Autumn

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. 

This course takes a multi-disciplinary approach to the study of craft production in Early China, adopting perspectives developed in anthropological archaeology, history, and art history. The course will be divided into two parts, with the first devoted to reading anthropological literature and case studies of craft production in other ancient civilizations. The second half of the course is devoted to the analysis of Chinese data, which range from pottery making, bronze casting, to the making of Qin terra cotta soldiers. Students are expected to become familiar with prevalent theoretical discussions in anthropology and are encouraged to apply, adopt, or revise them in order to analyze examples of craft production of their own choice. Students not specializing in China are required to consult the instructor before taking the course.

Anyang, or Yinxu, the ruins of Yin, is one of the most important archaeological sites in China. The discoveries of inscribed oracle bones, the royal cemetery, clusters of palatial structures, and industrial-scale craft production precincts have all established that the site was indeed the last capital of the Shang dynasty recorded in traditional historiography. With almost continuous excavations since the late 1920s, work at Anyang has in many ways shaped and defined Chinese archaeology and the study of Early Bronze Age China.

This course intends to examine the history of research, important archaeological finds, and the role of Anyang studies in the field of Chinese archaeology. While the emphasis is on archaeological finds and the related research, this course will also attempt to define Anyang in the modern social and cultural contexts in terms of world heritage, national and local identity, and the looting and illegal trade of antiquities.

What is philosophy and why does looking at Japanese philosophy make a difference? By examining  Buddhist, Confucian, Shinto and modern academic philosophical traditions this course will provide a history of ideas found in Japan and central to thinking about being/non-being, government, ethics aesthetics, economics, faith and practice.

(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 course systematically examines the interrelationship between the 492 Buddhist cave-chapels at Dunhuang in terms of their pictorial and architectural program, spatial relationship, construction sequence, and patronage. It is hoped that this investigation will lay a methodological basis to envision a new history of Dunhuang caves. Chinese reading ability required.

This course is intended for graduate students with research interests in Buddhism in East Asia. We will critically examine the approaches modern scholars have taken to the subject (the sources they have focused on, the methods they have employed, the kinds of things they have construed Buddhism to be) as a way to both learn the field and develop our own skills as scholars. Ability in Chinese and/or Japanese helpful but not required.