Asian Studies 15c. Orphans of Asia. Belinda Kong.
Orphans populate the worlds of Asian diaspora literature, roaming the landscapes of precommunist Shanghai as much as post-9/11 New York City, the wartime internment camps of Japanese Canadians and postwar military camp towns of Korea as much as present-day Hong Kong and a futuristic Los Angeles. Explores the orphan figure in contemporary Asian American, Canadian, and British fiction written in English, in relation to contexts of war, colonialism, neoimperialism, multiculturalism, and globalization. Authors may include Chieh Chieng, Kazuo Ishiguro, Cynthia Kadohata, Nora Okja Keller, Suki Kim, Joy Kogawa, Wendy Law-Yone, Indra Sinha, and Wu Zhuoliu. (Same as English 15.)
M 11:30 - 12:55
W 11:30 - 12:55
Mass Hall-McKeen Study
First Years only.
Asian Studies 19b. East Asian Politics: Introductory Seminar. Henry C. W. Laurence.
Surveys the diverse political, social, and economic arrangements across East Asia. China, Japan, and North and South Korea are the main focus, but attention is also paid to the other countries in the region. Examines the relationship between democracy and economic change in East Asia, and asks if the relationship is different in Asia than elsewhere in the world. Other questions include: Are there common “Asian values” and if so, what are they? What is the role of Confucianism in shaping social, political, and economic life in the region? How are economic and technological developments affecting traditional social institutions such as families? How is the status of women changing? What lies ahead for Asia? (Same as Government 19.)
M 2:30 - 3:55
F 2:30 - 3:55
Mass Hall-Faculty Room
First Years only.
Asian Studies 21c. Perspectives on Modern China. Shu-chin Tsui.
Explores the changing nature of modern China from interdisciplinary perspectives: history, literature, documentary films, and cultural studies. Taking history as the primary framework and written/visual representations as analytical texts, investigates the process of nation-building and destruction throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Central questions concern how various social movements and historical events transformed modern China. Also considers how cultural productions and representations shape, as well as reflect, changing notions of China’s national identity.
T 1:00 - 2:25
TH 1:00 - 2:25
HL-311 (third floor)
First Years only.
Writing Project course.
213c - ESD. Introduction to Asian American Literature. Belinda Kong.
An introduction not only to the writings of Asian America, but also to the historical development of Asian American literature as a field of discussion, study, and debate. Begins by focusing on a seminal moment in the formation of this field: the critical controversy sparked by the publication of Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior (1976). Then turns to earlier classics as well as more recent fiction and questions of how to reconceive Asian American literature in light of these works. In addition to Kingston, authors may include Amy Tan, David Henry Hwang, Frank Chin, John Okada, Jade Snow Wong, Carlos Bulosan, Chang-rae Lee, Jhumpa Lahiri, Susan Choi, Lan Cao, and Iê thi diem thúy. (Same as English 271.)
Prerequisite: One first-year seminar or 100-level course in English, or one course in Asian studies.
Note: This course fulfills the literature of the Americas requirement for English majors.
M 2:30 - 3:55
W 2:30 - 3:55
Searles-213
Writing Project course.
227b - IP. Contemporary Chinese Politics. Christopher Heurlin.
Examines Chinese politics in the context of a prolonged revolution. After a survey of the political system as established in the 1950s and patterns of politics emerging from it, the analytic focus turns to political change in the reform era (since 1979) and the forces driving it. Topics include the political impact of decentralization and marketization, the reintegration into the capitalist world economy, and the development of the legal system. The adaptation by the Communist Party to these changes and the prospects of democratization are also examined. (Same as Government 227.)
T 1:00 - 2:25
TH 1:00 - 2:25
Searles-223
236c - ESD, IP. India and the Indian Ocean World. Rachel Sturman.
Explores the vibrant social world created by movements of people, commodities, and ideas across the contemporary regions of the Middle East, East Africa, South and Southeast Asia from the early spread of Islam through the eighteenth century, with a focus on early modern India. Key topics include pre-modern trade and material cultures, the meaning of religious, and the development of systems of knowledge in the era before the rise of European colonialism. (Same as History 282.)
Note: This course fulfills the pre-modern requirement for history majors.
M 2:30 - 3:55
W 2:30 - 3:55
Sills-111
239c - ESD, IP. From Gandhi to the Taliban: Secularism and Its Critics in Modern South Asia. Rachel Sturman.
Seminar. Explores modern sociopolitical movements in India and Pakistan that have sought to redefine the relationship between religion and the state. Issues considered include the meanings of secularism, the ethical claims of modern states, the development of violence and non-violence as political programs, and the historical impacts of these diverse movements. (Same as History 241.)
Prerequisite: One course in history or permission of the instructor.
M 11:30 - 12:55
W 11:30 - 12:55
Sills-209
No First Years.
242c - ESD, IP. Theravada Buddhism. John Holt.
An examination of the major trajectories of Buddhist religious thought and practice as understood from a reading of primary and secondary texts drawn from the Theravada traditions of India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Burma. (Same as Religion 222.)
M 6:30 - 9:25
Adams-406
244c - IP. Modern Japanese Literature. Vyjayanthi Selinger.
As a latecomer to industrial modernity, Japan underwent rapid changes in the early part of the twentieth century. Examines how the creative minds of this period responded to the debates surrounding these sweeping technological and social changes, pondering, among other things, the place of the West in modern Japan, the changing status of women, and the place of minorities. Many of the writers from this period chose to write “I-novels” or first-person fiction. How is the inward turn in narrative tied to modern ideas of the self and its relationship to society? What sorts of quests does this self embark on and how is the end of the journey conceptualized? How do the romantic objects of this (male) self help express notions of stability/instability in a changing world? No prior knowledge of Japanese language, history, or culture is required. All readings in English.
T 1:00 - 2:25
TH 1:00 - 2:25
Searles-215
282b - ESD, IP. Japanese Politics and Society. Henry C. W. Laurence.
Comprehensive overview of modern Japanese politics in historical, social, and cultural context. Analyzes the electoral dominance of the Liberal Democratic Party, the nature of democratic politics, and the rise and fall of the economy. Other topics include the status of women and ethnic minorities, education, war guilt, nationalism, and the role of the media. (Same as Government 232.)
M 9:30 - 10:25
W 9:30 - 10:25
F 9:30 - 10:25
Adams-208
No First Years.
289c - IP. Construction of the Goddess and Deification of Women in Hindu Religious Tradition. Sree Padma Holt.
Focuses include (1) an examination of the manner in which the power of the feminine has been expressed mythologically and theologically in Hinduism; (2) how various categories of goddesses can be seen or not as the forms of the “great goddess”; and (3) how Hindu women have been deified, a process that implicates the relationship between the goddess and women. Students read a range of works, primary sources, biographies and myths of deified women, and recent scholarship on goddesses and deified women. (Same as Gender and Women’s Studies 289 and Religion 289.)
T 2:30 - 3:55
TH 2:30 - 3:55
Sills-107
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