| Course | Title | Instructor | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| EAS 55 | KOR WOMEN'S CINEMA | CHOI, C. | This course will examine some of the representative women's films made in the new millennium. Following a brief historical survey of women’s film making at the intersection of political economic turmoil and feminist movement, we will examine issues of gender representation, social and political issues as well as philosophical and ethical questions that Korean women’s directors are raising through their cinematic medium. We will also pay attention to aesthetics and genre experimentations of women’s films as well as workings of women’s independent film making collectives. Course materials will include both scholarly articles and films made by leading women directors including Yim Soon-rye, Byun Young-ju, and Kim Bora. |
| EAS 110 | GNDR & MODRN CH LIT | HUANG, M. | This course will focus on several fictional texts produced during the twentieth century. We will examine how gender and gender relationships were being reconstructed and renegotiated as China was pursuing her modernity. The reading will proceed in a roughly chronological order (in terms of the historical period each work covers). Emphasis will be on close reading and critical thinking. There will be mid-term and final examinations (both are in class), and pop quizzes. Class attendance and discussion participation will count considerably toward a student’s final grade. Students are also expected to view a movie based one of the novels. |
| EAS 116 | ASIAN BUDDHIST ART | KIM, S. | This course is an examination of the interaction between religious practice, doctrinal thoughts and visual imageries of Buddhism in China, Korea and Japan. It will also introduce recent scholarship on the cultural meaning and sociopolitical function of Buddhist monuments and objects in their own time as well as their modern historiography.'' (same as 31225 Rel Std 120, Lec A) |
| EAS 116 | JPN PREMOD WILDLIFE | MEZUR, K. | What do animals and plants reveal about the social, spiritual, and daily life practices of early Japanese? What roles do they play in the human animal mythologies central to Japan's genealogy? Our studies intertwine the historiographies and their adaptations/assimilations of indigenous, Shinto, and Buddhist beliefs, spiritual practices, and their theories and meanings within the developing art worlds of literature, visual arts, and performing arts. How might an ecology-focused study of Japan's premodern era reveal a more inclusive narrative of human animal creative, social, and spiritual development? What impact would this have on Japan's premodern history if we center wildlife such as nonhuman animals, insects, fish, and birds and the biosphere of plants and the planetary elements and phenomena like oceans, mountains, stones, seasons, earthquakes, fire, and wind? In this course we will examine Japan's premodern era through a focus on how nonhuman powers shaped the formation of early human animal cultural practices and their historiographies. We will encounter together the mythologies, tales, spiritual practices, and belief systems that thrived in relation to "wildlife" in early Japan. |
| 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 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 65440 LSCI 165B, Lec A) |
| EAS 126 | K-POP & LINGUISTICS | SILVA FONSECA, M. | This course will cover some of core the concepts of linguistics: phonetics, phonology, morphology, and sociolinguistics. The course will use examples from linguistics to interrogate the relationship between pop culture and language. The topics will blend linguistic theory with K-pop anime, manga, drama, K-pop, J-pop, and movies. This course does not require prior knowledge of Korean or Japanese language. |
| EAS 130 | KOREAN SOC & CULTRE | CHOI, C. | This course surveys social, cultural, and political aspects of contemporary Korea. We will examine and interpret some of the key cultural institutions and social changes including family and gender relationships, the impact of Korean War and national division, rapid industrialization and its legacies, social movement, labor and marriage migration, and popular culture and culture industry. We will also explore the life and society of North Korea and issues of North Korean refugees in South Korea. As part of class activities, we will follow closely some of the current events and interpret them in light of what we learn in class for the purpose of enhancing the students’ critical skills to analyze Korean society. Course materials include scholarly articles, films, and literature. (same as 26118 GlblClt 103A, Lec A; and 64520 Intl St 179, Lec B) |
| EAS 140 | SACRIFCE KOREAN LIT | SUH, S. | This course centers around a simple idea, that is, life is a series of decision-making, and once we make our decision, we’d better stick to it but also need to take its consequences. Decision-making inevitably requires sacrifice because by choosing one option over other possible ones, we cannot help but sacrifice those our decision leaves out. Furthermore, full commitment to our decision often takes precedence over other obligations we might have and thus forces us to sacrifice them as well. No matter how much carefully and sincerely we attempt to make the right decision by taking every single factor into consideration, it produces unintended effects that might hurt others around us. By drawing on literary texts coming from or set in Korea, the course intends to lead students to think about the inevitable sacrifice embedded in our decision-making, and question and answer how much responsible we should be held for it. |
| EAS 155 | POSTCOLONIAL TAIWAN | SCRUGGS, B. | This course introduces students to postcolonial fiction, film, and theory, with particular emphasis on Taiwan since 1945. We will read The Lost Garden by Li Ang and Orphan of Asia by Wu Zhuoliu, and watch the films A Brighter Summer Day, GF*BF, and Cape No. 7 in tandem with theoretical texts by Leo Ching, Ania Loomba, and Joseph Allen among others. The course grade will be based on 5 bi-weekly quizzes, one class presentation, and one short essay. |
| EAS 155 | JPN MILITARY CULTRS | MEZUR, K. | In this course we study the concepts, practices, and narratives of war, situated in different eras from the premodern to the contemporary, through their representations in the arts. From premodern illustrated and sung warrior tales and solemn mask dramas, to modern prints and kabuki plays, to contemporary film, anime, games, and fiction, we will examine the historiography of Japan's military cultures and their aesthetics, belief systems, and gender role types. Across time, geographies, and cultures, artists have been driven to reflect on militarization and war. What does war do? How do soldiers, civilians, children, and "nations" become militarized? What role do artists play in militarized cultures? In this course we will examine how the arts are deployed in times of war, in militarized zones, in postwar memorialization, and in future fantasy wars, beginning with representations of war in premodern Japan. We will analyze "performance" in Japanese militarized warrior cultures, through the technologies of literature, visual arts, performing arts, film, and anime. While popular images of the samurai held today are the result of modern processes of invention, Japanese warriors were constantly being reinvented and redefined from the earliest period, with layers of memory combining with fantasy and nostalgia to create new versions of the samurai in different times and places. |
| EAS 160 | ART&ACTVSM JPN FLM | LONG, M. | This course studies famous Japanese films from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s to discuss the relationship between politics and art. We often think politics is about resistance. During this period Japanese filmmakers had a lot to resist: US Military Bases, Japanese Amnesia about WWII, the US-Japan Security Treaty, the collapse of the student movement, environmental degradation, misogyny, etc. However, can we argue that these films are successful because they affirm something? Because they take the energy of what they oppose and use it to make interesting feelings, images, movements, and pockets of time? Weekly required screenings of films by Oshima Nagisa, Kurosawa Akira, Imamura Shohei, Shindo Kaneto, Itami Juzo, Hara Kazuo, Haneda Sumiko, and others. Assignments include weekly quizzes, six web gallery entries, two papers, and one director report. |
| EAS 160 | CHINA ON SCREEN | SCRUGGS, B. | Screening China provides students the opportunity to watch and study an eclectic collection of ten films from late twentieth and early twenty-first century China including So Close to Paradise, Jinpa, Piano in a Factory, and The Legend of Tianyun Mountain. For each film we (1) historically and culturally situate the eras in which the movies were made and the eras they portray; (2) discuss the central characters, the challenges they face, and the plot; and (3) analyze set, light, and camera work, sound, and editing. All films are in Chinese and have English subtitles. The course grade is based on two short written analyses, a midterm, and a cumulative final exam. Studio attendance is mandatory. |
| EAS 170 | FMNSM MOD J NOVEL | LONG, M. | This is a small upper-division literature seminar about love, feminism and modern Japan. The theme is “voice.” We focus on seven women authors, reading more than one work by each to explore their distinctive voices. Which authors talk about feminism in a way that resonates with UCI students in 2025? How do they define “love”? “freedom?” “equality?” Sometimes Japanese feminists approach issues like abortion, care-work, sex-work, queer and trans issues, and sexual pleasure in ways that feel familiar and easy to debate. Other times, political and cultural contexts like Marxism, anarchism, colonialism, and ultra-nationalism reveal approaches to the same issues that feel totally new. Assignments include weekly reading quizzes, mid-term and final lists, and two recorded contributions to class audiobooks. (same as 22810 Com Lit 130, Lec A; and 25165 Gen&Sex 170, Lec A) |
| EAS 170 | CHNSE MASCULINITIES | HUANG, M. | How are masculinities conceived of and represented in traditional Chinese culture before Western influence began to infiltrate China? This is a central question to be explored in this class. Another issue to examine is the diverse and historical nature of the Chinese conceptualizations of masculinity. The reading will focus on various historical materials fictional and non-fictional (including novels, short stories, historical writings, memoirs, etc.). Written assignments include mid-term and final exams plus pop quizzes. |
| EAS 190 | TASK THE TRANSLATOR | SUH, S. | This course revolves around the question of what we should do in the act of translation. To help students answer it, the course invites them to engage with the following set of further questions: What is translation? What warrants an instance of translation? What makes a translation good or bad? Are there any other considerations than linguistic ones we should bear in mind to fulfil the task of the translator? To fully grasp cultural, political, and ethical issues raised by the above questions, we are going to read and discuss a wide range of critical essays about translation. The course requirements include weekly response papers and a term paper. |
| EAS 192W | WRITING EAST ASIA | HU, Y. | The goal of this upper-division writing course is a fifteen-page research paper on an east Asian-related topic of your choice approved by the instructor. The course consists of class discussion and individual tutorial. We work on the following topics: formulating a research question, refining research skills, engaging in critical thinking and analysis, using standard citation and developing advanced writing techniques. |