East Asian Studies (EAST-GA)

This course is an introductory seminar offered to first-year graduate students in East Asian studies. The seminar provides a critical overview of the social, political, intellectual, and institutional history of the field of East Asian studies.

In this course, we will read and discuss major works on modern Korea and theories of modernity that can facilitate our understanding of Korea and the modern world. In the course, we will read both exemplary monographs on Korea that use theory effectively and a survey of classical theories of modernity, including the theory of capitalist structures, social forms, and culture. The course is designed to combine theory and practice and culminates in individual research projects on Korea or comparative projects that include Korea with somewhere else and its comparative contexts. Students will be encouraged to share their ongoing research interests and their analysis of primary texts (from various languages and cultures) in light of our theoretical discussions. Students Graduate students of any disciplinary background are welcome.

An Independent Study course provides students with the opportunity to work one-on-one with an instructor on a particular topic or creative project. Registration for this course requires approval of the Director of Graduate Studies. You will be asked to submit a proposal, that must include a project abstract (200-250 words) and a bibliography, approved by the professor supervising the course.

An in-depth study of the major epics of China, Japan, and Vietnam, from the historical-military and the social-romantic. The Chinese historical epic Three Kingdoms is read against the Japanese epic Tale of the Heike. Emphasis is placed on the political nature of the dynastic state form, the types of legitimacy and the forms of rebellion, the process of breakdown and reintegration of an imperial house, the empire as dynasty and as territory, and the range of characterology. In the second half of the course, the Chinese classic Dream of the Red Chamber is read against the Japanese The Tale of Genji. In addition to the above-mentioned topics, attention is given to the role of women and marriage in a governing elite, the modalities of social criticism in a novel of manners. The Vietnamese national classic Tale of Kieu is used as an introduction to the course because it combines all of the key topics. Particular attention is given to the ways in which Buddhist, Daoist, and Confucian doctrines function in each work.

This seminar addresses the biopolitics of Japanese empire through literary, historical, and philosophical texts that touch upon the areas of Ezo (Hokkaido), the Ryukyus (Okinawa), Taiwan, and the Korean peninsula, in addition to mainland Japan. Paying close attention to the economic crises from the 1920s, we will examine how intellectuals and literary figures in both the metropole and colonies started to envision a new world history that could surmount the limitations of European imperialisms through a regionalism that would come under the official heading of the Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere. Integral to this regionalism was a new conception of life itself in relation to sovereignty, the reproduction of labor power, and language. Using translation theory, we will explore the compulsion to render life intelligible, how it was translated into an intelligibility, and what became of unintelligible life amidst the cataclysms of Japanese fascism and its postwar/postcolonial reincarnations in Japanese democracy. We will read literary texts from Chiri Yukie, Kim Saryang, Zhuoliu Wu, Abe Kōbō, Medoruma Shun, and Sakiyama Tami, and theoretical texts from Nishida Kitarō, Uno Kōzō, Tanabe Hajime, Tosaka Jun, Naoki Sakai, and Harry Harootunian, among others. All readings are in English and no prior knowledge of Japan is required.

The course is designed to help students learn to teach East Asian languages (Chinese, Japanese, and Korean at the college-level. A wide range of issues related to the teaching of a foreign language will be discussed, including 1) historical overview of language teaching methods and approaches and their application to the classroom teaching; 2) curriculum design and lesson planning; 3) textbooks and supplementary teaching materials; 4) different strategies and skills in language teaching; 5) testing and assessment; and 6) use of technology.

This course looks at the various elements that make up and structure the contemporary urban subject in Asia. This includes architecture, art, technology and new media, and economic (and political economic) conditions. Attention is paid to the ways in which each of these factors create and organize life—but the aim is also to examine how these elements are being recombined in ways that point to new orders of social life in general. The boundaries of crime, and of subculture, play an integral role in this view. While sociological analysis is part of the approach, the course also draws heavily on the ways in which conditions are formulated and expressed in fiction, film, animation, and fine art. The course entails some historical overview and comparison with earlier moments (especially the early 20th century), but the emphasis is on the situation now. It is also meant to provide a comparative view between major Asian cities, but will focus on particular cities. The conditions being discussed are also global, and so inevitably the topics expand beyond Asia as well, even while they have specificity in different regions. At stake overall is the changing conditions of life, of mass culture, and of the social community in Asia and the world.

Special Topics in Theory courses encompass a wide range of specialized topics in theoretical frameworks. The objective of these courses is to assist students in obtaining an in-depth understanding of past and current developments in specific areas of theory related to East Asia.

Topics courses encompass a wide range of topics related to histories, cultures, societies, politics, and economies of East Asia. These courses are designed to provide students with comprehensive understanding of the diverse and complex realties of East Asia, and they may cover topics such as traditional arts, religions, literature, language, modernization, globalization, and international relations.

Literary Theory courses encompass a wide range of topics that revolve around examining and understanding literary works from East Asia through critical analysis and interpretation. The objective of these courses is to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of literary traditions, cultures, and histories of East Asia, and how they are interpreted through critical theories.