Four credit hours. An introduction to the society and culture of East Asia, focusing on the elite and popular culture of the region as personified by the great historical personalities of China and Japan. Topics in the history, philosophy, religion, language, literature, and government of the area. Four credit hours. A critical examination of the development of classical Chinese literature of various genres such as poetry, popular songs, philosophical discourse, historical narrative, prose, fiction, tales of the supernatural and the fantastic, romance, and drama.
All readings are in English translation.
Four credit hours. An examination of woman as trope in Chinese literature over the last two millennia. Knowledge of Chinese language is not required. Three or four credit hours. An examination of 20th-century Chinese society through a critical reading of the writings of major Chinese writers in translation.