 - Advanced Modern Tibetan II

This class is an introductory class for beginners. This course will teach students how to listen, speak, read and write Urdu through vocabulary, grammar, oral and written activities, with an emphasis on reading and writing basic Urdu. The course begins by introducing the alphabet and their combinations. In addition to learning the script we will also introduce the basic knowledge and background on Urdu culture.

Full details for URDU 1125 - Introduction to Urdu Script

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. This course may be taken concurrently with Intermediate Hindi.

Full details for URDU 2226 - Intermediate Urdu Reading and Writing II

This course is designed for anyone wishing to gain some basic Vietnamese language skills and learn various elements of Vietnamese culture.

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

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

Full details for VIET 1122 - Elementary Vietnamese II

Continuing instruction in spoken  and written Vietnamese with special emphasis on expanding vocabulary and  reading ability.

Full details for VIET 2202 - Intermediate Vietnamese II

Continuing instruction in spoken and written Vietnamese. The course emphasizes on enlarging vocabulary and increasing reading speed by reading various genres and styles of prose. 

Full details for VIET 3302 - Advanced Vietnamese II