Chiu-Mi Lai

[This course is open to all students – no previous background in Chinese language, culture or linguistics is required.]          

What is the relationship between language and culture? How is the interplay between cultures reflected in translation? What is “lost in translation” in communication between different cultures? How do we capture the culturally and linguistically elusive in the process of interpretation and translation?

Against the backdrop of China’s prominent international status and increasing global interest in the Chinese language, this course will delve into the study of translation with a focus on the Chinese language and culture, including discussion of Chinese regional cultures and dialects.  Emphasis will be given to the study of the modern Chinese language, with consideration given to the “Sino-languages” spoken in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.  Cultural and political contexts of these geopolitical entities will be explored in order to understand emerging differences of all that falls under the common nomenclature of “Chinese.”  Lectures and discussions will focus on the cultural, social, historical, and political background against which the Chinese language and translation has evolved and continues to evolve.  Of significance will be assessment of the increasing influence of usage of the English language and the Internet in China and Taiwan.

Given China’s increased foreign interaction, this course will also include a discussion of the history of translation of the Chinese language into different languages, In this context, with Chinese as a case study, translation theories and approaches will be studied. The main inquiry will be: What are cultural and linguistic decisions in “creating” translation?

Students will engage in a final project and “workshop” sessions that will apply translation theory to practice.  This final project will be:  1) a translation project from any foreign language into English; or 2) a comparison of different English-language translations of the same original language source.

Course Description

(No background in Chinese language, culture or history required.)

In Chinese history, food and healing shared the same set of cosmological assumptions, all of which had to do with harmonizing the “vital energy,” “breath” or “life force” (qi 氣) of the body with the mind. The Chinese holistic approach to the concept of “well-being” by eating, taking medicine and engaging in healing arts, was to ensure that all of these activities created a healthy balance. Lectures, discussion and coursework will focus on the cultural, historical, social, and scientific background against which the relationship of food and healing have evolved through history. The course will address how this holistic approach has manifested in China and Taiwan today and form the basis of the final research inquiry projects, some of which may also be applied to Austin and Houston locales.

Introduction – What is the connection of food and healing in Chinese history?

Section I – Concepts of well-being, the mind and body, “health and healing”

Section II – History of relationship between food and healing, food as medicine

Section III – Healing Practices in communities in Austin, China, Taiwan

Spring 2021 Focus: Chinese Science-Fiction

The focus of this course is on contemporary Chinese science-fiction, a genre that has emerged as a major 21^st c. global phenomenon.  This course will introduce students to contemporary Chinese sci-fi and its antecedents. The antecedents to sci-fi in Chinese cultural memory can be found in the “Genre of the Strange.”  For historical and social contexts, students will learn about well-known genres of fiction, known as the “strange and deviant” (zhi guai 志怪 and chuan qi 傳奇). The “Genre of the Strange” holds a significant place in Chinese cultural memory, and moving forward, Chinese sci-fi is making its mark on cultural memory. A common denominator is the “social messaging” in the “Genre of the Strange” and Chinese sci-fi. Course objectives in lectures and discussion will focus on, but not limited to, “proposals” for society presented in these works. Geopolitical dynamics and identity formation are prevalent themes to be discussed in this course.

Introduction to Chinese Civilization and Culture

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.  

The course is organized into four periods: I The Early Empire; II The Middle Imperial Period; III The Late Imperial Period; and IV Modern and Contemporary Eras.

Required Text:

Harold Tanner, China: A History: Volume I. Hackett Publishing. Available in Print and Digital editions.

Other sources available on Canvas course site.

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

*Cross-listed with LIN 350

Carries Global Cultures Flag

This course will provide an introduction to the history of the evolution of the Chinese writing system and language. This course is open to all students and while recommended, no background in Chinese language, culture or linguistics is required. Course emphasis will be given to the study of the writing system and the cultural contexts that have preserved such a unique orthography from ancient to modern times. In this context, the course will include some discussion of the history of the Chinese language, including Chinese dialects. Lectures and discussions will focus on the cultural, historical, social, and political background against which Chinese writing and language have evolved.

            Introduction – Chinese Language and Writing; What is writing?  What is an alphabet?

1. The Beginnings – Ancient Writing Systems (Mesopotamia, Egypt), Proto-Writing, the Shang Bronze Age
2. The Han Dynasty Milestone – Old Text/New Text Debates, Invention of Paper, “radicals” and the influential role of the Shuowen jiezi
3. The Song Dynasty Milestone – Calligraphy, Painting, Invention of Printing, and “handwriting”
4. The Modern Milestone – Language Reform, Script transformation, Japanese/Western influence
5. Contemporary Times – Chinese writing in the cyber age, influence of the English language/alphabet

The Cultural Outsider: Memoirs and Travelogues of East Asia*

*cross-listed with HIS 340U

Course carries Global Cultures and Writing Flags

The focus of the capstone seminar is on the cultural outsider’s perceptions of East Asia as addressed in greater literature originally written in English (with a few exceptions), in the genres of memoirs and travelogues dating from the 19^th century to works published in contemporary America. Works selected for the seminar are to be read and discussed within the broad context of “travel literature” written by a broad expanse of visitors to greater East Asia: China (including Hong Kong and Tibet), Taiwan, Japan, and Korea. These pieces of “travel literature” are written by a diverse group of “cultural outsiders” that includes missionaries, journalists, POW’s, scholars, English teachers, students, and tourists.

Some major concepts and themes that emerge from these works concern Asian stereotypes, self-discovery and cultural identity formation, and exoticization of Asia and all things Asian (or “Oriental”). We will pose open-ended questions about these perceptions of Asia not as literary critics, but rather more as readers, or as fellow “participant observer” travelers to Asia. In particular, we will discuss and analyze a cultural outsider’s approach to memoir writing through the lenses of “layered memory” and “gossip.”

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.  

Fall 2019 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) in Chinese literary and cultural 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.

The Good, Bad, and the Ugly in Chinese Culture

TAUGHT IN ENGLISH -- NO BACKGROUND IN CHINESE REQUIRED

[Course carries both the Global Cultures Flag and Writing Flag]

Required Course Packet – available at University Co-op Bookstore  at 2246 Guadalupe              www.universitycoop.com    800-255-1896

Other Required and Supplementary Reading on Canvas course site

Description:

This course will provide an introduction to a few intriguing ideas and concepts in the classical Chinese cultural and literary tradition and is open to all students.  No previous background in Chinese language, culture or literature is required.  Readings in English translation will encompass a selective sampling of literature from as early as the seventh century B.C.E. through the modern era. 

Course emphasis will be given to some topics from the Chinese tradition that are thought-provoking and even bizarre – namely, the Good (what is the Dao?), the Bad (traditional “love” and courtship stories), and the Ugly (exotica, food and cuisine).  Readings, lectures, and in-class and online discussions will focus on formative texts in early Chinese philosophical thought, Chinese fiction and prose, and exotica (flora, fauna, food and cuisine) in Chinese history and literature.  These works will be read within appropriate cultural, literary, historical, social, philosophical, and religious contexts.  Lectures and background readings supplement the primary works of literature.  

(Meets with HIS 364G)

Carries the Global Cultures Flag

In Chinese history, food and healing shared the same set of cosmological assumptions, all of which had to do with harmonizing the “vital energy,” “breath” or “life force” (qi) of the body with the mind. The Chinese holistic approach to the concept of “well-being” by eating, taking medicine and engaging in the healing arts, was to ensure that all of these activities created a healthy balance. Lectures, discussion and coursework will focus on the cultural, historical, philosophical, social, and scientific background against which the connection between food and healing has evolved through history. The course will address how this holistic approach has manifested in China and Taiwan today, and form the basis of the final research inquiry projects, some of which may also be applied to Austin and Houston locales.

Introduction – What is the connection between food and healing in Chinese history?

Section I – Concepts of well-being, the mind and body, “health and healing”

Section II – History of food, the connection between food and healing, food as medicine

Section III – Healing Practices in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan

Required:

E.N. Anderson, The Food of China (Yale, 1990)

Paul U. Unschuld, trans. Karen Reimers, What is Medicine – Western and Eastern Approaches to Healing (University of California Press, 2009)

            Further Reading (selections available on Canvas/Files)

Carries the Global Cultures Flag

[This course is open to all students – no previous background in Chinese language, culture or linguistics is required.]

Against the backdrop of China’s prominent international status and increasing global interest in the Chinese language, this course will delve into an in-depth study of the Chinese language and culture, including discussion of Chinese regional cultures and dialects.  Course emphasis will be given to the study of the modern Chinese language, with consideration given to the language spoken in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.  Cultural and political contexts of these geopolitical entities will be explored in order to understand emerging differences of all that falls under the common nomenclature of “Chinese.”  Lectures and discussions will focus on the cultural, social, historical, and political background against which the Chinese language has evolved and continues to evolve.  Of significance will be assessment of the increasing influence of usage of the English language and the Internet in China and Taiwan. 

Given China’s increased foreign interaction, this course will also include a discussion of the history of translation of the Chinese language into different languages, In this context, translation theories and approaches will be studied and discussed.  

Students will engage in a final project that will apply translation theory to practice.  This final project will be:  1) a translation project from a foreign language into English; or 2) a comparison of different English-language translations of the same original language source.

NOTE:  This is not a course for training in translation or interpretation.

Course Topic Sections:

• Section I – The Chinese Language (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan), Dialects, Minority Languages of China
• Section II – Language and Culture: Language Attitudes, Cultural Usage and Habits
• Section III – Translation Theories and Approaches, Global Influence of English

Required Text:

S. Robert Ramsey, The Languages of China (Princeton 1987)                                            

Additional Reading Selections on Canvas.

Recommended:

Paul W. Kroll, A Student’s Dictionary of Classical and Medieval Chinese (Brill, 2014)

Doug Leshan, A Handbook of English-Chinese Translation (Commercial Press 2002)

Jerry Norman, Chinese  (Oxford, 1988)     

Morry Sofer, The Global Translator's Handbook (Taylor Trade Publishing, 2013)            

Morry Sofer, The Translator’s Handbook, 8th Revised Edition (2015)

• Meets with CL 323
• Course carries Writing Flag, Global Cultures Flag
• 2019 Novel:  The Story of the Stone (Honglou meng, or Dream of the Red Chamber)

The focus of this course is on the masterpiece 18^th c. Chinese novel, Dream of the Red Chamber (Honglou meng), with the alternate title of The Story of the Stone (Shitou ji).  Lectures and seminar-style discussion will examine the metaphors and mythology from Chinese cultural memory that are present in this classic novel.  Lectures will provide literary and socio-historical contexts for the novel. A selection of primary and secondary source readings will introduce a cross-section of influential works from classical literature and the major founding schools of Chinese thought. Complementary study will include the viewing of modern-day visual and dramatic representations of this novel. 

The core of the seminar will be the intensive reading and study of The Story of the Stone.  Our reading of the novel in this course is modeled after the original serial nature of the work, where segments of the story were serially released, and read and discussed with great fervor in both public and private spheres.  The attendant commentary and reimagining of the story belonged to the reading public.  One could argue that this was one of the earliest prominent works to spawn “fan fiction,” especially in the context of Chinese artistic ownership, or lack thereof.  We will consider the novel in this light of pop culture, and address the work as a stellar example of how a lowbrow cultural practice has evolved into a highbrow dynamic. 

REQUIRED:

CAO Xueqin, translated by David Hawkes, The Story of the Stone, Vols. I, II, III

(Penguin, 1973, 1977, 1980) [aka Honglou meng (Dream of the Red Chamber)]

CAO Xueqin and Gao E, translated by John Minford, The Story of the Stone, Vols. IV, V

(Penguin, 1982, 1986)

Richard J. Smith, The Qing Dynasty and Traditional Chinese Culture (Rowman and Littlefield, 2015) [QDTCC]

Other Required Readings on Canvas Course Site

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.

The Good, Bad, and the Ugly in Chinese Culture

TAUGHT IN ENGLISH -- NO BACKGROUND IN CHINESE REQUIRED

[Course carries both the Global Cultures Flag and Writing Flag]

Required Course Packet – available at University Co-op Bookstore  at 2246 Guadalupe              www.universitycoop.com    800-255-1896

Other Required and Supplementary Reading on Canvas course site

Description:

This course will provide an introduction to a few intriguing ideas and concepts in the classical Chinese cultural and literary tradition and is open to all students.  No previous background in Chinese language, culture or literature is required.  Readings in English translation will encompass a selective sampling of literature from as early as the seventh century B.C.E. through the modern era. 

Course emphasis will be given to some topics from the Chinese tradition that are thought-provoking and even bizarre – namely, the Good (what is the Tao/Dao?), the Bad (traditional “love” and courtship stories), and the Ugly (exotica, food and cuisine).  Readings, lectures, and in-class and online discussions will focus on formative texts in early Chinese philosophical thought, Chinese fiction and prose, and exotica (flora, fauna, food and cuisine) in Chinese history and literature.  These works will be read within appropriate cultural, literary, historical, social, philosophical, and religious contexts.  Lectures and background readings supplement the primary works of literature.  

(Meets with LIN 350) 

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

William G. Boltz, The Origin and Early Development of the Chinese Writing System

 Recommended Texts:  (Available at University Co-op Bookstore)

(Selections available on Canvas/Files)

Jerry Norman, Chinese

Tsuen-hsuin Tsien, Written on Bamboo and Silk – The Beginnings of Chinese Books and Inscriptions, Second Edition, 2004.

Further Reading (selections available on Canvas/Files):

John DeFrancis, The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy

S. Robert Ramsey, The Languages of China

Michael Sullivan, The Three Perfections: Chinese Painting, Poetry and Calligraphy (Revised edition: George Braziller, 1999) [Out of print]

Course Description

This course will provide an introduction to the history of the evolution of the Chinese writing system and language. This course is open to all students and while recommended, no background in Chinese language, culture or linguistics is required. Course emphasis will be given to the study of the writing system and the cultural contexts that have preserved such a unique orthography from ancient to modern times. In this context, the course will include some discussion of the history of the Chinese language, including Chinese dialects. Lectures and discussions will focus on the cultural, historical, social, and political background against which Chinese writing and language have evolved.

            Introduction – Chinese Language and Writing; What is writing?  What is an alphabet?

1. The Beginnings – Ancient Writing Systems, Proto-Writing, the Shang Bronze Age
2. The Han Dynasty Milestone – Old Text/New Text Debates, Invention of Paper, “radicals” and the influential role of the Shuowen jiezi
3. The Song Dynasty Milestone – Calligraphy, Painting, Invention of Printing, and “handwriting”
4. The Modern Milestone – Language Reform, Script transformation, Japanese/Western influence
5. Contemporary Times – Chinese writing in the cyber age, influence of the English language/alphabet

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.

COURSE EXPECTATIONS

This course will be graded on the Plus/Minus system.

There is a class attendance policy for this course (attendance is graded).  More than 10 unexcused absences will result in a failing grade for the course.  

Your grade for this course will be based on the following (see below for details):

• There is no written final exam.

I. 10% Attendance, Class and online discussion, participation and “preparedness” (informal

           writing)

II. 60% Reading and Discussion Questions

III. 20% Two Oral Presentations

IV. 10% Final Roundtable Group Presentations

Capstone Seminar (meets with HIS 364G)

The Cultural Outsider: Memoirs and Travelogues of East Asia

The focus of the capstone seminar is on the cultural outsider’s perceptions of East Asia as addressed in greater literature originally written in English (with a few exceptions), in the genres of memoirs and travelogues dating from as early as the writings of Marco Polo up to works published in contemporary America. Works selected for the seminar are to be read and discussed within the broad context of “travel literature” by visitors to greater East Asia: China (including Hong Kong and Tibet), Taiwan, Japan, and Korea. These travelers include missionaries, colonizers, journalists, POW’s, scholars, students, and tourists. Through a sampling of these selected works, a main focus will be on the approach to the concept of “Asianness” in the distant and recent past as treated from the perspective of a cultural outsider.

REQUIRED [Selected excerpts available on Canvas]:

Isabella Bird, Unbeaten Tracks in Japan: The Firsthand Experiences of a British Woman in Outback Japan in 1878 (Abridged edition)

Fuchsia Dunlop, Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China

Peter Hessler, River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze

Helie Lee, Still Life With Rice: A Young American Woman Discovers the Life and Legacy of Her Korean Grandmother

Marco Polo, The Travels of Marco Polo. Translated by Ronald Latham.

Paisley Rekdal, The Night My Mother Met Bruce Lee – Observations on Not Fitting In

Further Reading for Presentations and Research Projects available on Canvas course site

Course Grade Based On:

• This course is graded on the Plus/Minus System.
• There is a class attendance policy for this course. (Attendance is graded.)  More than 5 unexcused absences will result in a failing grade for the course. 
• There is no written final exam.

• 15%       Attendance, Class and online discussion, participation and “preparedness”; in-class

informal writing

• 60%       Critical and Analytical Writing (Discussion Questions/Weekly Written Responses; Final Inquiry Paper with First Draft)

• 20%       Two Short Oral Panel Presentations and Lead Discussant work
• 5%          Travelogue or Memoir “Revision"

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.

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.

The Good, Bad, and the Ugly in Chinese Culture

TAUGHT IN ENGLISH -- NO BACKGROUND IN CHINESE REQUIRED

[Course carries the Global Cultures Flag and Writing Flag]

Required Course Packet – available at University Co-op Bookstore  at 2246 Guadalupe              www.universitycoop.com    800-255-1896

Other Required and Supplementary Reading on Canvas course site

Description:

This course will provide an introduction to a few intriguing ideas and concepts in the classical Chinese cultural and literary tradition and is open to all students.  No previous background in Chinese language, culture or literature is required.  Readings in English translation will encompass a selective sampling of literature from as early as the seventh century B.C.E. through the modern era. 

Course emphasis will be given to some topics from the Chinese tradition that are thought-provoking and even bizarre – namely, the Good (what is the Tao/Dao?), the Bad (traditional “love” and courtship stories), and the Ugly (exotica and China’s Silk Road).  Readings, lectures, and in-class and online discussions will focus on formative texts in early Chinese philosophical thought, Chinese fiction and prose, and exotica (flora, fauna and cuisine) in Chinese history and literature.  These works will be read within appropriate cultural, literary, historical, social, philosophical, and religious contexts.  Lectures and background readings supplement the primary works of literature.  

(Course carries the Global Cultures Flag)

Course Grade based on:                              

• There is a class attendance policy
• There is no final exam in this course.

1.  15%     Class discussion, participation, and preparation, including informal in-class and online response writing

2.  50%     Reading and Discussion Questions (“response quizzes” on lectures, readings, discussion)

3.  10%     One Oral Presentation/Lead Discussant Work on Section I or II topics

4.  25%     Final Project Report on translation theory and practice (5-7 pages) and Oral Presentation on Final Project

Course Description

 [This course is open to all students – no previous background in Chinese language, culture or linguistics is required.]

Against the backdrop of China’s prominent international status and increasing global interest in the Chinese language, this course will delve into an in-depth study of the Chinese language and culture, including discussion of Chinese regional cultures and dialects.  Course emphasis will be given to the study of the modern Chinese language, with consideration given to the language spoken in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.  Cultural and political contexts of these geopolitical entities will be explored in order to understand emerging differences of all that falls under the common nomenclature of “Chinese.”  Lectures and discussions will focus on the cultural, social, historical, and political background against which the Chinese language has evolved and continues to evolve.  Of significance will be assessment of the increasing influence of usage of the English language and the Internet in China and Taiwan. 

Given China’s increased foreign interaction, this course will also include a discussion of the history of translation of the Chinese language into different languages, In this context, translation theories and approaches will be studied and discussed.  

Students will engage in a final project that will apply translation theory to practice.  This final project will be:  1) a translation project from a foreign language into English; or 2) a comparison of different English-language translations of the same original language source.

NOTE:  This is not a course for training in translation or interpretation.

Course Topic Sections:

• Section I – The Chinese Language (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan), Dialects, Minority Languages of China
• Section II – Language and Culture: Language Attitudes, Cultural Usage and Habits
• Section III – Translation Theories and Approaches, Global Influence of English

Required Text:

Morry Sofer, The Global Translator's Handbook (Taylor Trade Publishing, 2013)

Recommended:

Jerry Norman, Chinese

S. Robert Ramsey, The Languages of China (Princeton 1987)                                             

Reading Selections on Canvas include:

Peter W. Culicover and Elizabeth V. Hume, Basics of Language for Language Learners

John DeFrancis, The Chinese Language – Fact and Fantasy

Edwin Gentzler, Contemporary Translation Theories. Revised 2^nd Ed. (Topics in

Translation, 21)

Charles N. Li and Sandra A. Thompson, Mandarin Chinese – A Functional Reference Grammar

Lydia Liu, ed. Tokens of Exchange: The Problem of Translation in Global Circulations

(Post-Contemporary Interventions)

Jerry Norman, Chinese                                               

Morry Sofer, The Translator’s Handbook, 6th Revised Edition (Translator's Handbook)

Lawrence Venuti, The Translator’s Invisibility: A History of Translation. 2^nd Ed.

Recommended:

Doug Leshan, A Handbook of English-Chinese Translation (Commercial Press 2002)

• Course meets with Comparative Literature CL 323
• All lectures and readings in English; no previous background in Chinese language, culture or literature is required.
• Course carries the Writing and the Global Cultures Flags

Course Texts:       [All course texts available at the University Co-op Bookstore]

• Pu Songling (Author), John Minford, trans. Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio (Penguin Classics, 2006)
• Recommended:  Richard J. Smith, The Qing Dynasty and Traditional Chinese Culture (Rowman and Littlefield, 2015) [QDTCC]
• Other Readings on Canvas Course site.

Capstone Course Description – Cultural Memory and the Classic Chinese Novel

• Spring 2017 Novel:  Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio (Liaozhai zhi yi)

The focus of this course is on the masterpiece 18^th c. Chinese collection of short fiction, Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio (Liaozhai zhiyi 聊齋誌異).  Lectures and seminar-style discussion will examine the tropes and mythology from Chinese cultural memory that are present in this classic collection by Qing Dynasty writer, Pu Songling 蒲松齡 (1640-1715). (Collection printed posthumously in 1766.)  In particular, the course will introduce students to one of the most well-known Chinese genres of fiction, known as the “strange and deviant” (zhi guai 志怪 and chuanqi 傳奇), one that holds a significant place in Chinese cultural memory.

Lectures and background readings will provide literary and socio-historical contexts for the collection. In order to understand thematic concepts present in Pu Songling’s reimagining of the supernatural, the course will also introduce a cross-section of earlier influential works, such as accounts of immortals, goddesses, and shape-shifters.  Complementary study will include the viewing of modern-day visual and dramatic representations greatly influenced by this “genre of the strange.”  As appropriate, students are encouraged to examine influence of this genre as seen in Anime themes. 

The core of the seminar will be the intensive reading and study of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio. The approach to reading Pu Songling’s short fiction is modeled after the original nature of the genre, where “accounts of the strange” were considered a form of alternative popular history. Thus, these accounts belonged in the public sphere, rather than in the elitist and mainstream literary canon. The accounts were transmitted in various guises through oral tradition and reimagined in the written vernacular classical language by writers such as Pu Songling, a reimagining not unlike contemporary “fan fiction.”

Course Grade Based On:

• There is no final written exam in this course. 
• There is a class attendance policy.
• No late assignments are accepted; no make-up of missed assignments and presentations allowed

I.        20%     Class discussion, participation and “preparedness” (including in-class informal writing)

II.       50%     Reading and Discussion Questions –1-page Response Writings

III.      15%     One 5-6 page Research Inquiry Note

IV.       10%     One Oral Presentation, Roundtable Lead Discussant

V.        5%       One “Fan Fiction” scenario piece (2-3 pages)

Enrollment With Instructor's Permission Only

Recommended Texts:

Wayne C. Booth, The Craft of Research (3^rd ed.; Chicago, 2003)

Michael Harvey, The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing (2^nd ed.; Hackett, 2013)

Course Description

This course is for graduate students interested in developing and/or refining academic writing skills in Asian Studies. We will work on academic-style writing – from mechanics to style to development of ideas, and from “pre-draft” stages to finalizing revisions.  This course will also introduce and apply what can be called American academic writing, especially in comparison with other stylistic approaches and cultural writing habits. 

Course emphasis will be given to hands-on practice in writing, revising, editing/proofreading, and other essential factors connected with writing.  Attention will be given to areas particular to Asian Studies, e.g. citation of translations from Asian language texts. Students in the course will be required to focus on a long-term writing project, such as a seminar paper, thesis, dissertation, or a manuscript in preparation for publication.  Instructor feedback will be provided in peer situations in class as well as in one on one individual sessions outside of class time. 

The course is NOT intended to be an editorial service but instead to help graduate students develop and hone the critical skills, including revision and editing skills, needed for successful academic writing in English.  As presentation of one’s work is a critical complementary component to successful academic writing, a part of the course will be devoted to working on preparation and effectiveness in oral presentation. 

Course Expectations*

            *NOTE – There is no final exam for this course. 

Your evaluation for this course will be based on the following:

Class attendance – as a professional courtesy, class attendance and punctuality are required for this course.  More than 2 absences will result in a grade reduction of a full grade.  More than 8 absences will result in a failing grade.  Tardiness by more than half an hour or leaving early will result in half an absence.

It is your responsibility to inform me of extenuating circumstances.

• 40% Drafts and Peer Review/Discussion
• 20% Final Editing and Final Drafts
• 40% Oral Presentations

[Course carries the Global Cultures Flag]

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:

Paul S. Ropp, China in World History (Oxford, 2010)

[Additional readings on Canvas/Course Documents]

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)

Course Grade evaluated on:

• There is no written final exam for this course.
• The class attendance policy is as follows:
  • After 4 absences (excused or unexcused), the final class discussion/participation grade (worth 15% of final course grade) will result in a grade of 0. 
  • More than 8 absences will result in a failing grade for the course.  

I.   15%     Class and online discussion, participation and “preparedness” (informal writing, unannounced reading quizzes)

II.  50%     TWO Written Exams (Responses to Discussion and Reading Questions, based on Lectures, Readings, Class Discussion, and Roundtable Presentations)

III. 25%     ONE Roundtable Discussion and Video Commentary (Designated “Dynastic Period”)

IV. 10%    Final Video Essay with written commentary

[Course carries the Global Cultures Flag and Writing Flag]

Required Course Packet – available at University Co-op Bookstore  at 2246 Guadalupe              www.universitycoop.com    800-255-1896

Other Required and Supplementary Reading on Canvas

Description:

This course will provide an introduction to a few intriguing ideas and concepts in the classical Chinese cultural and literary tradition and is open to all students.  No previous background in Chinese language, culture or literature is required.  Readings in English translation will encompass a selective sampling of literature from as early as the seventh century B.C.E. through the modern era. 

Course emphasis will be given to some topics from the Chinese tradition that are thought-provoking and even bizarre – namely, the Good (what is the Tao/Dao?), the Bad (traditional “love” and courtship stories), and the Ugly (exotica and China’s Silk Road).  Readings, lectures, and in-class and online discussions will focus on formative texts in early Chinese philosophical thought, Chinese fiction and prose, and exotica (flora, fauna and cuisine) in Chinese history and literature.  These works will be read within appropriate cultural, literary, historical, social, philosophical, and religious contexts.  Lectures and background readings supplement the primary works of literature.  

(Meets with LIN 350)

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

William G. Boltz, The Origin and Early Development of the Chinese Writing System

 Recommended Texts:  (Available at University Co-op Bookstore)

(Selections available on Canvas/Files)

Jerry Norman, Chinese

Tsuen-hsuin Tsien, Written on Bamboo and Silk – The Beginnings of Chinese Books and Inscriptions, Second Edition, 2004.

Further Reading (selections available on Canvas/Files):

John DeFrancis, The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy

S. Robert Ramsey, The Languages of China

Michael Sullivan, The Three Perfections: Chinese Painting, Poetry and Calligraphy (Revised edition: George Braziller, 1999) [Out of print]

Course Description

This course will provide an introduction to the history of the evolution of the Chinese writing system and language. This course is open to all students and while recommended, no background in Chinese language, culture or linguistics is required. Course emphasis will be given to the study of the writing system and the cultural contexts that have preserved such a unique orthography from ancient to modern times. In this context, the course will include some discussion of the history of the Chinese language, including Chinese dialects. Lectures and discussions will focus on the cultural, historical, social, and political background against which Chinese writing and language have evolved.

            Introduction – Chinese Language and Writing; What is writing?  What is an alphabet?

1. The Beginnings – Ancient Writing Systems, Proto-Writing, the Shang Bronze Age
2. The Han Dynasty Milestone – Old Text/New Text Debates, Invention of Paper, “radicals” and the influential role of the Shuowen jiezi
3. The Song Dynasty Milestone – Calligraphy, Painting, Invention of Printing, and “handwriting”
4. The Modern Milestone – Language Reform, Script transformation, Japanese/Western influence
5. Contemporary Times – Chinese writing in the cyber age, influence of the English language/alphabet

COURSE EXPECTATIONS

This course will be graded on the Plus/Minus system.

There is a class attendance policy for this course.  After 2 absences (excused or unexcused), your class discussion grade will be deducted a full grade, and a half grade for each additional absence.  More than 8 absences will result in a failing grade for the course.  (Extenuating circumstances will be taken into consideration in consultation with the Office of the Dean of Students.)

Your grade for this course will be based on the following (see below for details):

• There is no written final exam.

I. 10% Class and online discussion, participation and “preparedness” (informal

writing)

II. 60% Reading and Discussion Questions "Quizzes"

III. 20% Two Oral Presentations (for Group Panels)

IV. 10% Final Roundtable Discussion of Group Project Presentations on language and digital media

• This course carries the Writing and Global Cultures Flags
• All lectures and readings in English; no previous background in Chinese language, culture or literature is required.

Required:

CAO Xueqin, translated by David Hawkes, The Story of the Stone, Vols. I, II, III

(Penguin, 1973, 1977, 1980) [aka Honglou meng (Dream of the Red Chamber)]

CAO Xueqin and Gao E, translated by John Minford, The Story of the Stone, Vols. IV, V (Penguin, 1982, 1986)

Richard J. Smith, The Qing Dynasty and Traditional Chinese Culture (Rowman and Littlefield, 2015) [QDTCC]

Other Required Readings on Canvas Course Site

Recommended:

Tang Xianzu, translated by Cyril Birch, The Peony Pavilion – Mudan ting. 2^nd ed (Indiana, 2002)

 Course Description

 2016 Novel:  The Story of the Stone (Honglou meng, or Dream of the Red Chamber)

 The focus of this course is on the masterpiece 18^th c. Chinese novel, Dream of the Red Chamber (Honglou meng), with the alternate title of The Story of the Stone (Shitou ji).  Lectures and seminar-style discussion will examine the metaphors and mythology from Chinese cultural memory that are present in this classic novel.  In particular, the course will introduce American students to one of the most well-known of Chinese literary figures in Lin Daiyu, the novel’s female protagonist that holds a significant place in Chinese cultural memory. Lin Daiyu’s cultural significance is comparable to Juliet or Ophelia in Western cultural memory. This close study of the enduring appeal of the characterization of Lin Daiyu will include a perusal of antecedents for the Chinese “goddess” archetype in literary memory.  Lectures will provide literary and socio-historical contexts for the novel. A selection of primary and secondary source readings will introduce a cross-section of influential works from classical literature and the major founding schools of Chinese thought. Complementary study will include the viewing of modern-day visual and dramatic representations of this novel. 

 Course Grade Based On:

• There is no final written exam in this course. 

• There is a class attendance policy.

• No late assignments are accepted; no make-up of missed assignments and presentations allowed

 I.        20%     Class and online discussion, participation and “preparedness” (including

in-class informal writing)

II.        50%     Reading and Discussion Questions –1-page Response Writings

III.       15%     One 5-6 page Research Inquiry Note

IV.       10%     One Oral Presentation (on selected QDTCC chapter)

V.         5%       One “Fan Fiction” scenario piece (2-3 pages)

Description:

This first-year seminar is designed to provide an interdisciplinary approach to “understanding” landscapes, and to explore the dynamics between academic and artistic dialogues by scientists, scholars, writers, and artists.  The course will view notable landscapes of central and East Asia, Western Europe, the American West, and Texas through the lenses of art, literature and geology. The course will provide an interdisciplinary approach to “understanding” landscapes through the lenses of art, literature and geology, and explore the questions:  What is the interaction of humans and landscape?  How is this interaction conveyed through emotional and analytic responses?   Visual and literary representations of natural landscapes are interpreted through geological analysis of the processes that sculpt Earth surfaces with the aim of studying the human response to striking topographic features.  Lectures and readings complement the primary works of art and literature to be explored both in the classroom and in museum spaces.  Many aspects of the physics of landscapes will be developed from first principles through guided-inquiry field trips and laboratory exercises by Professor Mohrig and students in the course.  The academic approach to understanding landscapes in the classroom and the field will be complemented by a class communal creative project on “Land art.”

      [No previous background in art, literature or geology required.]

Required Text:

Simon Schama, Landscape and Memory (1996)

Additional Readings on Canvas Include:

(Images, articles, and book chapters on art, literature and geology will be posted on Canvas.)

Malcolm Andrews, Landscape and Western Art

Richard M Barnhart et al., Three Thousand Years of Chinese Painting

Edward S. Casey, Earth-Mapping: Artists Reshaping Landscape

Edward S. Casey, Representing Place: Landscape Painting and Maps

William E. Dietrich et al., Geomorphic Transport Laws for Predicting Landscape Form and Dynamics: 10.1029/135GM09

James Hutton, Theory of the Earth; or an Investigation of the Laws Observable in the Composition, Dissolution, and Restoration of Land upon the Globe

Simon Lewis & Mark Maslin, Defining the Anthropocene: doi:10.1038/nature14258

John McPhee, Atchafalaya

Niclaus Steno, Prodromus

Michael Sullivan, The Three Perfections: Chinese Painting, Poetry and Calligraphy, Revised edition: George Braziller, 1999

CLASS FIELD TRIPS:       The Blanton Museum, The Harry Ransom Center, Contemporary Austin Laguna Gloria (Museum), Waller Creek, local geological sites, UT Morphodynamics Lab (location of laboratory exercises)

COURSE EXPECTATIONS

• This course will be graded on the Plus/Minus system.
• There is no written final exam for this course. 

Final Grade for this course will be based on the following:

1. 15%     Class discussion, participation, informal in-class writing (Class Attendance policy)
2. 25%     Laboratory Exercises and Field Reports
3. 50%     Written Assignments:  Essays, writing and revision assignments
4. 5%       Oral Presentation (Powerpoint or Prezi) on Final Project
5. 5%       Photo Journal of Communal Class Project on “Land Art”
6. CR/NC   Signature Course University Lectures/Ransom Center Artist Talks attendance/discussion

FLAGS:   GC

The grade for this course will be based on the following:

There is a class attendance policy for this course.  There is no final exam.

 I.          Discussion (15%) 

15%     Class and online discussion, participation and “preparedness”

           In-class Informal Writing and weekly Lead Discussant work

 II.        Writing and Oral Presentation (80%)

50%     Discussion Questions / Expanded Written Responses

25%     Critical Writing (Response Essay, Research Inquiry/Project Paper)

5%       Oral Presentation and leading discussion (selected topic)

 III.       Creative Writing: imitation and matching poems (5%)

5%       Creative Writing: imitation and matching poems (evaluated CR/NC)

*restricted to Asian Studies graduate students or with permission of instructor

 [All lectures, discussion, readings, and writing in English.]

 Recommended Texts:

Wayne C. Booth, The Craft of Research (3^rd ed.; Chicago, 2003)

Michael Harvey, The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing (2^nd ed.; Hackett, 2013)

This course is for graduate students interested in developing and/or refining academic writing skills in Asian Studies. We will work on academic-style writing – from mechanics to style to development of ideas, and from “pre-draft” stages to finalizing revisions.  This course will also introduce and apply what can be called American academic writing, especially in comparison with other stylistic approaches and cultural writing habits.  (Course will be divided into M.A. and Ph.D. student groups.)

Course emphasis will be given to hands-on practice in writing, revising, editing/proofreading, and other essential factors connected with writing.  Attention will be given to areas particular to Asian Studies, e.g. citation of translations from Asian language texts. Students in the course will be required to focus on a long-term writing project, such as a seminar paper, thesis, dissertation, or a manuscript in preparation for publication. 

The course is NOT intended to be an editorial service but instead to help graduate students develop and hone the critical skills, including revision and editing skills, needed for successful academic writing in English.  As presentation of one’s work is a critical complementary component to successful academic writing, a part of the course will be devoted to working on effectiveness in oral presentation.  

The course grade is based on:

• There is no final exam.  There is a class attendance policy.
• 40% Drafts and Peer Review/Discussion
• 20% Final Editing and Final Drafts
• 40% Oral Presentations

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

Lost in Translation: History of Chinese Language and Translation

[This course is open to all students – no previous background in Chinese language, culture or linguistics is required.  All lectures, readings and discussion in English.]

  Against the backdrop of China’s prominent international status and increasing global interest in the Chinese language, this course will delve into an in-depth study of the Chinese language and culture, including discussion of Chinese regional cultures and dialects.  Course emphasis will be given to the study of the modern Chinese language, with consideration given to the language spoken in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.  Cultural and political contexts of these geopolitical entities will be explored in order to understand emerging differences of all that falls under the common nomenclature of “Chinese.”  Lectures and discussions will focus on the cultural, social, historical, and political background against which the Chinese language has evolved and continues to evolve.  Of significance will be assessment of the increasing influence of usage of the English language and the Internet in China and Taiwan. 

 Given China’s increased foreign interaction, this course will also include a discussion of the history of translation of the Chinese language into different languages, In this context, translation theories and approaches will be studied and discussed.  

 Students will engage in a final project that will apply translation theory to practice.  This final project will be:  1) a translation project from a foreign language into English; or 2) a comparison of different English-language translations of the same original language source.

NOTE:  This is not a course for training in translation or interpretation.

 Course Topic Sections:

• Section I – The Chinese Language (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan), Dialects, Minority Languages of China
• Section II – Language and Culture: Language Attitudes, Cultural Usage and Habits
• Section III – Translation Theories and Approaches, Global Influence of English

 Course Grade based on:                              

• There is a class attendance policy
• There is no final exam in this course.

1.  15%     Class discussion, participation, and preparation, including informal in-class and online response writing

2.  50%     Reading and Discussion Questions (“response quizzes” on lectures, readings, discussion)

3.  10%     One Oral Presentation/Lead Discussant Work on Section I or II topics

4.  25%     Final Project Report on translation theory and practice (5-7 pages) and Oral Presentation on Final Project

Required Text:

S. Robert Ramsey, The Languages of China (Princeton 1987)                                             

 Reading Selections on Canvas include:

Peter W. Culicover and Elizabeth V. Hume, Basics of Language for Language Learners

John DeFrancis, The Chinese Language – Fact and Fantasy

Edwin Gentzler, Contemporary Translation Theories. Revised 2^nd Ed. (Topics in Translation, 21)

Charles N. Li and Sandra A. Thompson, Mandarin Chinese – A Functional Reference Grammar

Lydia Liu, ed. Tokens of Exchange: The Problem of Translation in Global Circulations (Post-Contemporary Interventions)

Jerry Norman, Chinese                                               

Morry Sofer, The Translator’s Handbook, 7th Revised Edition (Translator's Handbook)

Lawrence Venuti, The Translator’s Invisibility: A History of Translation. 2^nd Ed.

Recommended:

Doug Leshan, A Handbook of English-Chinese Translation (Commercial Press 2002)

Morry Sofer, The Global Translator's Handbook (Taylor Trade Publishing, 2013)

Course Description

This course is for you if you are a non-native speaker of English interested in developing and/or refining your academic writing skills. We will work on informal and formal writing – from mechanics to style to development of ideas, and from “pre-draft” stages to finalizing revisions.  This course will also introduce and apply what can be called American academic writing, especially in comparison with other stylistic approaches and cultural writing habits.  (Course will be divided into M.A. and Ph.D. student groups.)

Course emphasis will be given to hands-on exercises in writing, revising, proofreading, and other essential factors connected with writing.  Attention will be given to areas particular to Asian Studies, e.g. citation of translations from Asian language texts. Students in the course will be required to focus on a long-term writing project, such as a seminar paper, thesis, dissertation, or a manuscript in preparation for publication. 

The course is NOT intended to be an editorial service but instead to help you develop and hone the critical skills, including revision and editing skills, needed for successful academic writing in English.  As presentation of one’s work is a complementary component to successful academic writing, a part of the course will be devoted to working on effectiveness in oral presentation. 

Recommended Texts:

Wayne C. Booth, The Craft of Research (3^rd ed.; Chicago, 2003)

Michael Harvey, The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing (2^nd ed.; Hackett, 2013)

Course Expectations*

*NOTE – There is no final exam for this course. 

 Your evaluation for this course will be based on the following:

Class attendance – as a professional courtesy, class attendance and punctuality are required for this course.  Excessive absences (more than 3) will result in a grade reduction of a full grade.  More than 8 absences will result in a failing grade.  Tardiness by more than half an hour or leaving early will result in half an absence.

• 40% Informal Writing and Discussion
• 20% Formal Writing
• 40% Oral Presentations

Instructors:  Dr. Chiu-Mi Lai (Asian Studies) and Dr. David Mohrig (Geological Sciences)

Description:

This first-year seminar is designed to provide an interdisciplinary approach to “understanding” landscapes, and to explore the dynamics between academic and artistic dialogues by scientists, scholars, writers, and artists.  The course will view notable landscapes of central and East Asia, Western Europe, and the American West through the lenses of art, literature and geology.  Visual and literary representations of natural landscapes are interpreted through geological analysis of the processes that sculpt Earth surfaces with the aim of studying the human response to striking topographic features.  Lectures and readings complement the primary works of art and literature to be explored.  Many aspects of the physics of landscapes will be developed from first principles through guided-inquiry laboratory exercises by Professor Mohrig and students in the course.

[No previous background in art, literature or geology required.]

Required Texts:

 Simon Schama, Landscape and Memory

Required Course Packet: (to be available, University Co-op)

Includes readings from:

Paul Bierman and David Montgomery, Key Concepts in Geomorphology, W.H. Freeman, 2013,

Richard Mabey, ed. The Oxford Book of Nature Writing

Michael Sullivan, The Three Perfections: Chinese Painting, Poetry and Calligraphy,

Revised edition: George Braziller, 1999 [custom-printed at Paradigm Books]

Susan Whitfield, Life Along the Silk Road

 Additional Readings:

Richard M Barnhart et al., Three Thousand Years of Chinese Painting

Rachael Ziady DeLue and James Elkins, eds. Landscape Theory

Denis Wood and John Fels, The Natures of Maps: Cartographic Constructions of the Natural

World

Images, articles, and book chapters on art, literature and geology will be posted on Canvas  

CLASS FIELD TRIPS:       The Blanton Museum, The Harry Ransom Center, Waller Creek, local geological sites, UT Morphodynamics Lab (location of laboratory exercises)

 COURSE EXPECTATIONS

This course will be graded on the Plus/Minus system.

There is an attendance policy in this course.  There is no written final exam for this course. 

 Final Grade for this course will be based on the following:

 I.         15%    Class discussion and participation 

II.        30%    Laboratory Exercises and Reports

III.       50%    *Formal Written Assignments:  Essays, writing and revision assignments

IV.        5%      Oral Presentation (Powerpoint of Prezi) on an University “Gem” 

Dr. Chiu-Mi Lai -- Dr. Chiu-Mi Lai is Senior Lecturer in Chinese Literature in Asian Studies and teaches courses on Chinese literature and cultural studies (classical Chinese poetry, the “supernatural” in Chinese fiction) and linguistics (Chinese writing system, translation approaches).   At Rice University, Dr. Lai became involved in educational outreach work with the Museum of Fine Arts Houston and the Houston Museum of Natural Science, and continues to be active in the greater UT community (educational outreach lectures on Chinese language and culture).  She loves dogs, sci-fi fantasy, and sports. 

Dr. David Mohrig -- Professor David Mohrig studies the evolution of landscapes and landforms on Earth and other planets. He observes the dynamic behavior of topography at very short to very long time and space scales, with particular emphasis on processes controlling channel formation. Research methods used by his group include carefully designed laboratory and natural experiments on sediment-transporting flows, field studies of modern and ancient landscapes, theoretical modeling of evolving bed topography, and the remote sensing of subsurface sedimentary deposits using seismic data.  He holds the J.E. Elliott Centennial Professor in Geological Sciences and is a UT Baseball fan.

[Open to all students -- All lectures, discussion and readings in English. Carries Global Cultures Flag]

 Required Text:

John Minford and Joseph S.M. Lau, eds. Classical Chinese Literature – An Anthology of

Translations, Volume I: From Antiquity to the Tang Dynasty (Columbia, 2002)

Other Readings:       Articles and book chapters will be posted onBlackboard.  (See Course Documents.) 

Course Description               

This course will provide an introduction to the so-called supernatural and otherworldly phenomena in traditional Chinese literature and “pseudo-history.”  Readings in English translation will encompass a selective sampling of prose, short fiction, and drama/opera from pre-modern China (end of imperialism in early 20th century).  Lectures and discussions will focus on the literary, cultural, historical, social, political, philosophical, and religious background against which these representative works arose.  Background reading will be assigned to supplement the primary works of literature and pseudo-history.  Course emphasis will be given to close and critical reading of primary works (in English translation) which were originally written in Classical Chinese and vernacular Classical Chinese.  Topics covered include otherworldly concepts of the Dao (the Way) and various interpretations of the afterlife, with an introduction to differences between spirits, souls, ghosts and other ethereal beings in various Chinese secular and religious belief systems.  Readings introduce Chinese notions of the supernatural in the form of such beings as immortals, goddesses, and shape-shifters. 

The grade for this course will be based on the following:

• There is a class attendance policy for this course. (More than 8 absences results in a failing grade)
• There is no final exam in this course.

15%     Class and online discussion, participation and preparation (see Attendance policy)

60%     Reading and Discussion Questions (In-class Response “Quizzes”) (no make-up)

10%     One Oral Presentation/Lead Discussant – on Section I or Section II Tales

10%     One Research Inquiry “Note” (2 pages) on a supernatural object or phenomenon

5%       One Fan Fiction piece 

5%       Creative Writing – short story/prose/dramatic act (Evaluated CR/NC)

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

[All lectures, discussion and readings in English.]

Course Description

This course will provide an introduction to the history of the evolution of the Chinese writing system and language. This course is open to all students and while recommended, no background in Chinese language, culture or linguistics is required. Course emphasis will be given to the study of the writing system and the cultural contexts that have preserved such a unique orthography from ancient to modern times. In this context, the course will include some discussion of the history of the Chinese language, including Chinese dialects. Lectures and discussions will focus on the cultural, historical, social, and political background against which Chinese writing and language have evolved.

            Introduction – Chinese Language and Writing; What is writing?  What is an alphabet?

I.              The Beginnings – Ancient Writing Systems, Proto-Writing, the Shang Bronze Age

II.            The Han Dynasty Milestone – Old Text/New Text Debates, Invention of Paper, “radicals” and the influential role of the Shuowen jiezi

III.           The Song Dynasty Milestone – Calligraphy, Painting, Invention of Printing, and “handwriting”

IV.           The Modern Milestone – Language Reform, Script transformation, Japanese/Western influence

V.             Contemporary Times – Chinese writing in the cyber age, influence of the English language/alphabet

COURSE EXPECTATIONS

This course will be graded on the Plus/Minus system.

There is a class attendance policy for this course.  After 2 absences (excused or unexcused), your class discussion grade will be deducted a full grade, and a half grade for each additional absence.  More than 10 absences will result in a failing grade for the course.  

 Your grade for this course will be based on the following (see below for details):

·          There is no written final exam.

I. 10% Class and online discussion, participation and “preparedness” (informal

    writing)

II. 50% Reading and Discussion Questions

III. 10% One Panel Oral Presentation

IV. 20% One “Written Report” (based on Panel Presentation Topic)

V. 10% Oral Comprehensive Interview

The focus of the capstone seminar is on the cultural outsider’s perceptions of East Asia as addressed in greater literature originally written in English (with a few exceptions), in the genres of memoirs and travelogues dating from as early as the writings of Marco Polo up to works published in contemporary America. Works selected for the seminar are to be read and discussed within the broad context of “travel literature” by visitors to greater East Asia:  China (including Hong Kong and Tibet), Taiwan, Japan, and Korea.   These travelers include missionaries, colonizers, POW's, journalists, scholars, teachers, students, and tourists. Through a sampling of these selected works, a main focus will be on the approach to the concept of “Asianness” in the distant and recent past as treated from the perspective of a cultural outsider.

Some major concepts and themes that emerge from these works concern Asian stereotypes, self-discovery and cultural identity formation, and exoticization of Asia and all things Asian (or “Oriental”). We will pose open-ended questions about these perceptions of Asia not as literary critics, but rather more as readers, or as fellow travelers to Asia. Thus, the course focus will be on primary, rather than secondary, sources and materials. Students will choose from the selected works below for oral panel presentations, leading class discussion, which in turn will form a focus for essays.

REQUIRED (excerpts available on Blackboard:

Isabella Bird, Unbeaten Tracks in Japan: The Firsthand Experiences of a British Woman in Outback Japan in 1878

Fuchsia Dunlop, Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China

Stephanie Elizondo Griest, Around the Bloc: My Life in Moscow, Beijing, and Havana

Peter Hessler, River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze

Heinrich Harrer, Seven Years in Tibet

Bill Holm, Coming Home Crazy: An Alphabet of China Essays

Donald Keene, Chronicles of My Life: An American in the Heart of Japan

Helie Lee, Still Life With Rice: A Young American Woman Discovers the Life and Legacy of Her Korean Grandmother

Michael Meyer, The Last Days of Old Beijing: Life in the Vanishing Backstreets of a City Transformed

David Mura, Turning Japanese: Memoirs of a Sansei

John Nathan, Living Carelessly in Tokyo and Elsewhere: A Memoir

James O’Reilly et al., eds. Travelers’ Tales – true stories of life on the road: Hong Kong, including Macau and Southern China

Paisley Rekdal, The Night My Mother Met Bruce Lee – Observations on Not Fitting In

Orville Schell, In the People’s Republic: An American’s first-hand view of living and working in China

Janwillem van de Wetering, The Empty Mirror – Experiences in a Japanese Zen Monastery

For Reference:
Wayne Booth, The Craft of Research; 3rd Ed: 2008
Julia Crane et al. Field Projects in Anthropology; 3rd Ed: 1992

Michael Harvey, The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing, 2003

Anthony Weston, A Rulebook for Arguments; 4^th Ed:  2008

Course Grade Based On:

• ·          This course is graded on the Plus/Minus System. 
• There is a class attendance policy for this course.  After 1 absence (excused or unexcused), your class discussion grade will be deducted a full grade, and a half grade for each additional absence.  More than 8 absences will result in a failing grade for the course.  (Extenuating circumstances will be taken into consideration in consultation with the Office of the Dean of Students.) 
• There is no written final exam.

 15% Class discussion, leading in-class discussions, in-class and online discussion and

                class“preparedness” (Informal in-class writing)

60% Critical and Analytical Writing (Discussion Questions, 2 papers, 1 revision,1 short report)

20% One Oral Panel Presentation and “Oral Defense Presentation”

5% Travelogue or Memoir Writing

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

The Moon in Chinese Poetry

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.  Readings in English translation will encompass a selective sampling of poetry from as early as the seventh century B.C.E. through the 9^th century C.E.  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.  Course emphasis will be given to poetry of the medieval period of the Tang dynasty (618-907) which is commonly referred to as the “golden age” of Chinese poetry.  Intensive focus and close readings will be given to poetry by four of pre-modern China’s greatest and most beloved poets:  Tao Yuanming ??? (or Tao Qian ??) (365-427), Wang Wei ?? (701-761), Li Bo ?? (or Li Bai) (701-762), and Du Fu ?? (712-770). 

The poet’s response to the human condition will form the framework within which we will consider our role as readers and our interpretation of the poetic treatment of the human response.  Lectures, readings and class discussion will examine these ideas and concepts in the context of the moon in Chinese literary memory.  Through this methodical process, we will begin to decode the literary language of classical Chinese poetry and poetic craft.  It is through this process of deciphering what can be puzzling or mysterious that the reader may emerge with yet another response to the human condition.  Herein lies the allure of classical Chinese poetry – we can still find our way to the Chinese poet’s world today. 

[All lectures, discussion and readings in English.]

Required Texts:

John Minford and Joseph S.M. Lau, eds. Classical Chinese Literature – An Anthology of Translations, Volume I: From Antiquity to the Tang Dynasty (Columbia, 2002)                     

Please purchase the following required texts (custom printed) at Paradigm Books (NOT at the Co-op):

• David Hawkes, A Little Primer of Tu Fu (Rpt. Renditions, 1995)
• Michael Sullivan, The Three Perfections: Chinese Painting, Poetry and Calligraphy (Revised edition: George Braziller, 1999) [out of print]

The final grade for this course will be based on the following:

• This course will be graded on the Plus/Minus system.
• There is no written final exam for this course.  No assignments will be accepted after last day of classes.
• There is a class attendance policy for this course.
• 15%     Class and online discussion, participation and “preparedness” -- Weekly Informal Writing and Lead Discussant work
• 50%     Discussion Questions/ Expanded Written Responses
• 25%     Critical Writing (Response Essay, Independent Project Paper)
• 5%       Oral Presentation and leading discussion 
• 5%       Creative Writing: imitation and matching poems (evaluated CR/NC)

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

The Chinese Language and Translation

[This course carries the Global Cultures Flag and is open to all students – no previous background in Chinese language, culture or linguistics is required.]     

     Against the backdrop of China’s prominent international status and increasing global interest in the Chinese language, this course will delve into an in-depth study of the Chinese language and culture, including discussion of Chinese regional cultures and dialects.  Course emphasis will be given to the study of the modern Chinese language, with consideration given to the language spoken in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.  Cultural and political contexts of these geopolitical entities will be explored in order to understand emerging differences of all that falls under the common nomenclature of “Chinese.”  Lectures and discussions will focus on the cultural, social, historical, and political background against which the Chinese language has evolved and continues to evolve.  Of significance will be assessment of the increasing influence of usage of the English language in China and Taiwan. 

     Given China’s increased foreign interaction, this course will also include a discussion of translation and the Chinese language. In this context, the relationship between language and culture, as well as translation theories and approaches, will be studied and discussed.  Students will engage in a final project that will apply a selected translation theory to practice.  This final project will be a discussion of the selected translation theory applied and one of the following:  1) a small translation project from a foreign language into English; or 2) a comparison of different English-language translations of the same original language source.

 NOTE:  This is not a course for training in translation or interpretation.

 Course Topic Sections:

• Section I – The Chinese Language (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan), Dialects, Minority Languages of China
• Section II – Language and Culture: Language Attitudes, Cultural Usage and Habits
• Section III – Translation Theories and Approaches, Global Influence of English

Course Grade based on:                               

• There is a class attendance policy
• There is no final exam in this course.

15%     Class discussion, participation, and preparation (Class Attendance Policy), including Informal         in-class and online (Blackboard) writing

50%     Reading and Discussion Questions (“quizzes” on lectures/readings/discussion)

10%     One Oral Presentation/Lead Discussant Work on Section I or II topics

25%     Final Project Paper on translation theory and practice (5-7 pages)

            and Oral Presentation on Final Project

 Required Text:

S. Robert Ramsey, The Languages of China (Princeton 1987)                                               

 Reading Selections on Blackboard include:

Peter W. Culicover and Elizabeth V. Hume, Basics of Language for Language Learners

John DeFrancis, The Chinese Language – Fact and Fantasy

Edwin Gentzler, Contemporary Translation Theories. Revised 2^nd Ed. (Topics in

     Translation, 21)

Lydia Liu, ed. Tokens of Exchange: The Problem of Translation in Global Circulations

     (Post-Contemporary Interventions)

Jerry Norman, Chinese

Morry Sofer, The Translator’s Handbook, 7th Revised Edition (Translator's Handbook)

Lawrence Venuti, The Translator’s Invisibility: A History of Translation. 2^nd Ed.

  Recommended:

Doug Leshan, A Handbook of English-Chinese Translation (Commercial Press 2002)

Course will meet  M 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM in MAIN 220E (not WCH 4.118)

This course meets with LAH 350 -- enrollment in the course requires a GPA of 3.5 in the major, or with permission of the instructor.  This course carries both the Writing and Global Cultures Flags. 

Cultural Memory and the Classic Chinese Novel

2013 Novel:  The Story of the Stone (Honglou meng, or Dream of the Red Chamber)

The course focus is on the masterpiece 18th c. Qing Dynasty Chinese novel, Dream of the Red Chamber (Honglou meng), with the alternate title of The Story of the Stone (Shitou ji).  Lectures and seminar-style discussion will examine the metaphors and mythology from Chinese cultural memory that are present in this classic novel.  In particular, the course will introduce American students to one of the most well-known of Chinese literary figures in Lin Daiyu, the novel’s female protagonist that holds a significant place in Chinese cultural memory. Lin Daiyu’s cultural significance is comparable to Juliet or Ophelia in Western cultural memory. This close study of the enduring appeal of the characterization of Lin Daiyu will include a perusal of antecedents for the Chinese “goddess” archetype in literary memory.  Lectures and readings will provide literary and socio-historical contexts for the novel. A selection of primary and secondary source readings will introduce a cross-section of influential works from classical literature and the major founding schools of Chinese thought. Complementary study will include the viewing of modern-day visual and dramatic representations of this novel.

The reading of the novel in this course is modeled after the original serial nature of the work, where segments of the story were serially released, and read and discussed with great fervor in both public and private spheres.  The attendant commentary and reimagining of the story belonged to the reading public.  One could argue that this was one of the earliest prominent works to spawn fan fiction.  We will consider the novel in this light of pop culture, and treat the work as a stellar example of how a lowbrow cultural practice has evolved into a highbrow dynamic. 

Required reading:

CAO Xueqin, translated by David Hawkes, The Story of the Stone, Vols. I, II, III (Penguin, 1973, 1977, 1980) [aka Honglou meng (Dream of the Red Chamber)]

CAO Xueqin and Gao E, translated by John Minford, The Story of the Stone, Vols. IV, V (Penguin, 1982, 1986)

Richard J. Smith, China’s Cultural Heritage – The Qing Dynasty, 1644-1912 (2nd ed.; Perseus/Westview, 1994)

• Other Required Readings on Blackboard Course Site

Recommended:  Tang Xianzu, translated by Cyril Birch, The Peony Pavilion – Mudan ting. 2nd ed

(Indiana, 2002)

 Course Grade Based On:

• There is no final written exam in this course. 
• There is a class attendance policy. 

I.          15%     Class and online discussion, participation and “preparedness” (including

                        in-class and online informal writing)

II.        50%     1-page Reading Response Writings (Weekly)

III.       25%     One 8-page Research Inquiry Paper

IV.       5%       One Oral Presentation/ Panel Discussion (on required text, CCH)

V.        5%       One Fan fiction piece (3-5 pages)

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

Meets with CL 323

[All lectures, discussion and readings in English.]

Required Text:

John Minford and Joseph S.M. Lau, eds. Classical Chinese Literature – An Anthology of

Translations, Volume I: From Antiquity to the Tang Dynasty (Columbia, 2002)

Supplementary Background Reading: Articles and book chapters will be posted on

Blackboard. (See Course Documents.)

Course Description

[This course is open to all students – no previous background in Chinese language, culture or literature is required.]

This course will provide an introduction to the so-called supernatural and otherworldly phenomena in traditional Chinese literature and “pseudo-history.” Readings in English translation will encompass a selective sampling of prose, short fiction, and drama/opera from pre-modern China (end of imperialism in early 20th century). Lectures and discussions will focus on the literary, cultural, historical, social, political, philosophical, and religious background against which these representative works arose. Background reading will be assigned to supplement the primary works of literature and pseudo-history. Course emphasis will be given to close and critical reading of primary works (in English translation) which were originally written in Classical Chinese and vernacular Classical Chinese. Topics covered include otherworldly concepts of the Dao (the Way) and various interpretations of the afterlife, with an introduction to differences between spirits, souls, ghosts and other ethereal beings in various Chinese secular and religious belief systems. Readings introduce Chinese notions of the supernatural in the form of such beings as immortals, goddesses, and shape-shifters.

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.

Course grade based on the following:

• There is a class attendance policy for this course.
• There is no final exam in this course.

15% Class and online discussion, participation and preparation (Attendance policy)

50% Reading and Discussion Questions (Response “Quizzes”)

20% One Research Inquiry Paper (5-7 pages)

10% One Oral Presentation/Lead Discussant

5% Creative Writing – short story/prose/dramatic act (Evaluated CR/NC)

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

This course carries the Global Cultures Flag.

Meets with LIN 350

[All lectures, discussion and readings in English.]

Required Texts:

William G. Boltz, The Origin and Early Development of the Chinese Writing System

Jerry Norman, Chinese

Tsuen-hsuin Tsien, Written on Bamboo and Silk – The Beginnings of Chinese Books and Inscriptions, Second Edition, 2004.

Further Reading:

John DeFrancis, The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy

Michael Loewe, Everyday Life in Early Imperial China

S. Robert Ramsey, The Languages of China

Michael Sullivan, The Three Perfections: Chinese Painting, Poetry and Calligraphy (Revised edition: George Braziller, 1999) [Out of print – Paradigm Books custom printing]

Course Description

This course will provide an introduction to the history of the evolution of the Chinese writing system and language. This course is open to all students and while recommended, no background in Chinese language, culture or linguistics is required. Course emphasis will be given to the study of the writing system and the cultural contexts that have preserved such a unique orthography from ancient to modern times. In this context, the course will include some discussion of the history of the Chinese language, including Chinese dialects. Lectures and discussions will focus on the cultural, historical, social, and political background against which Chinese writing and language have evolved.

COURSE EXPECTATIONS

This course will be graded on the Plus/Minus system. There is a class attendance policy for this course.

Your grade for this course will be based on the following:

I. 10% Class and online discussion, participation and “preparedness” (informal

writing)

II. 50% Reading and Discussion Questions

III. 10% One Panel Oral Presentation

IV. 20% One “Written Report” (based on Panel Presentation Topic)

V. 10% Oral Comprehensive Interview

This course carries the Writing and Global Cultures Flags

Seminar Topic: Let Me Tell You About “Asia” –Cultural Outsider Perceptions of Asia

in Memoirs and Travelogues

Course Description

The focus of this senior seminar is on “perceptions of Asia” as addressed in greater literature originally written in English (with a few exceptions), especially in the genres of memoirs, travelogues, and fiction, dating from as early as the writings of Marco Polo up to works published in contemporary America. Works selected for the seminar are to be read and discussed within the broad context of “travel literature” by visitors to Asia – travelers that include missionaries, colonizers, journalists, scholars, students, and tourists. Through a sampling of these selected works, a main focus will be on the approach to the concept of “Asianness” in the distant and recent past as treated from the perspective of a “cultural outsider.”

Some major concepts and themes that emerge from these works concern Asian stereotypes, self-discovery and cultural identity formation, and exoticization of Asia and all things Asian (or “Oriental”). We will pose open-ended questions about these perceptions of Asia not as literary critics, but rather more as readers, or as fellow travelers to Asia. Thus, the course focus will be on primary, rather than secondary, sources and materials. Students will choose from the selected works below for oral panel presentations, leading class discussion, which in turn will form a focus for essays.

REQUIRED TEXTS:*

*Other readings on Blackboard

Peter Hessler, River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze

Stephanie Elizondo Griest, Around the Bloc: My Life in Moscow, Beijing, and Havana

Marco Polo, trans. Ronald Latham, The Travels of Marco Polo

Anthony Weston, A Rulebook for Arguments; 4th Ed.: 2008

Recommended:
Wayne Booth, The Craft of Research; 3rd Ed: 2008
Julia Crane et al. Field Projects in Anthropology; 3rd Ed: 1992

Course Grade Based On:

This course is graded on the Plus/Minus System. There is a class attendance policy for this course.

10% Class discussion, leading in-class discussions, in-class and online discussion and

class “preparedness.” (Informal in-class writing)

70% Critical and Analytical Writing (Discussion Questions, 2 papers, 1 revision,1 short report)

5% One Oral Panel Presentation

10% Oral Comprehensive “Defense” (Exam)

5% Travelogue or Memoir Writing

Decoding Classical Chinese Poetry -- The Moon

Description:  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.  Readings in English translation will encompass a selective sampling of poetry from as early as the seventh century B.C.E. through the 9th century C.E.  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.  Course emphasis will be given to poetry of the medieval period of the Tang dynasty (618-907) which is commonly referred to as the “golden age” of Chinese poetry.  Intensive focus and close readings on the moon will be given to poetry by four of pre-modern China’s greatest and most beloved poets:  Tao Yuanming ??? (or Tao Qian ??) (365-427), Wang Wei ?? (701-761), Li Bo ?? (or Li Bai) (701-762), and Du Fu ?? (712-770). 

The poet’s response to the human condition will form the framework within which we will consider our role as readers and our interpretation of the poetic treatment of the human response.  Lectures, readings and class discussion will examine these ideas and concepts in the context of the Chinese literary memory.  Through this methodical process, we will begin to decode the literary language of classical Chinese poetry and poetic craft.  It is through this process of deciphering what can be puzzling or mysterious that the reader may emerge with yet another response to the human condition.  Herein lies the allure of classical Chinese poetry – we can still find our way to the Chinese poet’s world today. 

Course grade based on:

Attendance Policy

20% Discussion

75% Writing and Oral Presentation

5% Creative Writing -- Imitation and Matching poems (evaluated CR/NC)

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

(LAH 350 meets with ANS 320)

China's Great Wall and Silk Road Literature -- Liberal Arts Honors

This course will examine some key concepts and genres in the Chinese cultural and literary tradition that were greatly shaped by foreign non-Chinese rule and influence, as represented by the iconic Great Wall and the Silk Road.  Course emphasis will be given to the literary fruits that were borne through empire expansion, war, and through extended periods of “foreign” non-Chinese rule, in particular the Yuan Dynasty under Mongol rule.  These literary records also reflect travel through regions along the Great Wall and explorations made possible by the Silk Road. Readings, lectures, and in-class and online discussions will focus on formative texts such as travelogues and other personal histories, frontier and border literature, and the great dramas/operas that emerged under Mongol rule. 

 Course Grade Based On:

        *There is no final exam in this course

 I.      15%        Class and online discussion, participation and “preparedness” (including

in-class informal writing)*     *Including a Class Attendance Policy

II.     40% Reading and Discussion Questions – Weekly 1-2 page Response Writings

III.   30% Two 8-10 page Papers (topics related to Oral Presentations, see below)

IV.       10%     Two Oral Presentations (15-20 minute formal presentations)

V.        5%       “Journal” writing throughout the term (on Blackboard) – Reading

                        “notes” and pre-draft ideas (Evaluated CR/NC)

 Required Texts for Class Discussion:

 Wilt L. Idema and Stephen West, eds. with Introduction, Monks, Bandits, Lovers and

Immortals – Eleven Early Chinese Plays (Hackett, 2010)

Susan Whitfield, Life Along the Silk Road (University of California Press, 1999)

Required for Background Reading and Individual Research Projects:

J.I. Crump, Chinese Theater in the Days of Kublai Khan (rpt. Michigan, 1990)

Mark Edward Lewis, China’s Cosmopolitan Empire – The Tang Dynasty (Harvard, 2009)

Julia Lovell, The Great Wall – China Against the World 1000 B.C. - A.D. 2000 (Grove,

2006)

 Oral Presentation Topics from selected readings below in consultation with instructor; other readings may be added to accommodate student interest

 For Individual Presentation/Project:

 Shiamin Kwa and Wilt L. Idema, Mulan: Five Versions of a Classic Chinese Legend,

with Related Texts (Hackett, 2010)

Edward H. Schafer, The Golden Peaches of Samarkand – A Study of T’ang Exotics

(University of California Press, 1985)

Jonathan Spence, The Chan’s Great Continent – China in Western Minds (Norton, 1999)

Michael Sullivan, The Three Perfections: Chinese Painting, Poetry and Calligraphy

(Revised edition: George Braziller, 1999) [out of print – available at Paradigm

Books, 24^th and Guadalupe]

Jack Weatherford, Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World (Crown, 2004)

Stephen H. West and Wilt L. Idema, eds. and trans. with Introduction, Wang Shifu, The

Story of the Western Wing (California, 1995)

Sally Hovey Wriggins, The Silk Road Journey with Xuanzang (Icon Editions, Westview,

2004)

Consult For Historical Background for Projects:

Patricia Buckley Ebrey, Cambridge Illustrated History – China, 2^nd ed. (1996;

Cambridge, 2010)

Colin Mackerras, ed. Chinese Theater – From Its Origins to the Present Day (Hawaii,

1983)

Frances Wood, The Silk Road – Two Thousand Years in the Heart of Asia (University of

California Press, 2002)

Recommended:

On the Qing Dynasty under Manchu Rule:

Jonathan D. Spence, The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci (Penguin, 1985)

Historical Background:

Richard J. Smith, China’s Cultural Heritage – The Qing Dynasty, 1644-1912 (2^nd ed.;

Westview Press, 1994)

Lost in Translation -- History of Chinese Language and Translation

This course is open to all students and, while recommended, no background in Chinese language, culture or linguistics is required.  Against the backdrop of China’s prominent international status and increasing global interest in the Chinese language, this course will delve into an in-depth study of the Chinese language and culture, including discussion of Chinese regional cultures and dialects.  Course emphasis will be given to the study of the modern Chinese language as spoken in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.  Cultural and political contexts of these geopolitical entities will be explored in order to understand emerging differences of all that falls under the common nomenclature of “Chinese.”  
Given China’s increased foreign interaction, this course will also include a discussion of the history of translation of the Chinese language into different languages, with topics such as the imperial Qing dynasty’s large-scale Manchu translations of the Confucian classics and Japanese kanbun studies.  Discussion will also include early Chinese interactions with Buddhist missionaries and European Jesuit missionaries.  In this context, translation theories and practices will be discussed.   
Lectures and discussions will focus on the cultural, social, historical, and political background against which the Chinese language has evolved and continues to evolve.  Of significance will be assessment of the increasing influence of usage of the English language and the Internet in China and Taiwan.  Students will engage in a final project that will be either research-based in nature or, with instructor approval, a translation project (into English) with complementary analysis of translation theory or practice. 

NOTE:  This is not a course for training in translation or interpretation.

Course Topic Sections:

•    Section I – Introduction to the Chinese Language and Dialects, Pre-modern translation projects in Chinese history (including Japanese kanbun studies)
•    Section II – Language Attitudes, Cultural Usage and Habits, Idiosyncrasies in Chinese Semantics, Grammar and Syntax (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan)
•    Section III – Translation Theories and Approaches, Global Influence of English and the Internet

Texts:

Required Texts:

Jerry Norman, Chinese

S. Robert Ramsey, The Languages of China

Morry Sofer, The Translator's Handbook, 6th Revised Edition

Recommended Texts:

Doug Leshan, A Handbook of English-Chinese Translation

Mona Baker, In Other Words: A Coursebook on Translation

Reading Selections on Blackboard include:
Susan Bassnett, Translation StudiesEdwin Gentzler, Contemporary Translation Theories.       
Revised 2nd Edition (Topics in Translation, 21)                                                            

John DeFrancis, The Chinese Language -- Fact and Fantasy

Edwin Gentzler, Contemporary Translation Theories. Revised 2nd ed.

Lydia Liu, ed. Tokens of Exchange: The Problem of Translation in Global Circulations (Post-
Contemporary Interventions)                                                                                         
Jonathan Spence, The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci                         
 Richard J. Smith, China’s Cultural Heritage – The Qing Dynasty1644-1912       

Lawrence Venuti, The Translator's Invisibility: A History of Translation

Lawrence Venuti, The Translation Studies Reader


Grading:
        There is no final exam.

15% Class discussion, participation, and preparation (Class Attendance Policy),

        Informal in-class and Blackboard “brainstorming” writing

50% Reading and Discussion Questions (“quizzes” on lectures/readings/discussion)

10% One Oral Presentation on Section II or Section III

20%     Final project (8-page research report or translation of short work or excerpt into English, as approved by instructor)*

        *If translation project, 5% will be for an analysis of translation theory or practice

5%   Oral Presentation on Final project

Let Me Tell You About Asia: Cultural Outsider Perceptions of Asia in Memoirs and Travelogues

This seminar is on “perceptions of Asia” as addressed in the greater literature of travelogues and memoirs. These works are to be read and discussed within the broad context of “travel literature” by visitors to Asia – early and modern travelers that include missionaries, colonizers, journalists, scholars, students, and tourists. A main focus will be on the approach to the concept of “Asianness” in the distant and recent past as treated from the perspective of a “cultural outsider.”

Course Grade Based On:

20%        Class discussion, leading in-class discussions, infomal writing, in-class and online discussion and class “preparedness.”*    *There is a class attendance policy in this course

60%     Critical and Analytical Writing (Discussion Questions, 2 papers, 1 revision,1 short report)

10% Two Panel Oral Presentations

5%   “Book Club” selection of additional title from list

5%   Travelogue or Memoir Writing

Required Texts:

Section I – The Early Explorers

Ronald Latham, The Travels of Marco Polo (Penguin 1958)

Section II – The Travelogue Adventurers

J.R. Ackerley, Hindoo Holiday: An Indian Journal (Penguin, 2009; New York Review

Books Classics, 2000)

David Mura, Turning Japanese: Memoirs of a Sansei (1990; Grove 2005)

Section III – The Contemporary Traveler

Stephanie Elizondo Griest, Around the Bloc – My Life in Moscow, Beijing, and Havana

(Villard, 2004)

 Recommended:

Wayne C. Booth et al. The Craft of Research (3^rd ed.; Chicago 2008)

Julia Crane et al., Field Projects in Anthropology – A Student Handbook (Waveland,

1992)

 Required -- Available On Blackboard:

Eric Liu, The Accidental Asian -- Notes of a Native Speaker

John Van Maanen, Tales of the Field – On Writing Ethnography

Section I – The Early Explorers (Select one)

Engelbert Kaempfer, Kaempfer’s Japan: Tokugawa Culture Observed (trans. Beatrice

Bodart-Bailey)

Jonathan D. Spence, The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci 

Section II – The Travelogue Adventurers (Select one for presentation/paper)

Isabella Bird, Unbeaten Tracks in Japan

Isabella Bird, Korea and Her Neighbors

Heinrich Harrer, Seven Years in Tibet

Orville Schell, In the People's Republic – An American’s Firsthand View of Living and

      Working in China

Janwillem van de Wetering, The Empty Mirror – Experiences in a Japanese Zen

     Monastery

Akiko Yosano, Travels in Manchuria and Mongolia (trans. Joshua Fogel)

Section III – The Contemporary Traveler (Select one for presentation/paper)

Heinrich Harrer, Return to Tibet -- Tibet After the Chinese Occupation

John Hersey, Hiroshima

Peter Hessler, River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze

Bill Holm, Coming Home Crazy – An Alphabet of China Essays

James O’Reilly et al., eds. Travelers’ Tales: Hong Kong – including Macau and Southern China

Paisley Rekdal, The Night My Mother Met Bruce Lee – Observations on Not Fitting In

Michael Shapiro, The Shadow in the Sun: A Korean Year of Love and Sorrow

Tim Ward, What the Buddha Never Taught

The Dead Are Alive -- The Supernatural in Traditional Chinese Fiction and Prose

This course is open to all students – no previous background in Chinese language, culture or literature is required.  This course will provide an introduction to the so-called supernatural and otherworldly phenomena in traditional Chinese literature and “pseudo-history.”   Readings in English translation will encompass a selective sampling of prose, short fiction, and drama/opera from pre-modern China (end of imperialism in early 20th century).  Lectures and discussions will focus on the literary, cultural, historical, social, political, philosophical, and religious background against which these representative works arose.  Background reading will be assigned to supplement the primary works of literature and pseudo-history.  Course emphasis will be given to close and critical reading of primary works (in English translation) which were originally written in Classical Chinese and vernacular Classical Chinese.   Topics covered include otherworldly concepts of the Dao (the Way) and various interpretations of the afterlife, with an introduction to differences between spirits, souls, ghosts and other ethereal beings in the Chinese secular and religious belief systems.   Readings introduce Chinese notions of the supernatural in the form of such beings as immortals, goddesses, and shape-shifters. 

Required Text:
John Minford and Joseph S.M. Lau, eds. Classical Chinese Literature: An Anthology of Translations (Columbia University Press)

GRADING:

* There is no final exam in this course.
15%     Class discussion, participation and preparation (Class Attendance policy)

70%     Writing --
           5%     Informal in-class and Blackboard “brainstorming” writing
           25%   Reading and  Discussion Questions
           40%   Formal Critical and Analytical Writing
10%    Oral Presentation (Final Paper)
5%    Creative Writing – short story/prose/dramatic act (Evaluated CR/NC)

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

Why Chinese Has No Alphabet

       This course will provide an introduction to the history of the evolution of the Chinese writing system and language.  This course is open to all students and while recommended, no background in Chinese language, culture or linguistics is required.  Course emphasis will be given to the study of the writing system and the cultural contexts that have preserved such a unique orthography from ancient to modern times.  In this context, the course will include some discussion of the history of the Chinese language, including Chinese dialects.   Lectures and discussions will focus on the cultural, historical, social, and political background against which Chinese writing and language have evolved.

 Required Texts:

William G. Boltz, The Origin and Early Development of the Chinese Writing System

(New Haven: American Oriental Society, 1994)

Jerry Norman, Chinese (Cambridge, 1988)

S. Robert Ramsey, The Languages of China (Princeton, 1987)

Further Reading:

John DeFrancis, The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy (Hawaii, 1984)

Michael Sullivan, The Three Perfections: Chinese Painting, Poetry and Calligraphy

(Revised edition: George Braziller, 1999) [Out of print – Paradigm Books custom printing]

Tsuen-hsuin Tsien, Written on Bamboo and Silk – The Beginnings of Chinese Books and Inscriptions, Second Edition (Chicago, 2004)

COURSE EXPECTATIONS

• This course will be graded on the Plus/Minus system.
• There is no written final exam for this course. 
• Late assignments will be deducted by half a grade for each day past the due date.  No assignments will be accepted after the last day of classes (5/7/10).  Your final course grade will be based on work completed up to this date.

ATTENDANCE POLICY – More than 3 absences, final class participation grade deducted half a grade (e.g. A- to B+); additional half grades deducted for each additional 2 absences.

Your grade for this course will be based on the following (see below for details):

I.          20%     Class and online discussion, participation and “preparedness” (informal

writing)

II.         40%     Reading and Discussion Questions

III.       20%     Two “Written Reports” (based on Panel Topics)

IV.       20%     Two Panel Oral Presentations

SCHEDULE

Detailed class and reading assignments will be posted/handed out for each section.

All sections will be supplemented by lecture outlines and notes by instructor.

Weeks 1-8            Section I – Writing System

Panel Presentations in Weeks 5, 6, 7, 8

(Week 9 Spring Break)

Weeks 10-16       Section II – Language

Panel Presentations in Weeks 12, 13, 14

Decoding Classical Chinese Poetry

                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.  Readings in English translation will encompass a selective sampling of poetry from as early as the seventh century B.C.E. through the 9^th century.  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.  Course emphasis will be given to poetry of the medieval period of the Tang dynasty (618-907) which is commonly referred to as the “golden age” of Chinese poetry.  Intensive focus and close readings will be given to poetry by four of pre-modern China’s greatest and most beloved poets, Tao Yuanming ??? (or Tao Qian ??) (365-427), Wang Wei ?? (701-761), Li Bo?? (or Li Bai) (701-762), and Du Fu ?? (712-770). 

The poet’s response to the human condition will form the framework within which we will consider our role as readers and our interpretation of the poetic treatment of the human response.  Lectures, readings and class discussion will examine these ideas and concepts in the context of the Chinese literary memory.  Through this methodical process, we will begin to decode the literary language of classical Chinese poetry and poetic craft.  It is through this process of deciphering what can be puzzling or mysterious that the reader may emerge with yet another response to the human condition.  Herein lies the allure of classical Chinese poetry – we can still find our way to the Chinese poet’s world today.

Required Texts:

John Minford and Joseph S.M. Lau, eds. Classical Chinese Literature – An Anthology of Translations, Volume I: From Antiquity to the Tang Dynasty (Columbia, 2002)

Please purchase the following required texts (custom printed) at Paradigm Books (NOT at the Co-op):

David Hawkes, A Little Primer of Tu Fu (Rpt. Renditions, 1995)

Michael Sullivan, The Three Perfections: Chinese Painting, Poetry and Calligraphy

(Revised edition: George Braziller, 1999) [out of print]

 Supplementary Background Reading:          Articles and book chapters will be posted on

Blackboard.  (See Course Documents.) 

Course Expectations

• This course will be graded on the Plus/Minus system.
• There is no written final exam for this course. 
• Late assignments will be deducted by half a grade for each day past the due date.  No assignments will be accepted after the last day of classes (5/7/10).  Your final course grade will be based on work completed up to this date.
• There is a class attendance policy for this course.

 Your grade for this course will be based on the following:

 10%     Class and online discussion, participation and “preparedness”

10%     Informal Writing, Lead Discussant

40%     Discussion Questions/ Expanded Responses

25%     Critical Writing (Response Essay, Independent Project Paper)

10%     Oral Presentation and leading discussion on independent project

5%       Creative Writing: "imitation and matching" poems (evaluated CR/NC)

Let Me Tell You About Asia: The Cultural Outsider's Perceptions of Asia in Travelogues and Memoirs

This seminar is on “perceptions of Asia” as addressed in the greater literature of travelogues and memoirs. These works are to be read and discussed within the broad context of “travel literature” by visitors to Asia – early and modern travelers that include missionaries, colonizers, journalists, scholars, students, and tourists. A main focus will be on the approach to the concept of “Asianness” in the distant and recent past as treated from the perspective of a “cultural outsider.”

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

Please check back for updates.

Study of various Asian studies-related topics that do not focus on any single geographic region.  Specific offerings are listed in the Course Schedule.  Prerequisite: Graduate standing; additional prerequisites vary with the topic and are given in the Course Schedule.

Please check back for updates.

The Signature Course (UGS 302 and 303) introduces first-year students to the university’s academic community through the exploration of new interests. The Signature Course is your opportunity to engage in college-level thinking and learning.

Please check back for updates.

Please check back for updates.

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.

Please check back for updates.

Please check back for updates.

Please check back for updates.

Please check back for updates.

Please check back for updates.