Spring 2006 - Asian Studies Course Atlas
ASIA 212: Asian Religious Traditions: China and Japan
Reinders, (same as REL 212)
TTh 10-11:15
Content:
This is an introduction to religious life in East Asia (mainly China and Japan). We will deal with the major religious traditions (Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Shinto, Christianity), within the larger context of popular religious practices. Our themes will include: temples, sacred space, nature and the natural world, the miraculous, hermit culture and images of the holy man or woman.
Texts:
texts may include:
Particulars:
Several short written pieces responding to the readings; a research paper or essay; attendance and participation; a creative project; one or two examinations. The course fulfills General Education Requirement V.C. (Nonwestern Cultures or Comparative and International Studies).
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ASIA 212: Asian Religious Traditions: Buddhism and Hinduism in South Asia
Crothers, (same as REL 212)
MWF 3:00-3:50
Content: This course is an introduction to devotional practices, myths, and doctrines of some Hindu and Buddhist traditions of South Asia, as well as some materials and methods in the study of religions. In this course we will examine what people do as much as what they believe in order to gain a firm foundation in some Buddhist and Hindu practices, ideas, texts, ideal persons, and Gods and Goddesses. In this course we will pay particular attention to visual and material culture, and the stories that emerge around such images and objects, in addition to the religious teachings and ethics of these traditions. We will move between considering Practice and Imagination (that is, what people do and what they think). In “Practice” for instance, we will study the role of image, scripture, and body in religious life. Our consideration of “Imagination” will include how Buddhists and Hindus envision persons, the ultimate, the cosmos and society, morality and ethics, and the ‘fruits’ of their traditions. We will employ historical and anthropological methods of studying religions, which will require site visits to the Hindu Temple of Atlanta and Wat Buddha Bucha, close reading of religious texts, image and film study (involving Website, movies, and art museum assignments), understanding of historical and cultural context.
Course materials may include:
Particulars: Class participation (includes two short presentations, one per tradition), two unit exams, one comparative final examination, and a site visit with written site report. Meets General Education Requirement V.C.
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ASIA 360SWR: Japanese Modern Women Writers
Bullock, (JPN 360S/WR, CPLT 203S/WR, WSS 385S/WR)
TTh 4:00-5:15
Content: The principal aim of this course is to familiarize students with the range and multiplicity of female voices that emerged in Japanese literature from the Meiji period (beginning 1868) to the 1980s. Students will leave this course with an awareness of the changing social and historical forces that shaped the lives of Japanese women, from the earliest stages of modernization to the country’s emergence as a dominant industrial and cultural power. Wherever possible, gender and literary theoretical methodologies will be brought to discussion of the works, giving students a sophisticated grasp of the philosophical implications of the readings, as well as an understanding of the cultural and historical background of the texts under study.
Required Texts: Enchi Fumiko, The Waiting Years; Takahashi Takako, Lonely Woman; Uno Chiyo, Confessions of Love; Yoshimoto Banana, NP; and short fiction selections on e-reserve at Woodruff Library.
Particulars: No prerequisites
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ASIA 363S/WR: Literary and Vision Culture in Japan
Crowley (Same as JPN 363S/WR, ARTHIST 363S/WR)
TTh 2:30-3:45
Content: The goal of this course is to develop visual literacy in Japanese images and iconography. The course will begin with explorations of basic vocabulary and theory related to visual culture as it is studied in the American academy. We will then view examples of Japanese visual art from the 6th century to the present day, discussing ways to “read” paintings, picture scrolls, painted screens, sculpture, woodblock prints, theatrical performances, films, animated films, and comic books in the context of discussion of literary texts and aesthetic treatises contemporary to these works.
Particulars: Satisfies G.E.R. post-freshman writing requirement.
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ASIA 370: Introduction to Religions: Buddhism and Christianity
Dunne/Farley, (same as REL 100)
TTh 10:00-11:15
Content: This course will compare Buddhism and Christianity by looking at three aspects of these traditions. We will first study the origins and early development of each tradition, comparing the stories of the two founders and their transition to world religions, moving across diverse cultures and historical periods. We will then examine how each tradition understands the human condition, the sources and obstacles to our happiness, and the nature of suffering. Finally, we will compare the language and methods through which the two traditions describe transcendent reality.
Texts: will include for example: Shantideva, The Way of the Bodhisattva; Augustine, Confessions; Nagarjuna, Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way; Pseudo-Dionysius, The Divine Names and Mystical Theology
Particulars: There will be 2-3 short papers and a longer term paper. The course fulfills General Education Requirement V.C. (Nonwestern Cultures or Comparative and International Studies).
(2/3 reserved for freshmen)
****Although content is different in REL 100 courses, you may not repeat for credit.****
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ASIA 370: Classic Religious Texts, Buddhist Narrative Literature
McClintock (Same as REL 210)
Time:
MWF 2:30-3:45
Content: What does it feel like to be a Buddhist? How do Buddhists see and make sense of their worlds, with all of their difficulties like old age, sickness, evil, and death? What resources do Buddhists draw on when they face difficult decisions, and how do they balance the values of both renunciation and love?
This seminar explores these and other such questions through a sustained encounter with the worlds of Buddhist narrative literature. Our careful reading of great Buddhist stories from a variety of cultural contexts will provide us with an entryway into the many worlds of the texts: the worlds behind the texts, the worlds inside the texts, and the worlds that stand before the texts. Our aim will be to understand not only what these stories have meant for Buddhists in distant times and places, but also what these stories seem to demand of their readers in any time and place. Along the way, we expect to learn much about Buddhist doctrines like the law of impermanence, the law of karmic retribution, the sanctity of holy persons and places, and the centrality of generosity and compassion.
The course is also a writing intensive seminar. Our aim will be to use the writing component of the course as a tool to deepen our entry into the worlds of the texts. Opportunities for revision will become opportunities for the clarification and deepening of our understanding. Our goal will be to present effective arguments about the stories we read, including arguments about their narrative structure, ethical demands, or historical context.
Texts: Texts for this course will likely include the following:
Particulars: This course fulfills the Post-Freshman Writing Requirement.
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ASIA 370: Classic Religious Texts: The Classical Texts of Vedanta, East and West
Majumdar
TTh 11:30-12:45, (same as REL 201)
Content: Tentative description (to be revised): The class will first be introduced to the classical texts of Vedanta Hinduism. First, we will explore the meaning of "Vedanta" as a metaphysical inquiry into the nature of ultimate Reality (Brahman) and acquisition of "Self-knowledge," distilled from the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, and the commentaries of Shankaracharya. Having acquired this basic understanding of major Vedanta principles, the class will focus on the first American exposure to Vedanta by Swami Vivekananda (the disciple of sage Shri Ramakrishna) through his famous address at the Chicago "Parliament of World Religions" in 1893. Several of Vivekananda's other classical works from his "Collected Writings" will also be examined. This will lead the class to learning about the later development of the Vedanta movement in Europe and America, with an establishment of various Vedanta Centers and societies, including the one in Atlanta, Georgia.
Texts: TBA
Particulars: This course fulfills General Education Requirement IV.A (Humanities).
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ASIA 370: Covering Ethnic Communities
Teft, (Same as JRNL 3550WR, LAS 385WR)
Wed 2:00-4:30
Permission required prior to enrollment.
Content: This course explores Atlanta's fabric of new immigrant communities and lively ethnic media. Students will compare and contrast coverage of immigrants and their neighborhoods in the mainstream press. They will practice the basics of news reporting and writing and profile immigrant life in Atlanta through a series of journalistic assignments. Class work will be featured on a new website.
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ASIA 370R: Women in India
Lal (Same as MES 370R, HIST 385R)
TTh 11:30-12:45
Content: The aim of this seminar course is to examine historians' attempt to 'recover' the history of women in India.†Scholars have engaged for while now in reconstructing the lives and careers of distinguished women, and more recently of women's struggles. We will read a variety of texts dealing with pre-colonial and colonial India to examine how successful these historical investigations have been, what their limitations are, and how we might open up new set of questions and approaches.
Particulars : This class is a JR/SR seminar.Enrollment by permission of instructor.
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Asia 370SWR: A Black Bourgeoisie? The Making of African American & (South Asian) Dalit Middle Classes
Pandey (Same as Hist.489SWR/ AAS 270SWR/ MES 370SWR)
Thur 2:30-4:30
Content: The course has two main aims. One is to analyze the concept of the middle class, and how the idea travels over time and space, through different cultures, societies and histories. The second is to examine the specific conditions and practices that go into the making of a middle class among groups that have been historically disfranchised, and the extent to which these new middle classes continued to live with unusual burdens and expectations. We shall begin with a brief discussion of changing ideas of middle-classness in Europe, North America and India over the period of the late 18th century to today. We will then proceed with a more detailed examination of works on, and by, Dalit and African-American middle class folk: autobiographies, histories and perhaps some films and fiction.
Particulars: The format will be that of a seminar, and will involve a close reading and discussion of selected texts in our weekly meetings. Students will be expected to write one mid-term and one final paper, of 5-7 pages and 8-10 pages respectively, in addition to ongoing notes on the individual texts being discussed week by week.
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ASIA 375: Religion & Film: India, Bangladesh, and the United States
Courtright
TTh 2:30-3:45 & screenings Mon 8-10 pm, (same as REL 369)
Content: The largest film-producing countries are the United States and India. Hollywood has often been referred to as a “dream factory” and its products are among the most lucrative and prolific exports of American industry. “Bollywood,” an enormous film industry that has grown up in Bombay, India, produces hundreds of mass-market films that feature a formula of music, dance, melodrama, comedy, tragedy, religious and political perspectives and that are distributed throughout India, the Persian Gulf, Africa, Southeast Asia and increasingly Great Britain and the United States. In addition to the major film industries of Hollywood and Bollywood, smaller independent filmmakers thrive in both India and the United States producing internationally acclaimed films. This course will explore the intersection of religion, culture, and film. Our approach will be comparative on a number of levels. First, we will be investigating various religious themes and sensibilities informing films in two specific cultural settings: India/Bollywood and America/Hollywood. Second, we will be investigating how movies can help us understand the boundaries and meaning of religion. Finally, we will be investigating how attending to religious themes can help us better understand the narratives and images of movies. Like movies, religious traditions involve stories, characters, dramatic situations, spectacle, and special effects. Thus, films can serve as a useful context in which to think about how religion works in particular contexts. Particulars: The course consists of screening one film per week, two class sessions for discussion, readings, two (10-15 pp) comparative papers, and a final exam. Films to be studied include:Mother India, Devi, Amar, Akbar, Anthony; Jai Santoshi Ma, Bombay, Matir Moina; The Wizard of Oz, Fiddler on the Roof, Places in the Heart, Tender Mercies, The Apostle,and The Matrix.
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ASIA 375SWR: Confucian Classics
Kurtz (Same as CHN 373SWR, REL 374S/WR)
MWF TT 11:30-12:45
Content: Content: For more than two thousand years, a small set of texts associated with
Confucius (551-479 BC) and his disciples formed the core of the Chinese
educational curriculum. As a store of knowledge shared by all educated men and
women, the Confucian Classics shaped Chinese literati culture from late
antiquity to the early 20th century. The goal of this survey course is to
illustrate the diversity of the literary and cultural practices that evolved
around this unique body of writings. The course is roughly divided into two
parts. First, we will attempt to establish a framework for understanding the
textual history and changing significance of the Classics throughout Chinese
history. Drawing on a broad selection of primary sources (to be read in English
translation), we will then examine how the canonized ideas were refracted in
literary, philosophical, religious and political discourse. Satisfies G.E.R.
post-freshman writing requirement and G.E.R. area IV.A (Humanities, textual).
Required Texts: Nylan, Michael. The Five “Confucian” Classics. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001. Gardner, Daniel K. Chu Hsi. Learning to Be a Sage. Selections from the Conversations of Master Chu, Arranged Topically. Berkeley et al.: University of California Press 1990. Particulars: Knowledge of Chinese is NOT required. Grading: class participation, written assignments, exams, paper.
Particulars: Satisfies G.E.R. post-freshman writing requirement and G.E.R. area IV.A
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ASIA 375: Open Empire: Foreigners in Imperial China
Kurtz (Same as CHN 375)
TTh 2:30-3:45
Content: Far from being a closed empire encircled by an impenetrable Great Wall, China was always integrated into global circulations of goods, knowledge, and people. Foreigners were a constant presence in the Middle Kingdom throughout her history, even if they were not always welcome. This course will follow the trails and travails of some men and women, from Europe, Asia, and America, who fell prey to the lure of Cathay in their searches for riches, influence, employment, adventure, or spiritual gratification. Our aim is to explore not only the changing fortunes of individual travellers but also to examine the historical origins of ideas that continue to shape our understanding of Chinese culture and its place in the world.
Required Texts: Polo, Marco. The Travels. Translated by Ronald Latham. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books 1958. Spence, Jonathan D. To Change China. Western Advisers in China, 1620-1960. Boston: Little, Brown 1969. Waley-Cohen, Joanne. The Sextants of Beijing: Global Currents in Chinese History. New York: Norton 1999. Whitfield, Susan. Life Along the Silk Road. Berkeley: University of California Press 1999.
Particulars: Prerequisites: Knowledge of Chinese is NOT required. Grading: class participation, written assignments, exams, paper.
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ASIA 375: Political Economy of Development
Doner, (Same as POLS 385)
TTh 1-2:15
Examinations: Midterm and Final.
Research Paper: 15-20 pages.
Prerequisites: POLS 120, 110, or 319. ECON course in economic development.
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ASIA 378WR: PostWar Japan Through Its Media
Bullock (Same as JPN 378WR)
TTh 2:30-3:45
Content: This course examines the way the postwar Japanese experience has been reflected (and constructed) through various types of popular media. Through film, television, magazines, newspapers, music, and manga, we will explore the various ways in which Japanese society has narrated its experiences of recovery and rebuilding after World War II, and the role these media sources have played in this reconstruction. Whenever possible, class discussions will incorporate methodologies of cultural criticism that elaborate the relationships between media, representation, and national or racial identity.
Required Texts: TBA
Particulars: No prerequisites
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TBT 102: Tibetan 102
McClintock
MWF 9:35-10:25
Tue 1:00-2:15
Content: This course is an introduction to spoken and literary Tibetan for students with one prior semester or the equivalent of Tibetan language study. The emphasis will be on oral expression and comprehension, integrated with the introduction to literary Tibetan. Students will learn to accurately read and write a second, semi-cursive Tibetan script (dbu med). We will also continue to study aspects of Tibetan culture that impact social interaction, such as the use of honorific speech and particular gestures and body language. Classroom activities will include skits, dialogues, games and songs to remind us that learning a foreign language is fun!
Required Texts:
Dunne, John and Sara McClintock. First Year Primer of Literary Tibetan. Unpublished manuscript to be distributed in class.
Goldstein, Melvyn C., ed. The New Tibetan-English Dictionary of Modern Tibetan.
University of California Press, 2001.
Tournadre, Nicolas and Sangda Dorje. Manual of Standard Tibetan: Language and Civilization. Translated from the French by Charles Ramble. Snow Lion Publications, 2003.
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For Asian language courses listed in REALC or MESAS, please visit the following web site:
CHINESE COURSES:
Please see Russian and East Asian Languages and Culture:http://www.emory.edu/REALC/index.html for courses related to Chinese language, literature and culture.
HINDI LANGUAGE COURSES:
Please see Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies: http://www.emory.edu/NES/atlas.index.html for Hindi Language Courses
JAPANESE COURSES:
Please see Russian and East Asian Languages and Culture: http://www.emory.edu/REALC/index.html
SANSKRIT COURSES:
Please see Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies: http://www.emory.edu/NES/atlas.index.html