Courses

Spring 2008 Course Offerings

Max number of Asian Studies students able to register in cross-listed courses
can be found in each description below the instructor name and class time.
Please contact Angie Brewer at 404-727-2108, abrewe2@emory.edu, if you have any questions.

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ASIA 190: Discovering International Atlanta
Tefft (Same as JRNL 190 and LAS 190)
W 10:00-12:30
Max: 5

Content: New immigrants are shaping international Atlanta. This seminar explores the city's international character through news coverage, field trips, meetings with journalists, politicians and other newsmakers and volunteer work in diverse neighborhoods. Students examine how the news media shape Atlanta's identity as home to growing immigrant communities and define public opinion and policy on major immigration issues.

Texts: TBA

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ASIA 210: Classic Religious Texts: Mahayana Buddhist Sutras
Reinders(Same as REL 210)
MWF 10:40-11:30
Max: 10

Content: This is a general survey of the scriptures of Mahayana Buddhism, which began in India and Central Asia and became the main form of Buddhism in China, Japan, Korea, Tibet, and Mongolia. After a general introduction to early Buddhism, we will read the highly influential Lotus Sutra and a commentary on it by the monk Daosheng, the Vimalakirti Sutra, the key Pure Land scriptures, and portions of the Huayan Sutra, Perfection of Wisdom literature, and a selection of shorter sutras and other texts. We will discuss the nature of the doctrinal development of the Mahayana and the problematic category “Hinayana,” the expanded (and eventually “cosmic”) redefinition of the Buddha, Buddhist saviors and devotion, and ideas such as awakening, Buddha-nature, emptiness, and the inter-relatedness of all things.

Texts: Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma; The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti Sutra; The Land of Bliss: The Paradise of the Buddha of Measureless Light; and A selection of photocopied readings.

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ASIA 270: Introduction to Japanese Culture
Shan (same as JPN 270)
TuTh 4:00 - 5:15 or TuTh 1:00 - 2:15
MAX: 3 or 6 (TuTh 1:00 - 2:15)

Content: An introduction to aspects of the study of the culture of modern Japan. We will explore such issues as writing and writing systems, gender, memory and history, geography and the environment, science, aesthetics, and the formation of national identity. No background in Japanese studies is required. Special attention will be given to these questions: When is Japanese culture? How do the Japanese view their culture and tradition, and how is it viewed by non-Japanese? How have these views changed throughout history?

Texts: TBA

Particulars:  No Prerequisite.

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ASIA 271: Modern China in Films and Fiction
Cai (same as CHN 271)
MWF 2:00 - 2:50
MAX: 5

Content: This course is an examination of twenieth-century Chinese society through cinematic productions and a critical reading of the writings of major Chinese writers in translation. Emphasis on self and society in a changing culture and the nature and function of literature in the modern nation-building. Satisfies G.E.R. post-freshman writing requirement and G.E.R. area V.C.

Text: TBA

Particulars: All readings are in translation. Knowledge of Chinese language not required. Course requirements include three short written assignments, a term paper, persentation, and active class participation.

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ASIA 305: Early and Medieval Buddhism
Dunne (Same as REL 305)
TuTh 10:00 - 11:15
Max: 10

Content:   What is happiness, and how does one obtain it? Why do humans suffer, and how can we stop our suffering? These are the fundamental questions that animate the teachings of the Buddha, the “Awakened One,” who left his life of privilege some 2,500 years ago set out to seek the answers. Despite the great diversity of Buddhist practices and beliefs, these questions and their various answers still remain at the core of the Buddhist traditions that survive to this day. Focusing on the first 1,500 years of Buddhism’s development, we will examine how the predecessors of contemporary traditions, despite their disagreements and divergences, consistently place the twin methods of philosophical analysis and contemplative practice at the heart of the Buddhist path. With this in mind, we will attempt to see how these twin methods might reveal some continuity within the wide variety of Buddhist philosophies and practices in South Asia up until the end of the first millennium (C.E.). At the same, we will also be mindful of the unique development of Buddhist institutions and their relation to the wider culture in which they are embedded.

Texts: Our texts will include: Rupert Gethin, The Foundations of Buddhism; Paul Williams, Mahāyāna Buddhism: The Philosophical Foundations;Selections from Buddhist sūtras and systematic philosophical works; A variety of secondary works on specific aspects of Buddhist thought and practice, including works by G. Dreyfus, J. Garfield, Lama, and several others. C. Hallisey, M Kapstein, D. Lopez, T. Tillemans, H.H. the Dalai Lama.

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ASIA 306: Tibetan Buddhism
Satya Negi (Same as REL 306)
TuTh 11:30 - 12:45
Max: 5

Content:  This course will present a portrait of Tibetan Buddhism as a living tradition. The spiritual techniques used by Tibetan Buddhist practitioners, as well as the philosophical and psychological perspectives of these methods, will be the focus of the classwork. The course will concentrate on the tradition known in Tibetan as Lam Rim or "Stages of the Path." Lam Rim is a living tradition for systematically transforming ordinary distorted states of consciousness into the enlightened experience. For purposes of contextualization, the course will begin with a brief survey of the basic terms and concepts that form the Buddhist worldview.

Texts: TBA

Particulars:  All students are expected to attend all classes, read the assigned materials, make class presentations, and participate actively in class discussions. In-class quizzes, mid-term and final paper.

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ASIA 370: Modern Japanese Women Writers
Bullock (same as JPN 360 and WS 385)
TuTh 2:30 - 3:45
MAX: 3

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.

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 370: Asian American Literature
Nickerson (same as AMST 364)
TuTh 8:30 - 9:45
MAX: 6

Content: This course focuses on the rich literature that has come out of the Asian American experience. The course will focus on fiction and memoir, but will include some comics, poetry and drama. The emphasis of the course is on the cultural context of this literature, how it is related to the history of Asian-Americans, and how it expresses the subjective experience of a minority group. Major themes in the course will include the concepts of claiming voice and breaking silence; ways of writing about family and childhood; eating and cultural identity; exploring the past (both personal and collective); humor and parody as tools to fight against discrimination.

Texts (tentative): Gene Luen Yang, American Born Chinese; Chang-Rae Lee, A Gesture Life; Julie Otsuka When the Emperor was Divine; David Henry Hwang’s Flower Drum Song; Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior; Andrew Pham, Catfish and Mandala; Jhumpa Lahiri, The Namesake, Henry Chang, Chinatown Beat; Patti Kim, A Cab Called Reliable.

Requirements: Frequent short writing assignments, two 3 page essays, one 8-10 research paper or critical essay, active participation in class discussion.

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ASIA 370: Postcolonial Literature: Literature of the Indian Partition
Bahri (same as ENG 345)
MWF 3:00-3:50
Max: 15   

Content: The partition of India in 1947 left a million dead and 12 million displaced.  How does history recount this traumatic event?  What stories are told about the partition in the community?  How do writers, poets, artists, cartoonists, and filmmakers recreate the drama of partition? How does literature render the historic poetic, the traumatic theoretical, the violent aesthetic?

In this multi-media course we will learn about the treatment of the historical event of the partition of the Indian subcontinent history in literary and popular accounts: novels, stories, poems, art, cartoons, and films from Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan.  Translated texts constitute about 10% the course content, while the rest of the material is originally in English.  Special features of this course include a blackboard platform and lectures by survivors of the partition from the Atlanta South Asian community.

Texts: Literary readings include Amitav Ghosh's The Shadow Lines,Bapsi Sidhwa's Cracking India, Khushwant Singh's Train to Pakistan, short stories and poetry.

Particulars: Presentation and two papers.

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ASIA 375: Confucian Classics
Magone (same as CHN 373 and REL 374)
TuTh 1:00 - 2:15
MAX: 5

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).

Text: TBA

Particulars: Particulars: Knowledge of Chinese is NOT required. Grading: class participation, written assignments, exams, paper.

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ASIA 375: South Asia: Language, Politics and Identity
Ranjan (same as MESAS 335 and LING 335)
TuTh 2:30 - 3:45
MAX: 6

Content: South Asia is an area of staggering linguistic diversity. Twenty official languages and hundreds of other languages make the regionlinguistically, socially and culturally very complex. This course will focus on the emergence of modern languages in South Asia, the development of multilingualism, and the use of different languages in different social and cultural settings. It will also discuss the relationship between language-dialect, issues related to political decisions and their effects on
the status of a language and the identity of a speaker in the multilayered, multilingual mobile environment. Special topics will include the role of films in constructing regional and national identities and Indian identity in Indian diaspora. By the end of the course, students will have been exposed to the basic questions and analytic categories of the sociolinguistic landscape of South Asia.

Texts: Aloysius, G. 1977, Nationalism Without a Nation in India, Delhi: OUP; King, Robert D. 1998, Nehru and the Language Politics of India, Delhi: OUP; and Course Packet.

Particulars: Participation (20%), three response papers (30%), mid-term research project (15%) and final paper (35%).

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ASIA 375: Exploring the History of South Asian Art
Juneja (same as MESAS 370 and ARTHIST 393)
MWF 12:50 - 1:40
MAX: 6

Content: Art of the Indian subcontinent never fails to evoke images of exotic splendour – the ethereal beauty of the Taj Mahal, the exuberant eroticism of Hindu sculpture, or the delicate detail of miniature paintings. This course is intended as a systematic overview of South Asia’s multifaceted visual past from the beginnings to modern times. It begins by drawing attention to the historical configurations in which what we describe today as the ‘arts of India’ came to be constituted as a distinct field of study in the early twentieth century, classified and written about in a specific conceptual mould. Going beyond an exercise in dismantling Orientalist and nationalist canons, the course seeks to enter the field of artistic production – sculpture, painting, architecture – of the Indian subcontinent through a recovery of what the experience of viewing, possessing and responding to objects of art meant to different groups of people and how visual culture has evolved historically. Doing so would involve engaging with the ways in which art was imbricated within domains of social and cultural practice – religious practice, aesthetic notions, political legitimacy, love and sexuality, perceptions of nature and the rituals of everyday life. These areas provided the underpinnings of artistic creation and were in turn constituted by the works of arts that were produced and circulated in these contexts. The course, conceived of as an introductory survey, is addressed to students of different levels. It aims to combine sensitivity to the visual with methodological reflections on understanding and writing about artistic production in its historical settings.

Texts: Partha Mitter, Indian Art, Oxford 2001; Vidya Dehejia, Indian Art, London 1997; Catherine B. Asher and Thomas R. Metcalf (eds), Perceptions of South Asia’s Visual Past, New Delhi 1994; Richard H. Davis, Lives of Indian Images, Princeton and Delhi 1997; Monica Juneja (ed.), Architecture in Medieval India – Forms. Contexts, Histories, New Delhi 2001; Tapati Guha-Thakurta, The Making of a New ‘Indian’ Art’: Artists, Aesthetics and Nationalism in Bengal, Cambridge 1992; Yashodhara Dalmia, The Making of Modern Indian Art: the Progressives, New Delhi 2006; and Gayatri Sinha, Expressions and Evocations: Contemporary Women Artists of India, Bombay 1996.

Particulars: TBA

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ASIA 375: Indian Classical Literatures
Rao (Same MESAS 370)
TuTh 11:3- 12:45
Max: 9

Content:  This course presents an overview of literatures written in India’s classical languages, Sanskrit, Prakrit and Tamil, and old Kannada, Telugu, and Hindi over a period of two thousand years. The organization of the course is conceptual and cultural rather than historical and chronological. It follows the major shifts in the development of literary cultures in pre-colonial India.Classical literary traditions have exercised a powerful formative influence on Indian culture and its regional languages and literatures. India’s classical languages still continue to be read as part of education and training of poets and connoisseurs of poetry. In view of the living nature of classical traditions of India, literary appreciation of classical texts is presented as a continuing and living tradition rather than as a feature of the dead past. Major shifts in the appreciation of texts over their long history are discussed and literary debates are presented in context. Connections between Sanskrit literary tradition and literary traditions of other Indian languages are discussed to present a brief indication of the role of Sanskrit in Indian culture.

Texts: Texts are chosen for their quality of translation, and critical apparatus. Annamayya. God on the Hill: Temple Poems from Tirupati, Tr. Narayana Rao & Shulman; Miller, Barabra Stoler. The Plays of Kalidasa: Theater of Memory; Suranna, Pingali. Sound of the Kiss or A story that must never be told. Tr. Narayana Rao & Shulman; Van Buitenen, J.A.B. Tales of Ancient India; and A reader of selections.

Particulars: Regular reading and required attendance. Two book reviews, 3-4 double spaced pages each. Two quizzes of half hour duration. Final take-home examination.

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ASIA 375: Islam in Central Asia
Seitalieva (Same MESAS 370)
TuTh 4:00 - 5:15
Max: 9

Content:  This course introduces the history of Central Asia and Kyrgyzstan from ancient times to the present, and examines the role of Islamic religion in everyday life and the educational system. It also explores the cultures of Central Asia and the current religious and political situation. Religious fundamentalism and extremism will be part of the conversation.

Texts: Course Packet

Particulars: Short quizzes on reading material will be given at the beginning of class (15%); Assignments on three themes, 2-3 pages each (30%); Participation on 1 focus group (5%); Midterm test (20%); Final exam (30%).

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ASIA 375: South Asian Politics since 1945
Creekmore (same as POLS 385 and HIST 385)
TuTh 11:30 - 12:45
MAX: 5

Content: This course analyzes the political and economic developments in South Asia, particularly in India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, over the past 50 years from a historical, political institutional, and policy perspective. Possessing 20 percent of the world's population, this region will play an increasingly important role in international affairs in the future.

Texts: TBA

Particulars: TBA

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ASIA 375: National Cinemas: Bollywood Dreams: Introduction to Hindi Popular Cinema
Sen (Same FILM 396)
TuTh 1:00 - 2:15 and Mandatory film screening W 6 - 9pm
Max: 5

Content: India is the second most populous country in the world and has a cultural tradition that has evolved over 5,000 years. It is also the world’s largest film-producing nation, releasing over 900 films every year. Driven by the growth and spread of the Indian diaspora in recent decades, the popular Hindi film (also called the ‘Bollywood’ film in popular parlance) has become a ubiquitous presence in theaters and film festivals across the globe. While remaining India’s most beloved art form, this cinema today is also India’s most visible and fascinating export. Bollywood remains an exceptional industry that has successfully resisted the onslaught of Hollywood films in the country of its birth. These and other factors have contributed in making academic exploration of Bombay cinema a relatively new, but extremely exciting field of study. What makes Indian cinema different? How are such a staggering number of films made in India? How do these ‘song and dance’ movies challenge our perceptions of narrative forms? How do Indian films negotiate the polarities of tradition and modernity? How do they bear the burden of postcoloniality? Despite the plethora of languages and cultures that comprise India, how does Bombay cinema maintain its hegemonic position both within the subcontinent and without? What is the status of Bollywood as a national cinema? These are some of the larger questions with which we will engage in this canopic overview.

Particulars: Prerequisite FILM 270
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ASIA 495: Directed Reading Honors Thesis
By permission of the program.

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ASIA 497: Directed Study
By permission of the program.
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TBT 102: Tibetan 102
McClintock
MWF 11:45 - 12:35
Tu 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 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!

Texts: Goldstein, Melvyn C., ed. The New Tibetan-English Dictionary of Modern Tibetan. University of California Press, 2001; and 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.mesas.emory.edu/course.atlas/fall06.htm 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.mesas.emory.edu/course.atlas/fall06.htm

 

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