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Introduction to Chinese Culture and Civilization

Course Description:

This course will provide an introduction to major concepts and ideas from Chinese cultural traditions to construct a course inquiry into understanding Chinese culture and society. A guiding principle in this course inquiry will be to investigate the past to help inform the present.   Lectures and discussion will examine key concepts from art, history, language, literature, and thought that greatly shaped, and continue to influence, “Chinese” cultural and geopolitical entities.  

Required Text:  (Available at University Co-op Bookstore)

Charles A. Desnoyers, Patterns of Modern Chinese History (Oxford, 2017)

[Additional readings on Canvas Course Site]

Recommended:

Rana Mitter, Modern China: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford, 2016)

Evan Osnos, Age of Ambition – Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2014)

Statement on Global Cultures Flag:  This course carries the Global Cultures flag. Global Cultures courses are designed to increase your familiarity with cultural groups outside the United States. You should therefore expect a substantial portion of your grade to come from assignments covering the practices, beliefs, and histories of at least one non-U.S. cultural group, past or present.

FLAGS:   GC

Introduction to Korea's history, culture, and civilization from antiquity to the present.  Asian Studies 301M (Topic 10) and 302D may not both be counted.

This course is aimed at providing a broad-based introduction to Japanese history, society and culture, beginning with prehistoric times and continuing to present.  We will follow a chronological format, focusing on understanding how Japanese who lived in different historical periods created particular political, social and cultural systems to realize their beliefs and values.  In addition to the main textbook, course materials will include literature, historical documents, art, and film.

FLAGS:   GC

GOV 322M/ANS 322M, Politics in Contemporary China

Course Description:

This Course is designed as an introductory course in Chinese politics primarily for upper-level undergraduates with a good background in political/social science, but not necessarily any background on China. The aim of the course is to provide a foundation that will enable the

non-specialist to make informed use of China as a case in more general arguments and give the intended China specialist a solid footing from which to pursue more in-depth study of particular topics.

This course primarily focuses on domestic politics in post-1978 China. We start the course by introducing the key institutions and players in order to understand the distribution of political power in China. We then detail various forms of political participation by different individuals, which allow us to understand the political logic and consequences of policymaking and selective policy issues in China. We conclude the course by discussing the political reforms implemented in the last three decades and contemplating the potentials political development in the future. The course consists of lectures and in-class discussions in order to enhance students’ learning.

Prerequisite:

Six semester hours of lower-division coursework in government.

Course Requirement and Grading:

1.         Four (randomly scheduled) quizzes                                                                            15%

2.         First in-class midterm exam:                                                                                     25%

3.         Second in-class midterm exam:                                                                                 25%

4.         Third in-class midterm:                                                                                             25%

5.         Attendance                                                                                                              10%

Course Materials:

The readings for this course are based on book chapters and articles. All the readings, except for the required textbook, can be accessed through the Canvas website for this class.

Required Textbook:

Lieberthal, Kenneth. 2004. Governing China: from revolution through reform. 2nd ed. New York: W. W. Norton.

This class examines U.S. history from the perspective of Chinese who were the first targets of racially defined immigration restrictions. As such, Chinese have played key roles in the evolution of U.S. immigration restrictions, their enforcement, limits regarding citizenship, permanent residency, and the underlying racial ideologies and conceptions of national belonging.

This course offers an overview of the history of Chinese in America with an emphasis on Chinese American identity and community formations under the shadow of the Yellow Peril. Using primary documents and secondary literature, we will examine structures of work, family, immigration law, racism, class, and gender in order to understand the changing roles and perceptions of Chinese Americans in the United States from 1847 to the present.

Partially fulfills legislative requirement for American history.

Iris Chang, The Chinese in America; excerpts from _Island_, _Chinese American Voices_, The Coming Man

Midterms on lectures and assigned texts. Research paper on Chinese American history.

This course studies the processes that led to the carving out of the Indian subcontinent into various nation-states, the biggest of which were India and Pakistan in 1950. It will survey changes spanning the late eighteenth to the mid- twentieth century and survey the gradual consolidation of British colonialism through the redrawing of social, economic, religious, political boundaries and identities. The course outlines the growth of modern political forms and structures, like nation-state and political parties; the reshaping of social institutions of caste and family by colonial laws; the reorganization of consciousness and expression in terms of technologies of print, theater and cinema and the final cataclysms of Partition and the establishment of new nation-states, India and Pakistan in 1947-50.

The course has two aims: the first, to acquaint students with a basic chronology of events, their protagonists and the processes within which each of these events unfolded; the second, to familiarize students with key outlines of the debates among historians around each of the themes touched on above.

Texts: TBA

Grading is based on attendance and participation in the classroom (20%), a two-page report on a film (20%), one four-page book-review (20%) and a final exam (40%).Grading Policies: LETTER GRADES OF A, B+, B, C+, C, D, F will be given in this course in the following fashion: total of 90-100= A; 80-89= B+; 70-79=B; 60-69=C+; 50-59 C; 40-49=D; Under 40 is a Fail or F

Selected topics in south and east Asian anthropology, economics, history, geography, government, art, music, and philosophy.  Specific offerings are listed in the Course Schedule.  Asian Studies 320 and 361 may not both be counted unless the topics vary.  Prerequisite: Varies with the topic and is given in the Course Schedule.

Selected topics in south and east Asian anthropology, economics, history, geography, government, art, music, and philosophy.  Specific offerings are listed in the Course Schedule.  Asian Studies 320 and 361 may not both be counted unless the topics vary.  Prerequisite: Varies with the topic and is given in the Course Schedule.

Health-care professionals, bio-medical researchers, patients, and families in all societies are increasingly faced with ethical issues that arise because of new medical technologies and because of alternative approaches to health and illness. This course focuses on ethical questions such as allocation of medical resources, stem cell research and cloning, organ transplantation, abortion, human experimentation, prolonging life and the right to die, suicide, euthanasia, and the diagnosis and treatment of illnesses such as Alzheimer disease, AIDS, and mental disorders.

This course explores these topics from a global perspective, emphasizing how cultural values and ethical systems define moral issues and inform decision-making about medical care. We will consider ethical theories that have been used in the West to consider medical practice, and compare these with approaches in non-Western cultures such as Japan and India. The course emphasizes the use of case studies to explore issues in medical ethics and to develop the ability to apply ethical theories in ways sensitive to variations in cultural values. 

Students in this course engage in discussion and debate about difficult moral issues and it is likely that members of the class will have different, and sometimes profoundly conflicting, ideas about what is right and wrong. You should feel free to express and support your position; this is an important component of the class. 

The republic of India was the largest of the many Asian and African states that emerged from the retreat of Western empires after 1945. It emerged in unpropitious circumstances of bloodshed and acute poverty, but has uniquely avoided both civil war and dictatorship through the decades that followed. Students in this course will explore the dangers that beset the fledgling democracy and the many efforts needed to sustain and widen it. They will also study efforts at economic development in a changing world.

This course will teach students two distinct and graduated forms of analytic writing. One is the art of reviewing: it begins with learning to summarize (present the main points of another text concisely) and is completed by learning the skill of evaluating texts in comparison with other texts.

Textbooks:

Ramachandra Guha India after Gandhi: The History of the World’s Largest Democracy. New York: Harper Collins, 2008. Paperback edition. ISBN: 9780060958589. Required

Mukulika Banerjee Why India Votes? London: Routledge 2014. ISBN 978-1-138-01971-3 Required

Articles and documents from J-Stor and other sources will be available through Canvas.

Grades will be assigned on the basis of

* two short analytic papers (c. 1000 words, 15% + peer review 5% each)
* a book review (20%)
* a final essay peer review (10%) and final essay (20%).
* Attendance and participation 10%.  
* Peer reviewers will be graded on the basis of the knowledge, understanding and linguistic proficiency displayed in their review comments.
* Plus/minus grades may be used where appropriate.

Selected topics in south and east Asian anthropology, economics, history, geography, government, art, music, and philosophy.  Specific offerings are listed in the Course Schedule.  Asian Studies 320 and 361 may not both be counted unless the topics vary.  Prerequisite: Varies with the topic and is given in the Course Schedule.

This undergraduate seminar focuses on South Asia during the era of the Mughal empire.  Much of the Indian subcontinent came under the control of the Mughal dynasty, ushering in a period of peace and prosperity during which long-lasting economic and cultural linkages were formed between the various regions of the subcontinent.  Aside from its cultural splendor, political might, and booming economy, Mughal India is also important for the many ways in which it shaped South Asia's development in subsequent centuries.  We will therefore look not only at Mughal India at the height of imperial power between approximately 1550 to 1750, but also at the continuing legacies and symbolic relevance of the Mughal dynasty in British India and in India today. 

The basic political history of the period will be covered in the course, through occasional lectures by the instructor and readings drawn from recent secondary scholarship on the Mughal empire.  However, the emphasis will be on exposing students first-hand to original sources from the Mughal period such as court chronicles and European travel accounts, as well as material from more recent eras such as films and historical novels.  Considerable class time will also be spent on the painting and architecture of the era, as well as on the religious patronage and social composition of the court elites.  By the end of the semester, students should be familiar with the main developments of the Mughal era and have a sense of how the Mughal dynasty has been remembered by later generations.

1) Catherine B. Asher & Cynthia Talbot, India Before Europe

2) Andre Wink, Akbar (Makers of the Muslim World series)

3) Michael Fisher, Visions of Mughal India: An Anthology of European Travel Writing

4) Wheeler M. Thackston trans., Baburnama: Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor

5) course pack

6 reading responses (300 words each)                        20%

2 drafts of short paper (5 pages)                                 25%

research paper proposal                                                 5%

2 drafts of research paper (8-10 pages)                       30%

attendance & participation                                           20%

Selected topics in south and east Asian anthropology, economics, history, geography, government, art, music, and philosophy.  Specific offerings are listed in the Course Schedule.  Asian Studies 320 and 361 may not both be counted unless the topics vary.  Prerequisite: Varies with the topic and is given in the Course Schedule.

RIGHTS AND THE STATE: MODERN SOUTH ASIA

Global Cultures Flag // Writing Flag

Autumn 2017:  ANS 361, GOV 365-L.7

Cross-listing:  ANS 361

Tuesday:  3:30 -- 6:30 PM

CBA 4.340

PROFESSOR PAULA NEWBERG                               

BATTS 4.102

512-232-7270

pnewberg@austin.utexas.edu

Course overview:  Politics in modern south Asia are shaped, often dramatically, by contests about the nature of rights, the ways that citizens claim their rights, and the ways that states respond to those claims.   Every state in the region contends with popular movements to assert rights, whether through war and insurgencies, experiments with constitutions and the rule of law, or efforts to secure the rights of excluded groups, minorities and the economically disadvantaged.  Each state has also tried variously to promote and protect rights – on their own, and with their neighbors and the international community -- and to limit them in order to consolidate power.

What do rights have to do with political change?  With contemporary cases as our guide, we will explore basic elements of political change in the region by asking how states and societies are meeting the challenges of creating rights-based political orders, and how and why they succeed or fail.   The range of potential topics is intriguingly varied and broad; after our introduction to the field and the region, we will focus on topics related to rights and conflict.

Using political writings, government documents, laws and regulations, social science analysis, local journalism and reporting from local and international organizations we will dissect the meanings of rights in the region, and strive to understand the different ways that these complex issues affect citizens, states, observers and advocates.  In the process, we will examine the tools that are employed to protect rights or limit them, and how reports on rights conditions are developed and used.

Neither prior experience with the region nor detailed knowledge of human rights is required for this course (although those who have studied either or both are very welcome).  We will use our readings and discussions to learn about the region through the lenses of rights and governance, and to refine our understanding of rights through the experiences of the people and states that comprise south Asia today.  By the end of the course, each student should have a working understanding of some of the many challenges involving fundamental rights in south Asia, a grasp of analysis and reporting related to rights, and the skills needed to write about rights and politics.

Prerequisites:  Minimum:  six hours of lower-division Government courses. 

Requirements:  A seminar succeeds when all of us are fully engaged.  Please use any electronic devices – including computers, tablets, and telephones -- in the classroom only when we are consulting documents or other media that are most easily available online and relevant to the immediate class discussion.  If you carry a cell phone with you, please silence it before/during class.

All seminar members are required to attend all classes punctually; complete all assignments (both written and oral); participate actively in class and as designated, lead class discussions on assigned readings and written projects.   Your class attendance and participation will be included in determining your final grade.

Grading:  Class participation and collegiality will be essential to the success of this seminar. Your oral and written products will be graded on the basis of their clarity, organization, structure and quality of argument, including your ability to marshal evidence to support your arguments.   Grading will be done on a 100-point scale, translated into plus and minus grades.  Your final grade will be based in part on improvement throughout the semester.

Participation:  Participation will count toward 50% of the term grade.  As part of class preparation and participation, I will assign weekly 1-2 page memos on topics related to readings and class discussion.  Specific assignments for class discussion will be indicated as we progress through the semester.   All class members are expected to participate in every class session.

Papers:  Each student will be expected to prepare two concise, 2000 - 2500 word essays.  Paper #1 (due October10th, 2017) will count toward 20% of your grade; paper #2 (due November 30th, 2017) will count toward 30% of your grade. 

Everyone is expected to come to talk with me during office hours or other arranged times to discuss paper topics.

Please provide your papers to me in hard copy (in person) as well as electronically.  Please take the time to revise, proofread, and follow accepted form for footnotes and references. 

Penalties for late paper submission will be ½ grade for each late day, unless you provide timely and appropriate documentation from health services or your personal physician. 

Intellectual integrity:  Be sure that your written submissions do not plagiarize the intellectual property of others:  do not copy, without attribution, a sequence of three or more words from a published text, an internet source, grey literature or another person’s work.  Plagiarizing is a form of cheating, and is grounds for a failing grade in this course.  Any incident of plagiarism will be reported to Student Judicial Services.

I expect all students to see me during office hours and other pre-arranged appointments to discuss classroom and written assignments.  Should office hours be inconvenient, please schedule an appointment with me for another time.

Course readings:  Two books are available for purchase:

Andrew Clapham:  Human Rights:  A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2007). This volume is optional, but recommended.

Jack Donnelly:  Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice, 2^nd Edition (Cornell University Press, 2003).  This volume is required.

For reference and background, you might want to refer to a compendium edited by Micheline Ishay entitled The Human Rights Reader:  Major Political Essays, 2^nd. Edition.

Other materials (including videos):  I will post class assignments – including PDFs when URLs are not available -- and other notices on Canvas on a regular basis.   Class readings are generally available online; in some instances, I will distribute materials in class.  Should you miss a class session, please contact me (and perhaps a classmate) for further information. 

Global Cultures:  This course carries a Writing Flag and a Global Cultures flag. Global Cultures courses are designed to increase your familiarity with cultural groups outside the United States. You should therefore expect a substantial portion of your grade to come from assignments covering the practices, beliefs, and histories of at least one non-U.S. cultural group, past or present.  The Writing Flag indicates that there will be substantial writing assignments, with provision made for re-drafting throughout the term. 

State Building in China and Taiwan

GOV 365L (38540)

ANS 361 (31680)

Course Description:

This course aims to provide an overview of the political history of China and Taiwan since 1949. We will compare and contrast the state building process in mainland China and Taiwan from 1950 to today. While both regimes were under the authoritarian rule at the beginning of the 1950s, why did Taiwan democratize but not China? Meanwhile, does the democratic politics in Taiwan generate any implications for the democratic future of China? By comparing the state building process under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Kuomintang (KMT), students will gain a better understanding of the theories and implications of the interaction between political development and economic development. The objective of this course is providing students a deeper understanding of theories of state building with regional knowledge of greater China.

We will start the course by briefly going over the political history in China and Taiwan before 1949. We need spend two weeks to study some critical issues of regime consolidation during the early state building period after 1949 in both mainland China and Taiwan. For the remainder of the semester, we are going to compare and contrast different aspects of state building in China and Taiwan since 1950s. Due to the time limitation, we are only able to cover the following key aspects: party building, cultural policies, foreign influence, economic transformation, and political reforms.

Prerequisite:

Six semester hours of lower-division coursework in government.

Course Requirement and Grading:

1.         Course attendance:                                                                                         10%

2.         Three in-class Quizzes:                                                                                    15%

3.         First midterm exam:                                                                                        25%    

4.         Second midterm exam                                                                                     25%

5.         Third midterm exam                                                                                        25%

Course Materials:

The readings for this course are based on book chapters and articles. All the readings, can be accessed through the Canvas website for this class. Since many chapters are drawn from the following two books, I highly recommended you purchase them, if your budget allows.

Recommended books:

Rigger, Shelley. 1999. Politics in Taiwan: voting for democracy. London; New York: Routledge.

Roy, Denny. 2003. Taiwan: a political history. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

The Indian Rebellion of 1857: War of Independence or Sepoy Mutiny?

This course carries the Independent Inquiry and Writing flags. The instructor will deliver two introductory lectures so that the course will be accessible to students who have not studied the history of the Indian subcontinent before. It will require students to formulate research questions (Independent Inquiry) and work with primary sources such as those listed below.

The course will have two phases: in the first phase we will consider how historians have debated the characterization of historical events (‘historiography’). In the second phase, students will analyze English-language primary (usually contemporary) sources in order to construct an evidence-based historical narrative, supported by references to the primary sources.

Texts include primary sources such as:
1. John Wilson, The Indian Military Revolt viewed in its religious aspects. London, 1858
2. Sitaram From Sepoy to Subedar translated by J.T. Norgate. third printing. London 1911.
3. Anon. A Lady's Diary of the Siege of Lucknow. London, 1858.
4. Syed Ahmed Khan The Causes of the Indian Revolt.  Benaras, 1873.
5. British House of Commons. Parliamentary paper of 1859, No. 162. "Evidence Taken at the Trial of the King of Delhi."

Grading:

Two short analyses of sources (10% x 2)
Four peer reviews (4x 5%)
Research prospectus 10%
Draft I 10%
Draft II 10%
Final paper 20%
Attendance & participation 10%

Plus/minus grades may be given, as appropriate.

Selected topics in south and east Asian anthropology, economics, history, geography, government, art, music, and philosophy.  Specific offerings are listed in the Course Schedule.  Asian Studies 320 and 361 may not both be counted unless the topics vary.  Prerequisite: Varies with the topic and is given in the Course Schedule.

Individual instruction for Asian studies majors and nonmajors. Discussion, research, and the writing of papers about various general and specialized Asian subjects.  Prerequisite: Six semester hours of coursework in Asian studies and
written consent of instructor on form obtained from the undergraduate adviser.

May be repeated for credit when the topics vary.  Some topics partially fulfill legislative requirement for American history.  Prerequisite: Varies with the topic and is given in the Course Schedule.

Course Description:

Fall 2017 Focus:  Landscape Poetry and Painting

[Taught in English]

This course will provide an introduction to the classical Chinese poetic tradition and is open to all students.  No previous background in Chinese language, culture or literature is required. Lectures and discussions will focus on the literary, cultural, historical, social, political, philosophical, and religious background against which these representative works in poetry arose.  While background reading will be assigned, the focus of lectures and discussion will be on the primary works of poetry, and the relationship of poetry and painting in the Chinese tradition.

Lectures, readings and class discussion will examine these ideas and concepts in the context of landscape, known as “mountains and water” (shan shui 山水) in Chinese literary memory.  Through this methodical process, we will begin to decode the literary language of classical Chinese poetry and poetic craft.  

Global Cultures:  This course carries the Global Cultures flag. Global Cultures courses are designed to increase your familiarity with cultural groups outside the United States. You should therefore expect a substantial portion of your grade to come from assignments covering the practices, beliefs, and histories of at least one non-U.S. cultural group, past or present.

May be repeated for credit when the topics vary.  Some topics partially fulfill legislative requirement for American history.  Prerequisite: Varies with the topic and is given in the Course Schedule.

May be repeated for credit when the topics vary.  Some topics partially fulfill legislative requirement for American history.  Prerequisite: Varies with the topic and is given in the Course Schedule.

May be repeated for credit when the topics vary.  Some topics partially fulfill legislative requirement for American history.  Prerequisite: Varies with the topic and is given in the Course Schedule.

This course surveys the origins of yogic practices in early Indian civilization and traces the development of Yoga philosophies through the Upanishads, BHAGAVAD GITA, YOGA-SUTRA, Buddhist, Jaina, and tantric texts, as well as works of neo-Vedanta. We shall try to identify a set of claims common to all classical advocates of yoga. We shall look at both classical and modern defenses and criticisms, especially of alleged metaphysical and psychological underpinnings of the practices. No previous background in Indian philosophy is necessary, but students with no previous course work in philosophy or in psychology should contact the instructor.

May be repeated for credit when topics vary.  Asian Studies 378 and 379 may not both be counted.  Prerequisite: For Asian studies and Asian cultures and languages majors, twelve semester hours of upper-division coursework in Asian studies or Asian languages; for others, upper-division standing.