| Course | Title | Instructor | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| EAS 40 | JPN CLIMATE FICTION | PITT, J. | There has been a growing interest in recent years in the Science Fiction subgenre of Climate Fiction, or Cli-Fi. Cli-Fi is a form of speculative writing that imagines what might happen to our planet in the wake of climate change. In this course, we will focus on Japanese Cli-Fi in a variety of different mediums, including novels, short stories, films, and anime. Some of these texts predict catastrophic change and depict post-apocalyptic worlds. Others avoid such images of destruction and offer glimpses of new ways of living through a changing climate. While many of the works we read are responses to a contemporary understanding of environmental degradation, we will also look at early works that seem to have anticipated climate change in the first half of the 20th century. All readings will be in English and no prior knowledge of Japanese is required. |
| EAS 55 | INTR JPN CLASSICS | LONG, M. | This course introduces classical Japanese literature using translations of famous texts, from a 10th century poetry collection to an 18th century puppet play. We study traditional seasonal beauty, marriage politics at the emperor’s court, jealous hauntings, aesthetic competition, war epics, Buddhist ghosts, Zen journeys, and love suicides. Three core assignments include 1) a manga “translation” of a classical text, 2) a piece of creative writing modelled after a Japanese original, and 3) the curation of an online exhibit. Our goal is to engage the texts for their literary, historical, religious, philosophical and aesthetic insights. Rather than mastery, we aim for creativity and a coherent line of inquiry. Fun is also a major goal. |
| EAS 116 | CHRISTNITY & KR LIT | CHOI, C. | Christianity has made a significant contribution to the shaping of modern Korean society and culture. In this course we will survey the social and cultural history of Christianity in Korea focusing on the issues that include social relationship, nationalism, education, and gender relationship. In the latter period, we will examine the ways in which Korean literature explores some of the central themes of Christianity against this socio-cultural backdrop. The themes we will explore include good and evil, grace and forgiveness, atonement and sacrifice, reconciliation and community building. Novels by Han Mu-suk and Yi Chong-jun as well as films by Lee Chang-dong and Kim Ki-duk will be some of the central texts. For historical context, our reading will also include a few stories from Japan and China. (same as 31230 Rel Std 100, Lec A) |
| EAS 120 | NARR NATURE MOD JPN | PITT, J. | Many critics, historians, and literary authors have written about the Japanese relationship to nature. From haiku poetry to the animated films of Miyazaki Hayao, nature has served as a central concern for Japanese writers and artists more broadly. Japanese culture is often portrayed as having a uniquely harmonious relationship to nature. At the same time, Japan has suffered from devastating natural disasters (including the March 11, 2011 TÅhoku earthquake and tsunami) and industrial pollution (including the mercury poisoning of Minamata in the late 1950s). This course begins with two questions: 1) How can the human relationship to nature be both harmonious and harmful? and 2) What happens when we stop seeing nature as merely the background for human action, and start considering it as a character in a text? To answer these questions, we will focus on several pieces of modern Japanese fiction and film in which landscapes and non-human animals and plants play a central role, as well as several critical essays and book chapters that will help provide context for these works. All readings will be in English and no prior knowledge of Japanese is required. |
| EAS 123 | STRUCT OF JAPANESE | RIGGS, H. | This course is an overview of the linguistic features of modern Japanese. Its main goal is to provide students a systematic introduction to the nature and characteristics of the language, including: Genealogical tree of the Japanese language; Orthography (What are the various writing systems used in modern Japanese?); Phonetics and phonology (How can we describe the sounds of Japanese words?); Morphology (How are Japanese words constructed and organized?); Regeneration of lexicon (How are new words created?); Syntax (How are Japanese sentences structured); Semantics Through this course students will also explore the structure of the Japanese language and its historical development in conjunction with socio-cultural factors. Upon completion of this course, students should understand the idiosyncratic behavior of Japanese as a language. (same as 65416 LSCI 165B, Lec A) |
| EAS 130 | KOREAN REVOLUTIONS | CHO, E. | This course examines moments in Korean history and explores the way in which those moments were recorded as a renaissance, revolution, rebellion, riot, or coup. From the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392) to contemporary Korea, students will explore remarkable moments of transition, including Manjok’s Slave Rebellion, the Tonghak Uprising, 3.1 Independence Movement, 4.3 Jeju Uprising, 1960 April Revolution, 5.18 Gwangju Uprising, Dongil Workers’ Nude Protest,1987 Democratization Movement, #MeToo Movement, and the recent candlelight movements. This course uses a wide range of sources, including historical documents, literature, films, drama, art, and a webtoon (a serialized Internet comic), reflecting historical, political, and cultural revolutions in Korea. (same as 26850 History 173G, Lec A) |
| EAS 150 | TRANS & COLONIALISM | SUH, S. | Translation is indispensable to colonial control. Put simply, the colonizer depends on translation to communicate with the colonized. Translation however can also provide the colonized with the opportunity to negotiate with and even subvert colonial control because the colonizer needs them to engage in the course of translation. This course aims to examine various issues of translation as an ethical and political practice as well as a linguistic act and to explore implications of such issues specifically in the context of Japanese colonial rule over Korea (1910-45). All readings are in English. |
| EAS 150 | LU XUN&EILEEN CHANG | HU, Y. | The course focuses on the two greats of modern Chinese literature: Lu Xun (1881-1936) and Eileen Chang (1920-1995). Although leaning toward ideologically opposite camps, both writers are sharply critical of the decaying traditional society, fiercely introspective in examining themselves, and dazzling in their literary representation and experimentation. Rather than following authoritative interpretations, our chief task in this class is to read closely their own words and join them on a challenging journey of searches, reflections and critique. Except for the few scholarly articles on our syllabus, consultation of secondary scholarship in any language, in print or online, are strongly discouraged. |
| EAS 155 | CHAINS OF UTILITY | SUH, S. | South Korean society underwent rapid industrialization and urbanization in the 1970s and 80s. During the period of rapid economic development, many believed that if they worked hard and spent little, they would be prosperous. As a matter of fact, to mobilize people for state-led economic development, the South Korean state constantly invoked the utilitarian ideology that emphasized the values of usefulness, productivity, and efficiency. However, quite a few literary texts and movies from 1970s and 80s South Korea show how much oppressive and exploitative such a society dominated by utilitarian ideology could be. In order to comprehend the problem of utility and such related issues as labor, violence, and democracy, and understand the historical context, students are required to read works in critical theory and excerpts from a Korean history textbook as well as literary texts. All readings are in English. |
| EAS 160 | AVANT-GARDE JAPAN | KUNIGAMI, A. | The course will introduce key moments of experimental avant-garde filmic practices in Japan, from the silent era to nowadays. As a politically charged term, we will also reconsider what “avant-garde” means, looking into the different projects, circuits, and political goals that usually go under the category of Japanese avant-garde, with its transnational dialogues and global awareness. From leftist documentary collectives in prewar Japan, intermedial practices bridging film and other media in the postwar, to high-profile “art cinema” and political video art that circulate in international venues in the recent decades, we will look into a broad scope of works that allow us to rethink the role of aesthetic form crossing borders between media, aesthetics, and politics. (same as 24225 Flm&Mda 160, Lec A) |
| EAS 170 | CHNSE MASCULINITIES | HUANG, M. | The course explores issues such as how bonding among men has been conceived and practiced in China, how such bonding is related to people's conceptualization of masculinity and the complicated implications when a relationship becomes sexual. Reading focuses on primary sources while secondary sources are also included. Emphases on close reading and critical thinking as well as historicization. Mid-term and final examinations |
| EAS 170 | KR LIT FEMNST PRISM | CHOI, C. | This course examines contemporary Korean literature from feminist perspectives. In this course we will read and analyze novels as well as some films centering on five categories of inquiry. They are fantastic literature and feminist narrative strategy with the writings of Choe Yun, Kim Ae-ran and Pae Su-a; phenomenology of the body with the writings of Chon Un-yong and Han Kang; maternity and disintegration of family with narratives of Yun Song-hui and Yi Kyong-mi; neo-liberal dystopia and madness with writings of Pyon Hye yong and Chong Yi-hyon as well as a film by Shin Su-won; and the post-feminism and the millennials with the cinematic narratives of Jeong Jae-un and Kim Po-ra. (same as 25170 Gen&Sex 170, Lec A) |
| EAS 190 | TRANSLINGUAL TAIWAN | SCRUGGS, B. | Due to large scale economic and limited settler colonization Japanese was the official language of government and commerce in Taiwan from 1895 to 1945, and ever since the 1945 retrocession of Taiwan to the Republic of China Chinese has been the official language. Moreover, in addition to these two official written languages, at various moments in the twentieth century Taiwanese (known also as Hokkien and Minnanyu), Hakka, and Native Taiwanese languages played crucial roles in the Taiwanese cultural field. This course is an attempt to untangle and appreciate the thicket of language that comprises twentieth century Taiwanese fiction and film. Towards reaching this goal we will read and screen landmark texts and films from Taiwanese authors and filmmakers as well as read widely in translation and postcolonial theory. Topics to be covered include but are not limited to the politics of translation, vernacular writing, and the voices of filmmakers. All readings are in English and all films are subtitled in English. (We’ll also discuss the politics of translating Taiwanese texts into English.) |
| EAS 192W | CAPSTONE WRTNG PROJ | LONG, M. | In this course you will write a fifteen- to twenty-page essay on an East Asian text of your choice approved by the instructor. The seminar consists of class discussion and individual tutorials. Students will either continue a project begun in another class or write about one of three focus novels. Using exercises from David Rosenwasser’s Writing Analytically, we will improve clarity, brevity, and flow. Topics include: formulating an argument using secondary sources, developing critical thinking through close reading, and using standard citation. For 2021 the three focus novels are 1) Kim Ji-young, Born 1982 (2016), 2) Wu Ming-yi, The Stolen Bicycle (2015), and 3) Ruth Ozeki, A Tale for the Time Being (2013). |
| EAS 220 | INSULARITY,CLT, FIC | SCRUGGS, B. | We will consider fiction and culture through the theoretical lens of insularity; in other words, what makes the fiction and culture of islands different from that of continents? Among the ideas advanced by theorists of space, place, ocean, island, and indigeneity that we will consider are roots and routes, “tidalectics”, and various approaches to questions of indigenization, the indigenous, and transindigenous studies. We will focus for the most part on Taiwan; however, students familiar with other literary and cultural milieu are strongly encouraged to suggest other readings. |