Asian Studies (ASTD)

A comparative, cultural anthropological exploration of fashion and consumption as tools for the creation, expression, and contestation of social, cultural, economic, political and individual identities. Topics include: anthropological and semiotic theories of materialism and consumption, subcultural styles, colonialism, race, gender, religious dress, globalization and ethnic chic.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies, Social Science

Typically Offered: Every Third Year

This course explores Asian American experiences and histories from 1776 to the present with a special emphasis on labor, war, and activism. We will explore how Asian laborers have been racialized in relation to other groups in the United States and its territories; how American wars in the Pacific influence both the demographic make-up and critical outlook of Asian America; and how different Asian American groups have organized in response to U.S. racism and imperialism. Rather than take Asian America as a given, we will probe the contours of who is considered a part of Asian American history, challenging the field to acknowledge under-represented groups such as Pacific Islanders, South Asians, Southeast Asians, and Arab Americans. We will explore how questions of race and ethnicity intersect with those of class, gender, and sexuality. This course utilizes an interdisciplinary approach, combining archival analyses with theory, poetry, memoir, and film.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies

Typically Offered: Annually

GPA units: 1

Typically Offered: Fall, Spring

Students may undertake independent research projects under the direct supervision of a faculty member. Individuals contemplating a research project should make inquiries during their third year, since the project is usually initiated by the beginning of the fourth year.

GPA units: 1

Typically Offered: Fall, Spring

Students may undertake independent research projects under the direct supervision of a faculty member. Individuals contemplating a research project should make inquiries during their third year, since the project is usually initiated by the beginning of the fourth year.

GPA units: 1

Typically Offered: Fall, Spring

An introduction to spoken Mandarin and written Chinese. Providing a foundation in speaking, listening, reading, writing, and communication skills and an introduction to the Chinese culture.

Students who have taken any higher level CHIN course may not register for CHIN 101. No previous knowledge of language.

GPA units: 1.25

Common Area: Language Studies

Typically Offered: Fall

An introduction to spoken Mandarin and written Chinese. Providing a foundation in speaking, listening, reading, writing, and communication skills and an introduction to the Chinese culture.

Prerequisite: CHIN 101 or equivalent. Students who have taken any higher level CHIN course may not register for CHIN 102.

GPA units: 1.25

Common Area: Language Studies

Typically Offered: Spring

An introduction to the history, geography, literature, and social issues of China through readings, films, music, poetry, and web-based resources. Taught in English. Three class hours weekly. One unit.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies

GPA units: 1

Typically Offered: Fall, Spring

A critical survey of modern Chinese popular culture, focusing on the growing cultural influence and widespread popularity of cultural productions from the Sinophone world. The core focus will be on popular culture from the Peoples Republic of China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Students will examine the socio-political and economic contexts in which Chinese popular culture has gradually gained regional and global recognition. Special attention will be paid to the roles of aesthetic and intellectual movements, ideological shifts, technological innovations, and government regulatory strategies that have shaped these cultural phenomena. Through analysis of a wide range of genres and cultural forms, students will explore topics such as media globalization, literary adaptation, and cultural censorship. The course will span from martial arts TV dramas to commercial blockbusters, and from 1930s Jazz music to 2020s Douyin videos.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies

This course explores humananimal relationships in China from past to present, examining how animals (both supernatural and worldly) have shaped cultural imagination, social life, and storytelling. Students will investigate animals as cultural symbols, humananimal encounters across historical and social contexts, and ethical and philosophical debates about animals and humanity. Through critical analysis of literary works in dialogue with Chinese philosophy, religion, art, popular culture, and modern media, students will explore the complex and ongoing interactions between humans and animals throughout Chinese history and society.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies, Literature

Continued focus on the development of oral and written communication skills and on the strengthening of cultural competency in Chinese through the use of written texts and multimedia resources. Five class hours weekly. One and one-quarter units each semester.

Recommended prerequisite: CHIN 102 or equivalent. Students who have taken any higher level CHIN course may not register for CHIN 201.

GPA units: 1.25

Common Area: Language Studies

Typically Offered: Fall

Continued focus on the development of oral and written communication skills and on the strengthening of cultural competency in Chinese through the use of written texts and multimedia resources. Five class hours weekly. One and one-quarter units each semester.

Prerequisite: CHIN 201 or equivalent. Students who have taken any higher level CHIN course may not register for CHIN 202.

GPA units: 1.25

Common Area: Language Studies

Typically Offered: Spring

Introduction to major works in traditional Chinese literature. One Unit.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Literature

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies

An exploration of Chinese culture through 20th- and 21st-century Chinese cinema. Taught in English. One unit.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies

An overview of the history and structure of the Chinese language.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Social Science

This course explores the intersection of language, migration, and aging, with a focus on the experiences of immigrants from different age groups, including a case study of Asian American immigration stories.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies, Social Science

Typically Offered: Alternate Years

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies, Literature

Have you eaten yet? As one of the most common greetings among people in China, it suggests the important role food plays in Chinese culture and society. This course examines the Chinese culinary tradition and practice from antiquity to the present and explores diverse representations of food in historical accounts, literature, traditional arts, and the modern media. In this journey to Chinese cultures heart through its stomach, we will savor every bite: both food for thought and food for stomach. While digging into our food, we will also discuss a variety of topics related to the subject of Chinese food, such as food and culture values, food and identity, food and hunger, and Chinese food in the West. Students will develop critical eating skills and will further embrace cultural diversity through food.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies, Literature

GPA units: 1

Typically Offered: Fall, Spring

Continued focus on the development of oral and written communication skills and cultural competency through the use of traditional Chinese readings and multimedia resources. Five class hours weekly. One and one-quarter units each semester.

Prerequisite: CHIN 202 or permission of the instructor. Students who have taken any higher level CHIN course may not enroll in CHIN 301

GPA units: 1.25

Common Area: Language Studies

Typically Offered: Fall

Continued focus on the development of oral and written communication skills and cultural competency through the use of traditional Chinese readings and multimedia resources. Five class hours weekly. One and one-quarter units each semester.

Prerequisite: CHIN 301 or equivalent.

GPA units: 1.25

Common Area: Language Studies

Typically Offered: Spring

GPA units: 1

Typically Offered: Fall, Spring

Continued development of oral and written communication skills and cultural competency through the use of readings, videos, and other multimedia resources. One unit each semester.

Prerequisite: CHIN 302 or Study Abroad in China, or permission of the instructor.

GPA units: 1.25

Common Area: Language Studies

Typically Offered: Fall

Continued development of oral and written communication skills and cultural competency through the use of readings, videos, and other multimedia resources. One unit each semester.

Prerequisite: CHIN 401 or Study Abroad in China

GPA units: 1.25

Common Area: Language Studies

Typically Offered: Spring

This course continues its focus on the development of higher level skills in spoken Mandarin and formal, written Chinese.

Prerequisite: CHIN 302 or permission of instructor.

GPA units: 1.25

Common Area: Language Studies

An introduction to the classical literary language of China.

Prerequisite: Any 400 level Chinese class or permission from the instructor.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Language Studies

Typically Offered: Annually

GPA units: 1

Typically Offered: Fall, Spring

GPA units: 1

Typically Offered: Fall, Spring

Considers the political, religious, and cultural encounters between the ancient Greek world and Asia generated by the expedition of Alexander the Great and the interpretations of the story of Alexander found in different cultural traditions from antiquity to the present day, from religious texts to heavy metal music.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Historical Studies, Literature

Typically Offered: Alternate Years

How does raceas cultural imaginaries and social practicesaffect people of African and Asian descent? How do racialized subjects challenge injustice and envision collective futures, not only for themselves but also for one another? We will explore these questions by delving into the historical and creative worlds of Afro-Asian encounters. We will examine media narratives of urban conflicts, attend to solidarity practices and visions of social change, trace shifting forms of identity and belonging across borders, and consider race and globalization in South-South contact zones. We will pay particular attention to different genres and mediums, such as documentary films, memoirs, theater, and travel writing. Through dialoguing with race-critical Afro-Asian traditions, students will develop the critical thinking, writing, and analytical skills necessary for engaging the problems and possibilities of our global present.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies

How does popular media shape the way we imagine race, technology, and the future? From Blade Runners neon cityscapes to cyberpunk anime, visions of the future often draw on what scholars call techno-orientalisma tendency to portray Asia as high-tech but dehumanized. This course turns that gaze around. We will explore how Asian and Asian diasporic writers, filmmakers, and artists use science fiction, fantasy, and other speculative genres to transform familiar tropessuch as alien encounters and zombie apocalypsesand craft narratives about social justice, planetary belonging, and collective survival. We will critically engage a wide range of mass-produced cultural works, such as commercial cinema, animation, graphic novels, and role-playing games. Ultimately, we ask how speculative storytelling can help us reimagine what it means to be human in a more-than-human future.

GPA units: 1

This course explores canonical works of Asian American literature as well as contemporary writings. We will investigate what it means to be Asian American by analyzing texts produced by writers with roots all over the globe and across multiple genres, including short stories, novels, memoirs, poetry, and plays. We will examine the distinctive contributions Asian Americans are making to these literary forms and consider how Asian American writers use a wide array of creative strategies to narrate history, respond to stereotypes, and tell new stories. Our reading will be informed by relevant scholarship, historical sources, and multimedia materials.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Literature

Typically Offered: Alternate Years

Balinese Dance is a dance performance class which surveys the rich classical, contemporary, and folk traditions of music, mask, dance, and theatre from Bali, Indonesia. Hinduism plays a significant role in the performing arts of Bali and will be discussed in relationship to performance. Students rehearse and perform with Gamelan Gita Sari, the Holy Cross gamelan orchestra. This course can be taken for two semesters.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Arts, Cross-Cultural Studies

Typically Offered: Fall, Spring

Advanced Balinese Dance builds on the background and techniques covered in Balinese Dance 1-2. Students delve more deeply into the traditions of Bali and perform more advanced repertoire in a concert setting. Students may take this course for two semesters with the permission of the instructor, progressing to advanced repertoire of both traditional and contemporary Balinese dances, including solos.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Arts, Cross-Cultural Studies

Typically Offered: Fall, Spring

A survey of representative Asian American literature from early twentieth-century immigrant narratives to contemporary writings. Examines Asian American literary production and its main literary themes.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies, Literature

Typically Offered: Every Third Year

Countries across East Asia have a long tradition in the production and dissemination of printed and visual materials, be it manuscripts and illustrations, or comics and film. This course will examine the technical and social aspects of print and visual culture in China and Japan and how changes in technology, politics, and social values were reflected in how these objects were produced, how they were thought of, and what kinds of content they contained. The course will also explore how writers, illustrators, comic artists, and filmmakers combed historical experiences to make their own analyses of contemporary conditions. In so doing, it will engage students in both how to apply methods of historical inquiry to the analysis of material and visual sources, and how to think about non-textual sources historically.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies, Historical Studies

Typically Offered: Alternate Years

This course presents a survey of Asian American history from the mid-19th century to the present, a period marked by multiple waves of immigration, imperialism, world wars, and social revolutions across the pacific. The course aims to place contemporary issues of Asian American identity, cultural belonging, politics, and social justice in historical and transnational perspective. Major themes will include the experience of immigration and the formation of enclaves, the legacy of settler colonialism and imperialism, racism and relations with ethnic groups, labor and social mobility, negotiations over identity and cultural production, the role of Asian Americans in social movements and political activism, as well as the influence of global politics and transpacific networks.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies, Historical Studies

Typically Offered: Alternate Years

This course takes us on an intellectual journey through India's past and present. The course begins with important vignettes of Indian society, culture, and politics prior to the arrival of the British. We will examine how and why various facets of Indian society, namely: economic, legal, religious, and gender relations underwent radical transformation during the British rule. In the second segment of the course, we will study the causes and consequences of the Indian struggle for Independence that ended the British rule, but also led to a violent partition of India in 1947. The third segment of the course will look at some key individuals who sought to implement differing visions of India in the post-colonial era. By following the stories of the historical actors, events, and ideas we will seek to understand how colonial legacy, caste and gender relations, political corruption, and religious fundamentalism have shaped the contemporary Indian society.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies, Historical Studies

This course presents an overview of Chinese history from the Neolithic period to around 1800. Themes include the emergence of Confucian thought as well as other philosophies and religions; the establishment of bureaucratic empires and evolving state-society relations; war, diplomacy, and trade between various Chinese states and their Inner Asian and East Asian neighbors as well as Western nations; the features of an elaborate literary and artistic tradition; shifts in gender relations; and the internal rebellions and early reform efforts as the last Chinese empire drew to its close.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies, Historical Studies

Typically Offered: Alternate Years

This course presents a survey of Chinese history from 1800 to the present, a period marked by multiple reforms, rebellions, revolutions, and wars as China transformed from an empire to a modern nation-state in search of a coherent identity and a new global role. Major themes will include shifting state-society relations; cultural and intellectual movements; responses to imperialism and modes of nationalism; war and revolution; industrialization and urbanization; changing gender relations; evolving ethnic tensions; scientific culture and environmental challenges; as well as the legacy of history, reform, and revolution in the contemporary era.

Enrollment limited to 2nd, 3rd and 4th year students only

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies, Historical Studies

Typically Offered: Alternate Years

In 1750, the worlds biggest city was neither London nor New York, but Edothe metropolis known today as Tokyo. At a time when war plagued societies across the globe, Japan enjoyed two and a half centuries of peace under the Tokugawa shoguns. This class explores the remarkable social, cultural, and political developments in the Japanese archipelago between the end of the Warring States period and Japans emergence as a modern nation. Key topics include Japans connections with the outside world; relations between samurai, commoner and outcaste social groups; the development of the arts, industry, religion, and literature; and the question of whether Tokugawa Japan was an environmentally sustainable society.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies, Historical Studies

Typically Offered: Alternate Years, Spring

This class traverses the stunning transformations of Japanese society between 1850 and the present day. The course begins with the birth of the modern Japanese nation-state amidst internal revolution and international pressure from the great powers of the day. In the years that followed, Japan quickly emerged as the worlds first non-Western society to undergo a modern industrial revolution and as an expansionist empire on the world stage. Japan imposed a massive empire in Asia only to lose it in infamy in the Second World War. In the post-World War II decades, Japan rivaled the US as an economic and technological power, yet still grapples today with the environmental, social, and cultural legacies of its rapid transformations. Through the twists and turns of Japanese history, this course interrogates broad questions about global struggles with empire and colonialism, economic change, and social conflict.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies, Historical Studies

Typically Offered: Alternate Years

This course will engage the numerous revolutions that proliferated throughout the 20th century in the region we identify as Asia. Engaging with recent scholarly work that addresses the global nature of revolutions in Asia, it aims to break down and interrogate organizing principles of nation and region. Students will be challenged to situate the lives and careers of Asian revolutionaries into a transnational context in which they were active participants and shapers of revolution, both as practice and concept. Themes include empire, colonialism, revolution, war, and memory.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Historical Studies

Typically Offered: Alternate Years

This course will examine the long history of interactions between successive Chinese states and various non-Chinese peoples on the borderlands and frontiers of Inner, Central East, and Southeast Asia. Beginning with the Zhou Dynasty (1046-256 BCE), we will survey how ethnic and cultural differences were conceptualized and discussed in received Chinese historical texts and how non-Chinese peoples were integrated/excluded into an expanding Zhou state. From there, we will survey the expansion of subsequent dynasties westward and the cultural, political, and social exchanges that occurred between Chinese, Iranian, and other peoples, as well as the persistent wars Chinese states fought with nomadic peoples from the north, and the coming of Buddhism into the Chinese heartland from Central Asia. We will then investigate the rise of the Mongols, their conquest and rule over China and much of Central and West Asia, and end by looking at the Manchu and the establishment of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912). In this long survey, we will pay close attention to how ethnic, cultural, and religious difference were perceived by successive generations of observers, and how interactions between Chinese and non-Chinese border peoples came to shape ever changing definitions of both Chinese identity and Chinese-ness. In so doing, we will read from an extensive number of translated primary sources, such as The Secret History of the Mongols. Further, to provide students an introductory historiographical background of how academics have attended these questions, we will read from a wide range of secondary literature, both old and new. Our class will be discussion-based with the occasional lecture. Assignments will include maps, short papers, source analyses, and a final project.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Historical Studies

Typically Offered: Alternate Years, Spring

From the inception of Worlds Fairs and the modern Olympic Games in the nineteenth century, global sporting competitions and international exhibitions have always been a way of showcasing national progress and strength, as well as material and technological achievements. This course examines both the representation of East Asia (China, Japan, and Korea) in these international mega-events in addition to East Asian countries own participation in and hosting of expositions and games, from the London and Paris worlds fairs in the late 1800s to the 2008 Beijing and 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Shanghai World Expo in 2010. It will explore the changing meanings of sports and competition, scientific and technological innovation, artistic and cultural exchange, as well as national and racial identities in the shifting contexts of colonialism, imperialism, war, diplomacy, urbanization, environmental change, and globalization. Students will analyze both textual and visual sources and explore a topic through in-depth individual research.

Prerequisite: HIST 200

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies, Historical Studies

Typically Offered: Every Third Year, Spring

Introduction to music of selected African, Asian, and American cultures. Each culture is approached through its social and cultural context, its theoretical systems and musical instruments, as well as its major musical and theatrical genres.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Arts, Cross-Cultural Studies

Typically Offered: Annually

Introduces students to Balinese music through the performance of selected pieces from the Gong Kebyar repertory. Instruction provided in the technique of playing the instruments that make up the Gamelan.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Arts, Cross-Cultural Studies

Typically Offered: Fall, Spring

Introduces students to more advanced techniques of playing the instruments in the Gamelan.

Prerequisite: MUSC 231

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Arts, Cross-Cultural Studies

Typically Offered: Fall, Spring

Whether your interest is Chinese culture, history, economics, international relations, politics, human rights, or environmental thought, this introductory course on Chinese Political Philosophy will help you understand China today. The U.S. and China must deal with one another regardless of whether the dealings are friendly or hostile. How can we better understand China and what underlies its economic and political aspirations? In President Xi Jinpings own words, Studying Confucius and Confucianism is key to understanding the national characteristics of the Chinese. Xi points to the rival schools of thought during the Warring States period that include the Confucians, Mohists, Daoists and Legalists, saying that the development of Chinese ideology and culture has been plural and multi-dimensional. In his recent speech to the World Economic Forum Conference in Davos, Xi alludes to Chinas Legalism saying, we should stay committed to international law and international rules instead of seeking ones own supremacy. Ancient Chinese believed that the law is the very foundation of governance. This introductory course considers Chinese Political Philosophies from Confucianism, Mohism and Daoism to Legalism. We will examine how these political ideas are related to their respective accounts of ethics, social, economic and cultural concerns, as well as justifications for political norms. Well question what resources these political philosophies can offer to contemporary concerns regarding international law, justice, freedom, human rights, and flourishing in the face of conflicting values and environmental challenges.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies, Philosophical Studies

Typically Offered: Alternate Years

Some of the most influential philosophical ideas in history sprouted and matured in India (and in South Asia more generally). This course will survey these philosophical ideas, with a special emphasis on Hindu and Buddhist philosophy. We will read both primary and secondary sources on topics central to these traditions, such as karma, rebirth, liberation, the self, suffering, knowledge, religious pluralism, God or Brahman, and emptiness. As we think through topics such as these, we will be working to develop and hone philosophical skills such as analyzing concepts, constructing and critiquing arguments, and evaluating philosophical theories.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies, Philosophical Studies

Typically Offered: Alternate Years

What is the ultimate goal of human existence, if any? Are there qualities of persons or actions that promote harmony with the community or with nature at large? Is there a soul that exists beyond this life? Is there really a 'self' at all? Is there a permanent reality beneath the visible world of change - or is the motley of change all there is to the world? We shall explore these fundamental philosophical questions through key Asian traditions of wisdom such as Confucianism, Daoism, Hinduism and Buddhism. Not only is an understanding of these wisdom traditions valuable in themselves, it'll also help us understand better the Asian nations which social, political, ethical and cultural practices are founded on Asian philosophy.

Enrollment limited to 2nd, 3rd and 4th year students only

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies, Philosophical Studies

Typically Offered: Alternate Years

Some of the most influential philosophical ideas in history sprouted and matured in India (and in South Asia more generally). This course will survey these philosophical ideas, with a special emphasis on Hindu and Buddhist philosophy. We will read both primary and secondary sources on topics central to these traditions, such as karma, rebirth, liberation, the self, suffering, knowledge, religious pluralism, God or Brahman, and emptiness.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies, Philosophical Studies

Aristotle argues that the human function is to use reason to control our emotions and desires in order to become virtuous. In contrast, Mencius doesnt separate reason from emotions. He holds that human nature or the heart-mind consists of four feelings (compassion, shame/disdain, reverence for elders, and the feeling which approves of what is right and disapproves of what is wrong). These four feelings, when cultivated, make one virtuous for Mencius. Aristotles emphasis on reasons control over emotions is complemented by the Stoic, Epictetus, who maintains that the emotions are already rational. Menciuss emphasis on human emotions or feelings is complemented by the Daoist, Zhuangzi, who downplays the role of the mind/reason in someone who is wise and virtuous. This seminar will examine these representatives of Eastern and Western philosophies to achieve a better understanding of how emotion and reason intersect, and how they motivate us to act according to our desires.

Prerequisite: One previous Philosophy course or permission of instructor or permission of the instructor.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies, Philosophical Studies

Typically Offered: Alternate Years, Spring

What is the nature of the self? Is there really a 'self' or is what we call a "self" an illusion? If the self exists, how is it related to reality? Is there a permanent reality beneath the visible world of change - or is the motley of change all there is to the world? Is there a self/soul that exists beyond this life? What is the ultimate goal of human existence, if any? Is it to realize oneself or to transcend oneself? Are there qualities of selves or actions that promote harmony with the community or with nature at large? These are philosophical questions that Eastern and Western traditions have asked and answered in different ways. We will consider how Western thinkers (Plato, Aristotle, Heraclitus, and Epictetus) regard the self. These will be paired with Asian views of the self in Hinduism, Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. Though the East and West pairings are designed to facilitate comparison, we shall be alert for differences as much as similarities in the ways our focal issues are asked and answered. Comparisons will expose strengths and weaknesses that may not have appeared without them. Quite different traditions may even offer solutions to each other's problems. Above all, this is a course that provides the resources as well as the occasion for cross-cultural understanding of the self at a fundamental, philosophical level.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies, Philosophical Studies

Discourse about Confucian values, frequently known as "Asian Values," provided strong resistance to Western rights. Arguing that human rights are not universal because of their origin in the West, Asian nations urge that consideration be given to their cultural and historical situations which justify their own brand of human rights. Confucian values are being invoked by the Chinese government in political discussions with the U.S. This seminar focuses on primary texts by Confucius, Mencius and two other early Confucian texts, in order to understand the philosophical concepts which constitute Confucian values. We will survey some contemporary literatures on human rights to come to an understanding of the highly contested concept of human rights. Ultimately, we examine what values are Confucian, whether they are compatible with human rights, (especially the first- and second-generation rights), and if one of these is prior to the other for Confucianism. We ask if there are resources within Confucian values which can contribute to a better understanding of human rights.

Prerequisite: One previous Philosophy course. Enrollment is limited to 2nd, 3rd and 4th year students.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies

This course is designed to be an introduction to international political economy. Provides an overview of theories of international political economy, a historical review of the international political economy in light of these theories, and an application of the theoretical approaches to issues of trade, monetary relations, finance, and development. Readings and discussion focus on issues of conflict and cooperation; the relationship between the international system and domestic politics; economic growth, development, and equity; and the connections between the study of economics and politics. International Relations.

Prerequisite: POLS 103 or International Studies major.

GPA units: 1

Typically Offered: Annually

This course offers an introduction to the politics of South Asia, broadly understood to consist of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, the Maldives, Myanmar, and Bhutan. A core organizing principle of the course is the concept of the state and variations in state strength as observed in the South Asian region. Why are some states able to better provide for the needs of their populations than others? This organizing principle is leveraged to illuminate several key themes pertinent to the study of South Asia, including democracy and authoritarianism, civil-military relations, gender politics, and nuclear proliferation.

Prerequisite: POLS 102 or POLS 103

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies, Social Science

Typically Offered: Annually

This course examines China's emergence as a major power, and surveys the relationships of East Asian states with each other and with external powers including the United States. In addition to China, substantial attention is given to Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia. Topics covered include military competition and regional security, trade relations, globalization, human rights, and potential conflict flashpoints such as North Korea and Taiwan. International Relations.

Prerequisite: POLS 103 or permission of instructor.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Social Science

Typically Offered: Annually

Just four decades ago, the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) was one of the worlds poorest countries. Today, China is the worlds second largest economy and a rising global superpower. This class will explore salient political and social issues that have defined this transformation. After an introduction to Chinas political system, economic trajectory, and society, this class will cover topics such as political purges, power-sharing and consolidation, human rights, protest movements and dissidents, co-optation of ethnic minorities, and media and internet control, among other topics. Students will also be exposed to prominent theories of authoritarian and comparative politics. No prior knowledge of China or knowledge of Chinese language is required.

Prerequisite: POLS 102

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Social Science

Survey of the Buddhist tradition, from its origins in ancient India through its evolution as a pan-Asian faith. Topics include the legends of the Buddha, the early monastic community, the emergence of Theravada and Mahayana teachings, Buddhist ethics and social philosophy, meditation traditions, and the later development of distinctive Tibetan, Chinese, and Japanese schools. Utilizes textual and anthropological sources.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies, Studies in Religion

Typically Offered: Fall, Spring

An examination of Hinduism and the Hindu tradition from the Vedas to the present day. Among the subject considered: the Upanishads; the Ramayana and Mahabharata; village Hinduism; Gandhi; and contemporary Hindu political thought. Evaluation will include both examinations and essays.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies, Studies in Religion

Typically Offered: Annually

Systematic exploration of similarities and differences within and among several traditions (Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam) and an examination of several key issues within the academic study of religion.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Studies in Religion

Typically Offered: Spring

Introduction to key themes in ancient and medieval Hinduism. Considers the sacrificial worldview of the Vedas and Brahmanas and then moves to discuss the significance of the Upanishads and yoga. Special attention will be given to the two chief Hindu epics: the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Also examines key elements in Hindu law through a reading of The Laws of Manu. Concludes with a consideration of Hindu devotional theism in the worship Shiva, Krishna, and the goddess Kali.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies, Studies in Religion

Typically Offered: Spring

Focuses on critical and analytical readings of sacred writings in translation from the Asian religious traditions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Daosim. The genres sampled include law codes, works of ascetic mysticism, religious biography, popular narrative, and scholastic treatises. Also examines the cross-cultural definition of "text," the idea of a "scriptural canon," and the construction of tradition in the western historical imagination.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies, Studies in Religion

Typically Offered: Alternate Years

Explores various perspectives on nature articulated in the history of the world¿s religions beginning with hunter-gatherer and tribal peoples. Distinctive doctrines derived from sacred texts and by philosophers/ theologians, as well as the impact of ritual practices, are reviewed to understand the impact of religion on human ecology. After considering the perspective of Enlightenment thought on the natural world, the course surveys early North American exponents of ecological spirituality (Thoreau; Emerson; Muir), the writings of Eco-theologians (Fox; Berry; Schweitzer; McFague), and how cosmologies articulated by modern ecologists (Leopold; Lovelock) and activists (Earth First! And Greenpeace) have sought to define as sacred the human connection with the natural world.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies, Studies in Religion

Typically Offered: Alternate Years

A phenomenological analysis of mystical experience, both theory and practice, and an investigation of the epistemological and ontological status of this experience. Approach is pluralistic considering mysticism from the following perspectives: psychological, religious, anthropological, philosophical and scientific. Examines various conceptions of ultimate reality and a variety of practices constituting the mystic path or way. Mystical experience is broadly conceived as a state of consciousness whose dominant symbols and structures of thought, behavior and expression relate to the ultimate transformation of self and world.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies, Studies in Religion

Typically Offered: Fall

This course explores how Asian Americans have adopted and interpreted their religious beliefs and practices (e.g., Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Muslim) in relation to their racial/ethnic identities, including how their faith communities have been sites of empowerment and sources of pain in their experience of generational change and in their struggle for social change. It will also look at how larger discourses of race and immigration correspond to religious ideas about conversion and belonging, as well as how race and religion influence Asian Americans views on controversial sociopolitical issues. Instead of introducing students to world religions, this course aims to equip students with a set of basic concepts and skills for interrogating the importance of religion in the life of Asian Americans, on the one hand, and for scrutinizing the importance of race/ethnicity in the workings of religious communities, on the other. This interdisciplinary course will draw from religious studies sources, but it is also rooted in an Asian American Studies perspective, which foregrounds the agency of Asian Americans and their lived realities in diaspora.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies, Studies in Religion

Typically Offered: Fall

Examination of Zen Buddhism and its influences on East Asian civilizations. Surveys the texts and monastic practices that define Zen spiritual cultivation and the history of the Soto and Rinzai schools' evolution. Special attention is also devoted to the distinctive poetic (haiku), fine arts (painting, gardening, tea ceremony)) and martial arts (swordsmanship) disciplines that this tradition has inspired in China and Japan. Recommended but not required: previous course on Asian arts, religion, philosophy or history.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies, Studies in Religion

Typically Offered: Spring

Seminar examining the prominent texts, doctrines and practices of the Theravada Buddhist tradition. Surveys the historical development of the tradition in India, with attention to major schools of interpretation and practice. Theravada social philosophy and ethics are studied, as are the patterns of accommodation with non-Buddhist religions. The second half of the course focuses upon the distinctive practices of Burma, Sri Lanka, and Thailand as well as reformist modern movements.

Prerequisite: RELS 206 or permission of instructor.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies, Studies in Religion

Typically Offered: Alternate Years

A survey of the historical and cultural backgrounds of the major garden traditions of the world associated with religions. This course moves from considerations of human aesthetic and spiritual experience in the natural world to a survey of the major garden traditions associated with the western Mediterranean and Europe: in classical Greece and Rome, Christianity, and Islam. The course then moves to East Asia and classical traditions of China and Japan. Special focus will be given to elements of the campus Japanese Garden Initiative: teahouse gardens and monastic viewing gardens. Field trips to regional gardens will be made. For the final project, students design small virtual contemplative gardens for possible construction at specific campus sites.

Prerequisite: One previous course in Religion, Asian Studies or Middle East Studies

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies, Studies in Religion

Typically Offered: Alternate Years

Asia on Stage focuses on the intricate classical performance traditions of theatre, dance, and music of South and Southeast Asia and how contemporary artists have borrowed from these traditions to create new or avant-garde work. Students develop analytical skill through observation of similarities and differences between counterparts in other Asian nations and the West.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Arts, Cross-Cultural Studies

Typically Offered: Alternate Years

This course aims to familiarize students with works of art and architecture from South and Southeast Asia (including India and Pakistan) and East Asia (including China and Japan), from prehistory to the contemporary world. We will examine many types of objects, from jades and ritual bronzes, to ink paintings and textiles, to gilded sculptures within temples and palaces. We will also use the historical reality and metaphor of the silk roads -- the textile and its portability -- to draw threads across cultures connecting works of art, their makers, and (sometimes far distant) users. Finally, we will concentrate not only on the objects but also on the cultural and religious surroundings which enable us to understand their various meanings, realizing that meaning may be created through production and use. No background in art history required.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Arts, Cross-Cultural Studies

Typically Offered: Alternate Years

This course looks at art and visual material produced in modern and contemporary China. We will start with discussions about the beginning of Chinese modernism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the new modern art movement in the 1920s and 1930s, and Maos revolutionary art of the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s. We, then, will focus on the avant-garde movements in the post-Mao period since the late 1970s and in particular new artistic directions and phenomena that emerged in the Chinese art world since the 1990s accompanying the ongoing economic and cultural globalization.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Arts, Cross-Cultural Studies

Typically Offered: Spring

What motivated people to create Buddhist art? How did it happen that a religion known for self-improvement, self-will, non-materiality and non-attachment generated so many ornate and costly artifacts from personal objects of devotion to monumental sculpture? We will focus on Buddhist art in practice as well as the geographical movement of artistic styles and techniques. You will learn how Buddhist art was employed for political empowerment and personal merit.

GPA units: 1

Common Area: Arts, Cross-Cultural Studies

Typically Offered: Annually Fall