In times of national crisis, in times of cultural soul-searching, what role can literature play? Two celebrated Chinese writers of the twentieth century, Lu Xun (1881-1936) and Feng Jicai (1942-), sought answers to this question at pivotal historical moments, each contributing to his generation's search for a Chinese modern identity by writing stories. While both writers wrote in the mode of "literary realis," representing people's everyday experiences "as they really were in read life," they also employed allegory to embed other levels of meaning, figurative or symbolic, within their "true-to-life" narratives. Investigating, interpreting, and learning to write about these different levels of meaning will be the goal of our class lessons and discussions, our writing exercises and assignments.

Full details for ASIAN 1112 - FWS: Allegories of Identity in Stories by Lu Xun and Feng Jicai

By posing seemingly simple questions such as what is love and who has the right to love, this introductory-level lecture course surveys how love has been experienced and expressed from the pre-modern period to the present. Through case studies of familial and conjugal love in Africa, Asia, the US, Europe, and South and Latin America, the course will examine the debates about and enactment's of what constitutes the appropriate way to show love and affection in different cultures and historical contexts. Among the themes we will explore are questions of sexuality, marriage, kinship, and gender rights. A final unit will examine these themes through modern technologies such as the Internet, scientific advances in medicine, and a growing awareness that who and how we love is anything but simple or universal.

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

Full details for ASIAN 1193 - A Global History of Love

This course provides a chronological survey of Korean culture and history from ancient times to the present. We will examine major historical time periods and cultural forms of the Korean peninsula, with a focus on the Chosŏn dynasty (1392-1910) and the twentieth century. The course is designed to give students an overview of the transformations of Korean civilization in the context of the East Asian cultural sphere and globalization. We will engage with a wide range of texts and various media across time periods, including films, primary historical sources in translation, literature, and music videos. Key themes and topics of the course include the formation of South and North Korea's identities, the rise of Neo-Confucianism, Japanese colonization and postcolonialism, the construction and performance of gender, the Korean War and postwar reconstruction, environmental degradation, and developments in popular culture.

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

Full details for ASIAN 2218 - Introduction to Korea

This is a course about the power of the past in Chinese historical, literary, religious, and artistic imagination.  We will survey notions about China's past across more than two millennia, from the Bronze age to contemporary times.  We will do this by focusing on a handful of literary, philosophical, artistic, and material sources to examine how people have made sense of an found meaning in China's past.  The course assumes little or no background in the study of China.

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

Full details for ASIAN 2231 - Introduction to China: Imagining China's Past

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: (ALC-AS, HA-AS, HST-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 concerts or participating in workshops with student-led ensembles.

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

Full details for ASIAN 2260 - Japanese Pop Culture

Trade in and to Asia proved to be a key force in creating our modern "globalized" world. The Indian Ocean and the China Seas converged on Southeast Asia, where a cosmopolitan array of ships from every shore plied their trade, set sail, and returned with the monsoon winds. People, goods, and ideas also traveled on camelback across the undulating contours of the Gobi Desert, connecting India, the Near East and Central Asia with China, Korea, and Japan. This course introduces students to the raw ingredients of things in motion, poised interactively in time and space, as material worlds collide. Wood, bamboo, bronze, clay, earthenware, ink, spices, textiles and tea - students will navigate sites of encounter at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum from pre modern to the present.

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

Full details for ASIAN 2285 - Introduction to Asian Art: Material Worlds

In contemporary China, as in many other places of the world, the ideology and social reality of gender relations is highly paradoxical. Women are flattered for their power as consumers and commitment to the family while they are also expected to engage in wage-earning employment. Men, on the other hand, face constant pressure of being tough and social problems such as costly betrothal gifts as unintended consequences of a gender regime that is supposedly male-oriented. Are these paradoxes a betrayal of the socialist experiment of erasing gender differences? Are they remnants of China's long imperial tradition? This course explores the power dynamics of gender relations in China from ancient times to the present. It leads students to examine scholarship that challenges the popularly accepted myth of lineal progression of China toward gender equality, and to understand women's and men's life choices in various historical settings. At the same time, this course guides students to adopt "gender" as a useful analytical category, treating China as a case study through which students are trained to "engender" any society past and present.

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

Full details for ASIAN 2291 - Engendering China

How do Buddhists live out their philosophies and ethics? What are the spaces of ritual, devotion, meditation, education, and politics? How do Buddhist practices and affiliations satisfy aesthetic and emotional needs and build social networks? This course explores the unfolding of Buddhist life in contemporary South and Southeast Asia, in locations such as Burma/Myanmar, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Cambodia. 

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

Full details for ASIAN 3309 - Temple in the World: Buddhism in Contemporary South and Southeast Asia

Video games have become one of the major cultural forces of the world, far surpassing the size of the film and music industries combined. They have also been key to developments in digital culture and technology, with the full extent of their impact on contemporary society only beginning to be understood. For much of the history of digital games, the vast majority of popular works have come from Japan—Nintendo, Sony, Sega, Capcom, Namco, and other companies have defined the medium as we know it—yet this remains largely not reflected in the growing discipline of game studies. In this course, we will explore key works from throughout game history and game studies in relation to culture and media in Japan, through experiments in writing, gameplay, and other forms of critical media practice.

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

Full details for ASIAN 3315 - Game Studies and Japan

This course explores the Zen's central religious, historical and aesthetic developments. We read primary sources in translation and secondary sources. We examine the rise of the Ch'an tradition in China and the development of Northern and Southern Schools. In Japan, we examine the establishment of Zen in the Kamakura period, through the development of both Rinzai and Soto Zen, and early transmissions of Chinese texts and practices to Japan through Japanese emissaries. We study the lives and writings of Eisai and Dôgen, and explore how their works influenced later developments in Zen. Next we read works by Hakuin. Last, we study how Zen is implicated in Japanese fascism and later, postwar identity discourses. Finally, we look at Zen in an American context.

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

Full details for ASIAN 3316 - Zen Buddhism: Ecology, Sustainability and Daily Life

Ever since the creation of the concept of a culturally and geographically stable center in China, people have been intentionally excluded from that center. Disgraced officials are sent to far-flung provinces, loyalists to past regimes hide out across China's borders, and dissidents have their entry visas revoked, making it impossible for them to return home. The experiences of these people, and the poems and stories they write, tell us a great deal about what it means and how it feels to be included and excluded. What is the difference between the way China looks from the inside and the way it looks from the outside? Who has the power to decide who gets to live in China, and how and why do they use it? What is the relationship between our identities and our homes? Texts studied will range from 300 BCE to the present; all will be read and discussed in English. 

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

Full details for ASIAN 3329 - Literature of Leaving China

This course explores the intentional removal of oneself from society as expressed in East Asian Buddhist literature, through the acts of hermits and pilgrims. We read the diaries, essays, autobiographies, and poetry of recluse monks and nuns from China, Korea and Japan, and the musings of pilgrims through the ages in these countries, with special attention to Japan. Last, we examine how the actions of many of these writers influenced the American counter-culture movement in the 1960's and into the present. We inquire what light these writings can shed on "the great resignation" of recent years, and "quiet quitting" as a response to late capitalism, ecosystem collapse and climate change and social upheaval in our current times. Many of the figures we read were directly critiquing social excess and materialism, and these writings offer surprising assessments of our current age.

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

Full details for ASIAN 3331 - Opt Out, Tune In: Hermits, Pilgrims and Dharma Bums, from East Asia to Ithaca

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.

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

Full details for ASIAN 3334 - Southeast Asian Politics

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: (ALC-AS, LA-AS)

Full details for ASIAN 3366 - Poetry of Classical India

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.

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

Full details for ASIAN 3375 - Humanities Scholars Research Methods

The rapidly growing literature of the Korean diaspora is one of the most significant developments in Korean literature since the 20th century. As Korean literature has circulated as world literature, it has become more widely recognized in the Anglophone world through translation and through narratives written by Korean American authors. This course will explore Korean American literature and creative transpacific exchanges between Korea and the US, addressing issues of identity, language, place, migration, race discrimination, citizenship, and the ways in which storytelling shapes community. We will examine the vibrant dialogue between works of fiction and poetry across the Pacific, reading the work of Korean American authors alongside the writing of Korean authors working in the Korean language. Increasingly, Korean American writers are creating narratives that remember and reconfigure Korean history and Korea's relationship to the US, and we will explore narratives and poetry that offer new perspectives on the Japanese colonial period, the Korean War, and American imperialism such as Min Jin Lee's Pachinko, Chang-rae Lee's The Surrendered, and Don Mee Choi's DMZ Colony. Readings for the course will be in English or in English translation and no prior knowledge of Korea is required.

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

Full details for ASIAN 3378 - Korean American Literature

This course surveys the art and architecture of South Asia since 1200 CE. We cover major developments over the last eight centuries, including the architecture of the Sultanate Period, Vijaynagar, painting and architecture in the Deccan and South India, Mughal art and architecture, and Rajput painting. We look at British period colonial art and architecture, the rise of nationalism and modernism in Indian art and the circulation of vernacular images, including posters and bazaar prints in the twentieth century. The recent globalization of South Asian contemporary art is also examined. Artistic movements are situated with reference to social, economic, and political developments.

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

Full details for ASIAN 3382 - Art of South Asia 1200-Present

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, SCD-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, HST-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

This course covers the history, varieties, phonology, morphology and syntax of the Japonic language family.

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

Full details for ASIAN 4412 - Japanese Linguistics

This course explores how religious beliefs and practices in Southeast Asia have been transformed by the combined forces of colonialism, nationalism, and globalization. By examining both diversity and resurgence in one of the world's most rapidly modernizing regions, we aim to understand the common economic, social, and political conditions that are contributing to the popularity of contemporary religious movements. At the same time, we also consider the unique ideological, theological, and cultural understandings behind different religions and movements. Through this process we also rethink conceptions of modernity.

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

Full details for ASIAN 4413 - Religion and Politics in Southeast Asia

Topics will address South Asian culture and literature and change in relation to curricular needs within the Department of Asian Studies. 

Full details for ASIAN 4414 - Topics in South Asian Culture and Literature

This course uses the lens of temporality to track transformations in notions of urban personhood and collective life engendered by recent trans-Asia economic shifts. We will develop tools that help unpack the spatial and cultural forms of density and the layered histories that define the contemporary urban fabric of cities such as Hanoi, Bangkok, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. The course combines the investigation of the cinemas and literatures of the region with the study of recent writing on cities from Asian studies, film studies, queer theory, urban studies, political theory, religious studies, cultural geography, literary theory, and anthropology.

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

Full details for ASIAN 4423 - The City: Asia

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

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

This course serves as a survey of major issues within Chinese politics and foreign policy and constitutes the capstone seminar for CAPS students. It is intended to give students an opportunity to explore aspects related to Chinese politics, economics, and society that they may have touched upon in other China-focused courses at Cornell, but have not been able to examine as fully, and with the degree of care, that they would like. In this regard, the substance of the course will be developed through an iterative process between the instructor and the seminar participants. We will spend the first part of the course doing a series of recent influential readings on contemporary China and developing initial research projects. The second half of the class will be organized around student led presentations of research projects (accompanied by relevant academic, media, and policy readings).

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

Full details for ASIAN 4435 - Making Sense of China: The Capstone Seminar

This seminar will explore the development of and variety in the academic discipline of Religious Studies. We will consider the emergence of secular approaches to the study of religion arising out of the European Enlightenment, and more particularly, the methods in the academic study of religion based upon different theoretical approaches. We will be particularly concerned to reflect upon the category of religious experience in modern discourses from historical, social, hermeneutical, neurobiological points of view. 

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

Full details for ASIAN 4449 - History, Theory, and Methods in the Academic Study of Religion

The rise of China is one of the most important and defining themes in changing world politics. This seminar course is intended for students to examine major issues and topics concerning the rise of China against the backdrop of paradigmatic change in world politics from a historical and theoretical perspective, and to engage in the academic discourse and policy debate about dynamics of China's rise and its implications for world politics, and vice versa, how evolving world politics inform and influence the process of China's rise – namely, mutual constitution of rising China and the changing world.

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

Full details for ASIAN 4454 - The Rise of China and Change in World Politics

This course examines the role of temples and their sculptural programs in South and Southeast Asia as creative stimuli for performative reenactments. Choreographic encounters between imagination and memory will be mapped as they occur at various points historically and politically in Java, Bali, Cambodia and India. Since architectural choreography implies the human body's inhabitation and experience of place, the nature of ritualized behavior and its relationship to performance and politics will be explored spatially, both in organizing experience and defining or redefining identity on colonial, national, and diasporic margins. Bringing back the haptic sense (i.e. of feeling and doing at the same time) students will have the unique opportunity to balance the demands of learning a Balinese traditional dance while exploring performance traditions in historical perspective.

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

Full details for ASIAN 4456 - Dancing the Stone: Body, Memory, and Architecture

This course surveys major schools of classical Chinese philosophy: Confucianism, Mohism, and Daoism. We focus on the Confucian vision of an ideal life, moral development, and self-cultivation, whereby one refines and reshapes one's emotions to achieve ethical excellence and contribute to one's community. We explore the Mohist advocacy of an ethics in which everyone is to be treated impartially, and the differences between Mohism and Confucianism in relation to key ethical issues. We emphasize the Daoist rejection of Confucian moral preaching and the idea that the "truth" can be captured through theorizing and argument, as well as the espousal in this tradition of "non-action" and intuitive action. We shall see how advocates of these different philosophies debated and borrowed ideas from each other.

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

Full details for ASIAN 4457 - Chinese Philosophy

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, considering how corruption scandals generated new ideas of imperial sovereignty and law. Using parliamentary records and other primary sources, students will conduct research into one of the most famous corruption trials in eighteenth century Britain, the impeachment of Warren Hastings (1787-1795), former Governor of Bengal, for 'high crimes and misdemeanors'. Exploring how Hastings and his accusers debated the legal basis of imperialism, we will assess the impact of Hastings's trial and eventual acquittal on the forging of the modern British Empire.

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

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

Full details for ASIAN 4473 - Modern Chinese Art

As China, with its "China Dream," rises in power on the global stage, what "China" means to its inhabitants and outsiders has become an issue increasingly relevant to business, international relations, and cultural exchange, and a topic that draws intensive attention from historians and social scientists. This course brings together undergraduate and graduate students who are interested in shifting meanings embedded in the concept of "China," either as part of their research agenda, or as a useful lens for comparative analysis. Focus will be on how China as an Empire/ a Nation was conceptualized by different people in different periods and in different contexts, and on the reality and representation of China as political, cultural, racial, and geographical entities.

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

Full details for ASIAN 4478 - China Imagined: The Historical and Global Origins of the Chinese Nation

Idea(l)s of modernity across the Global South have been largely rooted in Euro-American projections of "civilization", and "civilizational" projects. The colonial worldview in which only Western(ized) experiences could be modern is foundational to the multifarious ways in which scholarship and nation-builders have engaged with progress, whether aspiring to it, rejecting it, or appropriating it. In this seminar we explore how imperial authorities, nationalists, and scholars/intellectuals have interfaced with idea(l)s of progress and modernity in Asia, reading works ("one book a week") grounded in multiple disciplines and cultural settings. Core themes will include: health and hygiene, consumption, technology, gender, piety and devotion, imperialism and race, and nationalism.

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

Full details for ASIAN 4480 - Projects of Modernity in Asia

A topics course related to Southeast Asian Studies. Spring Topic: Movement and Memory: Explorations of Southeast Asian Hip Hop Culture. Much existing scholarship in Southeast Asian Studies on popular music focuses on traditional and folk music, with a substantial number of recent works exploring rock & roll, punk, and metal across the region. Although Hip Hop is the global break-out genre of the 21st century, influencing everything from K-Pop to Indonesian heavy metal, shockingly few scholars directly address the social history of Hip Hop in the region. Fewer still do so from a thematic and comparative perspective, rather than nation-bounded inquiries. In this course, we will adopt a trans-pacific lens to facilitate our explorations, connecting the innovations of diaspora communities in the Americas to those in Southeast Asia. We will examine the movements –  social, musical, and physical – of Southeast Asian performance artists, while we will also consider the role of memory in terms of how histories are interpreted and inform artistic understandings of lyric and aesthetic. As music is ultimately experiential, while students will write and reflect on reading in the course, our emphasis will be on discussion of how we also experience movement and memory in this context. For the cumulative assignment in this course, students will design their own productive segment of a radio show, podcast, or similar format of their choosing.

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

How do Buddhists live out their philosophies and ethics? What are the spaces of ritual, devotion, meditation, education, and politics? How do Buddhist practices and affiliations satisfy aesthetic and emotional needs and build social networks? This course explores the unfolding of Buddhist life in contemporary South and Southeast Asia, in locations such as Burma/Myanmar, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Cambodia. 

Full details for ASIAN 5509 - Temple in the World: Buddhism in Contemporary South and Southeast Asia

Topics will address South Asian culture and literature and change in relation to curricular needs within the Department of Asian Studies.

Full details for ASIAN 6602 - Topics in South Asian Culture and Literature

This is a survey of English-language literary criticism about literature in Chinese, including drama and film, from the late Qing to the present. Students read in a roundtable format, bringing diverse monographs into one conversation about the shape and content of Chinese literary studies in Western languages. The course is designed to prepare graduate students for potential field exams in Chinese literature, modern China, or one of their many subfields.

Full details for ASIAN 6603 - Modern Chinese Literature Field Survey

A topics course related to Southeast Asian Studies. Spring Topic: Movement and Memory: Explorations of Southeast Asian Hip Hop Culture. Much existing scholarship in Southeast Asian Studies on popular music focuses on traditional and folk music, with a substantial number of recent works exploring rock & roll, punk, and metal across the region. Although Hip Hop is the global break-out genre of the 21st century, influencing everything from K-Pop to Indonesian heavy metal, shockingly few scholars directly address the social history of Hip Hop in the region. Fewer still do so from a thematic and comparative perspective, rather than nation-bounded inquiries. In this course, we will adopt a trans-pacific lens to facilitate our explorations, connecting the innovations of diaspora communities in the Americas to those in Southeast Asia. We will examine the movements –  social, musical, and physical – of Southeast Asian performance artists, while we will also consider the role of memory in terms of how histories are interpreted and inform artistic understandings of lyric and aesthetic. As music is ultimately experiential, while students will write and reflect on reading in the course, our emphasis will be on discussion of how we also experience movement and memory in this context. For the cumulative assignment in this course, students will design their own productive segment of a radio show, podcast, or similar format of their choosing.

Full details for ASIAN 6604 - Topics in Southeast Asian Studies

Covers practical bibliographical skills and research methods necessary to accomplish quality research in the field of Southeast Asian Studies.  During the semester we will explore resources available at the Cornell University Libraries, those provided through Library subscription, and resources available elsewhere.

Full details for ASIAN 6613 - Southeast Asian Bibliography and Research Methods

This course explores the Zen's central religious, historical and aesthetic developments. We read primary sources in translation and secondary sources. We examine the rise of the Ch'an tradition in China and the development of Northern and Southern Schools. In Japan, we examine the establishment of Zen in the Kamakura period, through the development of both Rinzai and Soto Zen, and early transmissions of Chinese texts and practices to Japan through Japanese emissaries. We study the lives and writings of Eisai and Dôgen, and explore how their works influenced later developments in Zen. Next we read works by Hakuin. Last, we study how Zen is implicated in Japanese fascism and later, postwar identity discourses. Finally, we look at Zen in an American context. This course is being taught both as an integrated arts in the curriculum course in collaboration with the Johnson Art Museum and is also part of a "Internationalizing the Cornell Curriculum."

Full details for ASIAN 6616 - Zen Buddhism: Ecology, Sustainability and Daily Life

This course covers the history, varieties, phonology, morphology and syntax of the Japonic language family.

Full details for ASIAN 6620 - Japanese Linguistics

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. 

Full details for ASIAN 6622 - Asia as Question

This course uses the lens of temporality to track transformations in notions of urban personhood and collective life engendered by recent trans-Asia economic shifts. We will develop tools that help unpack the spatial and cultural forms of density and the layered histories that define the contemporary urban fabric of cities such as Hanoi, Bangkok, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. The course combines the investigation of the cinemas and literatures of the region with the study of recent writing on cities from Asian studies, film studies, queer theory, urban studies, political theory, religious studies, cultural geography, literary theory, and anthropology.

Full details for ASIAN 6623 - The City: Asia

This upper-level seminar focuses on the transnational migrations and interactions of texts, ideas, and objects via a close reading of Sinitic texts in East Asia before the twentieth century. The recent interest in the Sinitic in premodern East Asia rejects the centrality of Sinitic texts and their one-directional impact. Instead, it reconstructs the thriving diversity of the translingual practices attuned to local specificities, redefining the so-called Sinosphere as much more multidirectional than a political and diplomatic hierarchy would permit. Reexamining the perception of the Sinitic as the unifying force that coalesced the various countries and cultures of East Asia into a single Sinographic zone, we will delve into the ways in which uneven assemblages of local production and circulation unfolded in various regions brought into contact with one another. The major topics include the transborder movement of books and objects; appropriation of Confucian themes and ideas; translations, adaptations, and intertextuality; multilingual texts and reading practices; the formation and dissemination of knowledge; and transoceanic exchanges.

Full details for ASIAN 6627 - Sinitic Texts in Early Modern East Asia

Ever since the creation of the concept of a culturally and geographically stable center in China, people have been intentionally excluded from that center. Disgraced officials are sent to far-flung provinces, loyalists to past regimes hide out across China's borders, and dissidents have their entry visas revoked, making it impossible for them to return home. The experiences of these people, and the poems and stories they write, tell us a great deal about what it means and how it feels to be included and excluded. What is the difference between the way China looks from the inside and the way it looks from the outside? Who has the power to decide who gets to live in China, and how and why do they use it? What is the relationship between our identities and our homes? Texts studied will range from 300 BCE to the present; all will be read and discussed in English.

Full details for ASIAN 6639 - Literature of Leaving China

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.

Full details for ASIAN 6647 - Southeast Asian Politics

This course examines the role of temples and their sculptural programs in South and Southeast Asia as creative stimuli for performative reenactments. Choreographic encounters between imagination and memory will be mapped as they occur at various points historically and politically in Java, Bali, Cambodia and India. Since architectural choreography implies the human body's inhabitation and experience of place, the nature of ritualized behavior and its relationship to performance and politics will be explored spatially, both in organizing experience and defining or redefining identity on colonial, national, and diasporic margins. Bringing back the haptic sense (i.e. of feeling and doing at the same time) students will have the unique opportunity to balance the demands of learning a Balinese traditional dance while exploring performance traditions in historical perspective.

Full details for ASIAN 6656 - Dancing the Stone: Body, Memory, and Architecture

This course surveys major schools of classical Chinese philosophy: Confucianism, Mohism, and Daoism. We focus on the Confucian vision of an ideal life, moral development, and self-cultivation, whereby one refines and reshapes one's emotions to achieve ethical excellence and contribute to one's community. We explore the Mohist advocacy of an ethics in which everyone is to be treated impartially, and the differences between Mohism and Confucianism in relation to key ethical issues. We emphasize the Daoist rejection of Confucian moral preaching and the idea that the "truth" can be captured through theorizing and argument, as well as the espousal in this tradition of "non-action" and intuitive action. We shall see how advocates of these different philosophies debated and borrowed ideas from each other.

Full details for ASIAN 6657 - Chinese Philosophy

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

Idea(l)s of modernity across the Global South have been largely rooted in Euro-American projections of "civilization", and "civilizational" projects. The colonial worldview in which only Western(ized) experiences could be modern is foundational to the multifarious ways in which scholarship and nation-builders have engaged with progress, whether aspiring to it, rejecting it, or appropriating it. In this seminar we explore how imperial authorities, nationalists, and scholars/intellectuals have interfaced with idea(l)s of progress and modernity in Asia, reading works ("one book a week") grounded in multiple disciplines and cultural settings. Core themes will include: health and hygiene, consumption, technology, gender, piety and devotion, imperialism and race, and nationalism.

Full details for ASIAN 6678 - Projects of Modernity in Asia

As China, with its "China Dream," rises in power on the global stage, what "China" means to its inhabitants and outsiders has become an issue increasingly relevant to business, international relations, and cultural exchange, and a topic that draws intensive attention from historians and social scientists. This course brings together undergraduate and graduate students who are interested in shifting meanings embedded in the concept of "China," either as part of their research agenda, or as a useful lens for comparative analysis. Focus will be on how China as an Empire/ a Nation was conceptualized by different people in different periods and in different contexts, and on the reality and representation of China as political, cultural, racial, and geographical entities.

Full details for ASIAN 6679 - China Imagined: The Historical and Global Origins of the Chinese Nation

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

This course explores how religious beliefs and practices in Southeast Asia have been transformed by the combined forces of colonialism, nationalism, and globalization. By examining both diversity and resurgence in one of the world's most rapidly modernizing regions, we aim to understand the common economic, social, and political conditions that are contributing to the popularity of contemporary religious movements. At the same time, we also consider the unique ideological, theological, and cultural understandings behind different religions and movements. Through this process we also rethink conceptions of modernity.

Full details for ASIAN 7713 - Religion and Politics in Southeast Asia

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. Some of the assignments are completed online using interactive video and audio materials.

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

Full details for BURM 3310 - Advanced Readings 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 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 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 non-heritage learners 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-term goal is to move past the intermediate Chinese learning plateau and gain the ability to participate fully in the Chinese-speaking world, this course is the next step you need to take.  This course uses a combination of short essays written by well-known Chinese writers and authentic news articles from the Chinese version of The New York Times and focuses on how to read and write effectively through 1) learning both semi-formal and formal vocabulary, modern idiomatic expressions, advanced sentence structures and the major features that characterize advanced Chinese; 2) exploring together with your classmates the different aspects of Chinese culture or events that interest you by listening to Yixi Talks - the Chinese version of TED Talks; 3) completing a book or a magazine in Chinese as the group project documenting student learning during the semester.  This course helps students further solidify their foundation for advanced-level study in Chinese, as well as enhance their awareness of and overall competence in cross-cultural communication.

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 Language Across the Curriculum (LAC)

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 course through 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: (ALC-AS, 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 graduate seminar is designed to introduce MA and PhD students pursuing advanced study in the field of China studies the history of literary thought in premodern China. Through guided close reading of major works—essays, treatises, manuals and other forms of writing—written by Chinese philosophers, intellectuals, and literati of the classical and medieval periods, students will gain understanding of the development in thought on the nature, role, and value of literature at successive stages of Chinese literary history, as well as of historical and cultural forces that propelled such changes.

Full details for CHLIT 6612 - Readings in Chinese Literary Thought

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 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 can communicate in basic everyday Hindi, and perform all the hands-on tasks and functions necessary to survive in India and/or similar context.

Full details for HINDI 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 Canvas and independent learning, students will also gain a better understanding of Indonesian sounds, ways of life, natural environments, as well as the history and current place of Indonesian in Southeast Asia.

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

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

Full details for INDO 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 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 3302 - Advanced Indonesian II

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 4402 - Advanced Indonesian for Research 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 - High Intermediate Japanese II

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

Full details for JAPAN 4402 - Advanced Japanese II

This course covers the history, varieties, phonology, morphology and syntax of the Japonic language family.

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

Full details for JAPAN 4412 - Japanese Linguistics

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 4422 - Special Topics

This course covers the history, varieties, phonology, morphology and syntax of the Japonic language family.

Full details for JAPAN 6612 - Japanese Linguistics

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

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

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

Gives a thorough grounding in speaking and reading.

Full details for KHMER 1122 - Elementary Khmer II

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

Full details for KHMER 2202 - Intermediate Khmer II

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

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 in all time frames (present, past, and future): school life, family and friends, traffic and transportation, vacation, 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 literary 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, birthday, cultural differences, 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. They will become confident in reading paragraph-length readings in Korean, be able to write their reflections on the passages that they have read, and speak with ease when participating in the classroom discussions. Various projects will enhance students' overall linguistic and intercultural competence.

Full details for KOREA 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 Seoul, South Korea and North Korea, housing in Korea, customs and superstition of Korea, Korean folk tales and proverbs, Korean culture of community, and Korea during the Japanese colonial period. 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 for students 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, documentaries, and a novel, students are encouraged to become Intercultural Communicative Citizens and learn the contents through the language. The expected student outcome is to gain confidence in the academic level of discussions and compositions by critical thinking and analyzing.

Full details for KOREA 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

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

Readings from Sanskrit dramas and literary commentary.

Full details for SANSK 2252 - Intermediate Sanskrit II

Selected readings in Sanskrit literary and philosophical texts.

Full details for SANSK 3302 - Advanced Sanskrit II

Topics vary by semester in relation to student needs.

Full details for SANSK 5510 - Graduate Studies in Sanskrit

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 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 class materials.

Full details for TAG 3302 - Advanced Tagalog-Filipino II

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

Full details for TAMIL 1122 - Elementary Tamil II

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. 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 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.

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

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 3302 - Advanced Classical 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. 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 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