Asian Languages and Literatures Courses (ASIA)

ASIA Courses

This is a list of courses with the subject code ASIA. For more information, see Asian and Slavic Languages and Literatures (College of Liberal Arts and Sciences) in the catalog.

ASIA:1000 First-Year Seminar 1-2 s.h.

Small discussion class taught by a faculty member; topics chosen by instructor; may include outside activities (e.g., films, lectures, performances, readings, visits to research facilities). Requirements: first- or second-semester standing.

ASIA:1016 Classical Chinese Short Fiction 1 s.h.

Reading and discussion of classical Chinese short fiction in English translation. Taught in English. Recommendations: completion of required ESL courses. Same as WLLC:1016.

ASIA:1040 Introduction to Asian Religions 3 s.h.

Religious beliefs, practices in India, China, Japan. GE: Values and Culture. Same as HIST:1610, RELS:1404.

ASIA:1060 Introduction to Buddhism 3 s.h.

Development of Buddhism in India, its spread across Asia, and arrival in the West; exploration of diverse Buddhist philosophies, practices, and cultures; readings from India, Tibet, China, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia. GE: Values and Culture. Same as HIST:1612, RELS:1506.

ASIA:1502 Asian Humanities: India 3 s.h.

Introduction to 4,000 years of South Asian civilization through popular stories. Taught in English. GE: Values and Culture. Same as RELS:1502, SOAS:1502.

ASIA:1510 Ghost Stories and Tales of the Weird in Premodern Chinese Literature 3 s.h.

Reading of Chinese literature concerning ghosts, marvels, and supernatural from the first millennium B.C.E. through the 1800s; readings analyzed against changing historical and religious contexts. Taught in English. Recommendations: completion of all required ESL courses. GE: Interpretation of Literature. Same as WLLC:1510.

ASIA:1601 Civilizations of Asia: China from Origins to the 17th Century 3 s.h.

Introductory survey of Chinese history and civilization from its origins to 1800; exploration of traditions in politics, social organization, thought, religion, and culture. GE: Historical Perspectives; International and Global Issues. Same as HIST:1601.

ASIA:1602 Civilizations of Asia: China from the 17th Century to the Present 3 s.h.

Introductory survey of Chinese history from the 17th century to present; exploration of political, social, economics, and culture. GE: Historical Perspectives; International and Global Issues. Same as HIST:1602.

ASIA:1604 Civilizations of Asia: Japan 3-4 s.h.

GE: Historical Perspectives; International and Global Issues. Same as HIST:1604.

ASIA:1606 Civilizations of Asia: South Asia 3-4 s.h.

Civilization of a vast region that includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. GE: Historical Perspectives; International and Global Issues. Same as HIST:1606, RELS:1606.

ASIA:1607 Civilizations of Asia: Korea 3-4 s.h.

Introduction to Korean history and culture; how meanings of "Korea" and "Koreans" changed from ancient times to present; relevant issues of politics, society, and culture; events that shaped ancient Korean states—Koryo state (918-1392), the Choson dynasty (1392-1910), Japanese colonization (1910-1945), and the two Koreas (1945-present); how present perspectives on Korea have influenced understandings of its past. GE: Historical Perspectives; International and Global Issues. Same as HIST:1607.

ASIA:1609 India Now! Surveying the World's Largest Democracy 3-4 s.h.

Introduction to India and its place in global economics, politics, religion, science, and culture since independence in 1947; India's contributions and adaptations to contemporary world, gender roles, changing sexual standards, and new ways India enters American lives—from globalized Bollywood films and music to new foods, fashions, and lifestyles; students examine the quiet revolution of affirmative action that has brought self-respect to millions, and market liberalization that has heightened economic inequality; consideration of ongoing challenges to world's largest democracy and contemporary efforts, both peaceful and violent, to address them. GE: Values and Culture. Same as HIST:1609.

ASIA:1670 Korea in the World 3 s.h.

Comprehensive and critical understanding of Korea's place in the world; emphasis on historical and sociocultural roots of various aspects of life on the contemporary Korean peninsula (both North and South Korea); comprehensive list of topics including cultural production (K-pop and film), religions, economy, gender relations, cuisine, politics, and prospects for reunification. Taught in English. Same as KORE:1670, RELS:1670.

ASIA:2001 Global Science Fiction 3 s.h.

Science fiction from around the world; spanning poetry, fiction, drama, film, television, comics, mobile phone games, and music; produced on six continents. Taught in English. GE: Diversity and Inclusion. Same as FREN:2010, RUSS:2001, TRNS:2001, WLLC:2001.

ASIA:2127 Global Manuscript Cultures 3 s.h.

Manuscripts and global manuscript cultures from a comparative, interdisciplinary perspective; history of the book in the East and West; diverse material supports, physical formats, and written layouts of manuscripts of the 1st to 19th centuries, including social and cultural contexts; manuscript traditions of particular cultural spheres (Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, India, East Asia) and historical processes of diffusion, remediation, and obsolescence. Taught in English. GE: Historical Perspectives. Same as CLSA:2127, JPNS:2127.

ASIA:2222 Women in Premodern East Asian Literature 3 s.h.

Reading of East Asian literature portraying women from the first millennium B.C.E. through the 1800s; discussion of issues related to representations of women and conventional social, familial roles in premodern China, Korea, and Japan; cross-cultural comparison of different perceptions and portrayals of women in premodern East Asian literary traditions. Taught in English. Recommendations: completion of all ESL courses. GE: Diversity and Inclusion. Same as GWSS:2222, WLLC:2222.

ASIA:2231 Introduction to the Art of China 3 s.h.

Visual arts of China and their history; emphasis on understanding in context of Chinese civilization, history. Same as ARTH:2220.

ASIA:2248 The Invention of Writing: From Cuneiform to Computers 3 s.h.

Invention of writing as one of the most momentous events in the history of human civilizations; how the use of written sign systems, notations, maps, graphs, encryptions, and most recently, computer programs have consequences that reach deeply into all aspects of people's lives; how writing fascinates and delights, fosters reflexive thinking and facilitates development of complex societies, and gives rise to institutions of social power and control; students explore the invention of writing and its consequences in broad international and interdisciplinary context. Taught in English. Same as ANTH:2248, CL:2248, CLSA:2048, COMM:2248, GRMN:2248, HIST:2148, IS:2248, LING:2248, TRNS:2248, WLLC:2248.

ASIA:2450 India Beat: The Aesthetics and Politics of India Today 3 s.h.

Ways in which music forms a crucial part of Indian public sphere, reflecting and shaping culture, society, and economy; wide range of genres commonly performed and heard across India and South Asia today (i.e., film music, several folk forms, classical, semi-classical, Indipop, rock) and locating each of them in their respective historical, cultural, and socioeconomic contexts; exploration of themes and questions (i.e., emergence and impact of technologies of mass production, distribution of music in colonial and post-independence India). GE: Values and Culture. Same as MUS:2450.

ASIA:2684 Korean War: Local and Global History 3 s.h.

Examination of the Korean War as a local, regional, and global event; major topics of the war including its origins, methods of warfare, refugee question, war crimes, POWs, propaganda, memory, and commemoration from the perspective of multiple nations; discussion and analysis of scholarly works, textbooks, diplomatic documents, memoirs, fiction, visual sources, and film. Same as HIST:2684.

ASIA:2887 Perspectives on Korea 3 s.h.

History of Korea from earliest times to present; changing meanings of Korea and Koreans; relevant issues of politics, society, and culture; events that shaped ancient Korean kingdoms, the Choson dynasty (1392-1910), Japanese occupation, and divided Korean peninsula; how present perspectives on Korea have influenced understandings of its past; placement of Korea within a regional and global context to examine Korea's relationship with the world. Same as HIST:2687.

ASIA:3055 Death, Dying, and Beyond in Asian Religions 3 s.h.

Survey of cultural and religious approaches to the dying process, post-death rituals, and conceptions about the afterlife in different religions in Asia. Same as RELS:3055.

ASIA:3208 Classical Chinese Literature Through Translation 3 s.h.

Reading of English translations of classical Chinese literature; discussion of special features of classical Chinese as a source language for translation; issues in translation practice and theory with focus on trends in translation of Classical Chinese literary works to English. Taught in English. Recommendations: completion of required ESL courses. Same as TRNS:3208, WLLC:3208.

ASIA:3210 Comparative Arts 3 s.h.

Cultural and aesthetic issues arising from side-by-side investigation of several art forms, including literature, cinema, painting, music, opera, architecture; periods, schools, styles, and their theories. Taught in English. Same as FREN:3210, IWP:3210, WLLC:3210.

ASIA:3255 Copy and Paste: Methods of Reproduction in Asian Art 3 s.h.

Introduction to methods of reproduction in Asian art that predates photography, encompassing technologies of graphic reproduction (manual, mechanical, and somewhere in between); exploration of themes including piece-mold bronze casting, stamping and seals, rubbing, molding and mass production, woodblock printing, trace-copying calligraphy, and free-hand copying of paintings; overarching concepts across different subjects (e.g., authorship and authenticity, value of copies and impact on canon formation, relationship between technology and style, question of aura in—and before—the age of mechanical reproduction). Same as ARTH:3255.

ASIA:3270 Themes in Asian Art History 3 s.h.

Same as ARTH:3270.

ASIA:3275 Garden Culture in East Asia 3 s.h.

Exploration of the rich tradition of gardens in East Asia with a focus on China and Japan; combination of visual material, translated primary texts, and English-language research to learn about various types of gardens, their major elements, and their artistic representation; examination of garden themes, rocks, flower arrangement, and bonsai, as well as Asian gardens in the West and Western gardens in Asia; students discuss each type of garden in the broader artistic, political, and religious context. Same as ARTH:3275.

ASIA:3431 Gender and Sexuality in East Asia 3 s.h.

Examination of historical construction of gender and sexuality in East Asia from mid-19th century to present. Same as GWSS:3131, RELS:3431.

ASIA:3561 Religion and Healing 3 s.h.

Historical evidence of religious healing in Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Native American, and Shaman traditions. Same as ANTH:3113, GHS:3113, RELS:3580.

ASIA:3650 Chinese History from 1600 to 1911 3 s.h.

Chinese history from the 17th to early 20th century, history of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911); Qing's role in shaping aspects of today's politics in China and the mentality of Chinese people; foundation of Manchu state in early 17th century, Ming-Qing transition in 1644, politics and society during the high Qing era, decline of the empire under foreign invasion and inner rebellions in the 19th century, collapse of the dynasty in 1911. Same as HIST:3650.

ASIA:3652 Twentieth-Century China 3 s.h.

Communist revolution from 1920s to founding of People's Republic of China in 1949; Mao Zedong's radical policies, Cultural Revolution; Deng Xiaoping's economic reforms; China today. Same as HIST:3652.

ASIA:3655 Zen Buddhism 3 s.h.

Same as HIST:3655, RELS:3655.

ASIA:3685 Modern Korean History 3 s.h.

Transformation of Choson Korea to North and South Koreas; local, regional, and global transformations in Korea from the late 19th century to present; severing of historic ties with China; encounters with the West and Japan; new ideas of civilization and political community; erasure of Choson as a country in 1910; colonial experience; civil war; industrialization; creation of North Korea; democratic movement in South Korea and spread of diasporic communities abroad; Korean peninsula as a laboratory for analyzing compressed communist and capitalist modernities of the 20th century. Same as HIST:3685.

ASIA:3700 Topics in Global Cinema 3 s.h.

Identification of new models and methods to investigate cinema's relationship to current global issues beyond traditional scholarly focus in Western Europe and the United States; exploration of an emerging field, moving away from the paradigm of national cinema and bringing together shared theoretical frameworks while acknowledging different historical and cultural contexts. Taught in English. Same as JPNS:3700, TRNS:3700, WLLC:3700.

ASIA:4166 Topics in Asian History 3 s.h.

Same as HIST:4666.

ASIA:4301 Honors Tutorial arr.

ASIA:4506 Senior Honors Thesis arr.

ASIA:4507 Topics in Asian Studies arr.

Topics vary.

ASIA:6483 Multilingual Education and Applied Linguistics 3 s.h.

Introduction to research in language teaching and learning, drawing on theories and research in applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, anthropology, and psychology; students gain understanding of fundamentals in second language acquisition, educational linguistics, applied linguistics, and methods used in teaching and learning second/foreign languages; applications and implications of research considered when reviewing multilingual education policy and practice. Same as EDTL:6483, SLA:6506.

ASIA:6501 MA Thesis arr.

Offered fall semesters.

ASIA:6502 MA Thesis arr.

Offered spring semesters.

ASIA:6520 Seminar: South Asian Religion 3 s.h.

Topics in South Asian religions. Same as RELS:6520.

ASIA:7606 Readings in Chinese History arr.

Same as HIST:7606.