Undergraduate

This course explores issues of gender within Japanese history from ancient to modern times, with a focus on the period from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries.

The rise and fall of the Japanese colonial empire in the first half of the twentieth century is an event of singular important in the history of modern Japan as well as its concurrent East Asia. This course surveys the imperial or colonial roots of the formation of modern East Asian nations-mainly Japan but also Taiwan, Korea, and China-with a focus on the complex interplays between nationalism and imperialism or colonialism. By examining several key issues of colonial studies, we will look at the intertwinement and tensions between empire-building and nation-forming. All readings are in English.

What is culture, and how is cultural identity developed and communicated in a diverse global context? This course explores representations of Japanese culture-both by the non-Japanese audience and by Japanese themselves throughout key moments of Japan's cultural identity crisis in the modern era. We will use examples of representations from Japanese history as windows through which to explore issues of nation-consciousness, the physical and mental "nature" of a people, membership in a culture, propaganda and cultural conflict, and how these issues arise and are shaped with each iteration of cultural representation.

This course is an introduction to the visual arts of Korea from prehistory to the contemporary period and is organized both chronologically and thematically. The course considers objects within a variety of contexts (i.e., archaeological, cultural, historical, social, and ritual/religious) to both examine the meaning and function of the objects and to consider the issues of cultural transmission and exchange. In addition to better understand Korean culture, the aim of the course is to develop the skills of formal analysis, critical thinking, and writing about visual arts.

This course introduces the basic narrative and critical discourses of the history of early modern Japan, roughly from 1500 to 1868.  The course examines the emergence of the central power that unified feudal domains and explores processes of social, cultural, and political changes that transformed Japan into a "realm under Heaven."  Some scholars consider early modern Japan as the source of an indigenous birth of capitalism, industrialism, and also of Japan’s current economic vitality, while others see a bleak age of feudal oppression and isolation.  We will explore both sides of the debate and examine the age of many contradictions.

The dynamic interplay between painting, poetry, and calligraphy in the Chinese tradition is encapsulated by Su Shi’s observation that there is “poetry in painting, and painting in poetry.” Further articulation of this truism requires us to examine developing modes of visual expression, and to define ways in which a painting might be “written,” or a text “imaged.” We will consider case studies which demonstrate increasingly fluid negotiation between these mediums: from pictures that labor in “illustrative” juxtaposition with didactic texts (image vs. word), to representations of the natural world that are inscribed with poetry as sites of social and cultural identity (image cf. word), and which achieve formal and conceptual integration in expressive purpose (imageword).

This course is an introduction to the arts of China focusing on major monuments and artworks produced in imperial, aristocratic, literati, religious, and public milieus. Lectures will reconstruct the functions and the meanings of objects, to better understand Chinese culture through the objects it produced. Note(s): Students must attend first class to confirm enrollment. For nonmajors, any ARTH 14000 through 16999 course meets the general education requirement in the dramatic, musical, and visual arts.

Building up on fascinating recent research on thought reform, social control, reeducation, spycraft, and police work in the early PRC, we will examine how the new state sought to mold and reeducate its people. We will begin by reading some of the recent English language literature and then move on to read self-criticisms, confessions, petitions, denunciation letters, and police reports in Chinese. Third year Chinese or equivalent is required.

Like all New Waves, Chinese New Waves are first and foremost an international event. From the late 1970s on and throughout the 1980s, three “New Wave” cinemas from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Mainland China appeared on the international stage, representing the historical debut of Chinese-language cinema to the world cinephiles. This course will investigate how the “universal” New Wave issues, such as their stylistic treatment of youth, city and violence, engage with historical local experiences. Films include major works by important New Wave directors, such as Tsui Hark, Wong Kar-wai, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Edward Yang, Chen Kaige, and Zhang Yimou.