This course examines changes in the working lives of East Asian women from the late nineteenth to the 21st century. Most of the readings will be on China but we will also discuss Korea and Japan. All readings are in English.
An exploration of the writings of Lu Xun (1881-1936), widely considered as the greatest Chinese writer of the past century. We will read short stories, essays, prose poetry and personal letters against the backdrop of the political and cultural upheavals of early 20th century China and in dialogue with important English-language scholarly works.
This course will provide an overview of Chinese unearthed documents, beginning with the oracle-bone inscriptions of the Shang dynasty and the bronze inscriptions of the Western Zhou dynasty, and then concluding with bamboo and silk manuscripts of the Warring States, Qin and Han dynasties. By reading selections from these materials, we will seek to gain a general sense of both how they were produced and used at the time and also how their modern study has evolved.
This class explores the late imperial fascination with the boundaries between reality and illusion, genuine and counterfeit, self and role. Focusing on the period from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century—a period marked by both tremendous commercial growth and devastating political turmoil—we will trace the development of a discourse that at once imposes and seeks to overcome these categories of real and fake. In addition to readings from drama, fiction, and poetry, materials will include manuals on forgeries and scams, dream encyclopedias, designs for imaginary gardens, and guidebooks to fantastical realms. All readings available in English, but students with Chinese reading ability will be encouraged to read the original texts.
China's shift from a predominantly rural country to an urban majority is one of the greatest social and demographic transformations in world history. This course begins with the roots of this story in the early modern history of China's cities and traces it through a series of momentous upheavals in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We will learn about how global ideas and practices contributed to efforts to make Chinese cities "modern," but also how urban experiences have been integral to the meaning of modernity itself. We will discuss urban space, administration, public health, commerce and industry, transportation, foreign relations, and material culture. In addition to tackling these important topics in urban history and tracing the general development of Chinese cities over time, another primary concern of our course will be the place of urban history in English-language scholarship on Chinese history more broadly. We will track this development from Max Weber's observations on Chinese cities through the rise of "China-centered" scholarship in the 1970s through the "global turn" of the 2000s. During the course students will develop the skills necessary for writing an effective historiography paper, i.e., doing background research, writing annotated bibliographies, and using citation management software. Students will put these skills to work by writing a critical historiographical review of scholarship on a topic of their choice.
This class is an introduction to the forms, practices, and meanings of dance in China and the diaspora from ancient times to the present day. Through readings, videos, class demonstrations, and performances, we will explore the reconstruction of court dance in early China; Central Asian dance and dancers in the medieval imagination; the development of operatic movement in the late imperial period; the introduction and transformation of concert dance in the first half of the 20th century; socialist dance and the model ballets of the Cultural Revolution; folk dance and PRC ethno-nationalist discourse; the post-reform transnational avant-garde; ballroom dancing and everyday urban street life; Han revivalism, Shen Yun, and “classical Chinese dance” in the 21st century. Across these varied materials we will ask: what do we mean when we speak of dance, and what makes a dance Chinese? All materials in English; no background required.
What is a ghost? How and why are ghosts represented in particular forms in a particular culture at particular historical moments and how do these change as stories travel between cultures? How and why is traditional ghost lore reconfigured in the contemporary world? This course will explore the complex meanings, both literal and figurative, of ghosts and the fantastic in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean tales, plays, and films. Issues to be explored include: 1) the relationship between the supernatural, gender, and sexuality; 2) the confrontation of death and mortality; 3) collective anxieties over the loss of the historical past; 4) and the visualization of the invisible through art, theater, and cinema.
Fulfills translation requirement for EALC graduate students. Must be arranged with individual faculty member. Register by section with EALC faculty.
Independent reading course.
Note(s): Consent required.
