EALC

This course will address significant issues in teaching and learning an East Asian language through identification and analysis of specific sociolinguisitic and linguistic characteristics of Korean, Japanese, and Chinese. The course will begin with the introduction of linguistic structures of the three East Asian languages to begin discussing the interaction between language acquisition and society. Then, we will explore sociolinguistic issues common to the three languages that underlie the linguistic diversity (and similarities) of East Asia, such as the following topic: (i) the use of Chinese characters, the history of writing reform, and its relation to literacy in East Asian languages; (ii) loan words in East Asian languages, in particular, the use of Chinese characters in modern Japanese and Korean in age of colonialism; (iii) the development and use of honorifics in China, Japan, and Korea, etc. For a comparative approach and perspective to these topics, students will read academic papers for each language on a given topic and discuss the unique sociolinguistic features of each language. Such an approach will allow us to analyze the language influence and interaction among the three languages and how that shapes the culture, society, and language acquisition. Finally, this course will also introduce the field of second language acquisition focusing on how social factors influence L2 learning and acquisition.

This class will explore three sets of paired authors from ancient China and Greece: Herodotus/Sima Qian; Plato/Confucius; Homer/Book of Songs. Topics will include genre, authorship, style, cultural identity, and translation, as well as the historical practice of Greece/China comparative work.

After a general survey of local and oral history studies in 20th century Chinese history, students will examine secondary scholarly literature and primary documents from three ongoing local rural history research projects (a country history, a regional history and a village history). Documents including transcripts of oral interviews and individual life histories, local gazetteers, memorials, edicts, biographies, social surveys, household registrations, essays, and recent county histories. Some of these Chinese documents have English language translations appended. Students will examine two oral history cases studies in detail.

Peking opera (jingju) is the one nationally prominent form of traditional performing arts in China. This course will introduce concepts and methods that can be applied to the study of Peking opera. Emphasis will be put on understanding artistic elements essential to the living tradition of performance - the visual aspects including stylized stage gesture and movement, sets and costumes, and colors; the music and oral transmission. Topics for discussion include "realism", alienation, time and space, connoisseurship, and film. Students will not only engage with scholarly literature that cuts across different disciplines, but also be introduced to a rich body of sources ranging from gramophone recordings, to photographs, opera films and documentaries. Motivated students will also learn some basics of singing and moves. Field trips to Chinese community Peking opera troupes may be arranged. Mandarin a plus but not a prerequisite.

This course surveys major areas of study in the Chinese landscape painting tradition, focusing on the history of its pictorial representation during pre-modern eras. Format will be primarily class discussion following a series of lectures. Areas for consideration may include: first emergence and subsequent developments of the genre in court and literati arenas; landscape aesthetics and theoretical foundations; major attributed works in relation to archaeological evidence. Emphasis is on artistic options and the exercise of choice within the context of social, political, religious, and economic forces. Students are expected to gain skills in formal analysis through looking with reading, and a critical perspective on the processes of art historical placement and interpretation based on assigned readings in secondary literature.

This course is part of a three-quarter sequence on the civilizations of China, Japan, and Korea or Viet Nam, with emphasis on major transformation in these cultures and societies from the Middle Ages to the present. Taking these courses in sequence is not required. This sequence meets the general education requirement in civilization studies.

Open to undergraduates and gradute students who do not read Chinese, although those who can do so will be expected to read the text in its original form. Paper will be required end of second course. A careful reading and discussion of this major work of traditional Chinese fiction in both the original language and in English translation, with excursions into the relevant secondary scholarship.

This is a two-quarter course: those who sign up for autumn must also sign up for EALC 52301 in winter quarter. Reading and research in Japanese history, which culminates in a major seminar paper at the end of winter term.

This quarter the focus is on the genre of religious/philosophical exegesis. We will read representatives commentaries of the Laozi and the Heart Sūra.

This course will survey works of Japanese fiction and poetry revolving around issues of money stretching from the late 17th through the late 20th century. We will also read key works in the philosophy of money (Adam Smith, Karl Marx, George Simmel, Karatani Kojin), works of critical theory on the relationship between literature and money, and recent scholarship on the history of money in Japan. All readings will be available in English, although some texts will also be provided in Japanese.