Courses

A historical and thematic survey of the Buddhist tradition from the time of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, until the present. Emphasis upon the way in which Buddhist teachings and practices have interacted with and been changed by various cultures in Asia, and more recently in North America.

Crosslisting: REL 105.

This course introduces students to 1000 years of Japanese storytelling tradition in diverse mediums: epic tales, drama (bunraku/kabuki, and noh), fiction, and film. Students will engage with such representations of Japanese culture as: - Imperial court life of the 10th century, the role of spirit possession as women's "weapon," and a 20th-century novel that builds on these traditions. - A war between two clans in the 12th century that is the setting for a key duel between unevenly matched opponents retold over the centuries in three different mediums: epic tale, bunraku/kabuki theater, and noh drama. - In the same war, the tragic defeat of one of the clans is reimagined as the source of a famous ghost story written in the 19th century...by a European with connections to Cincinnati! - Postwar short stories that retell Japanese fairy tales to situate them in a Japan struggling to cope with the devastation of the Pacific War. - A mystery novel about government corruption, and a master director’s film from the same period that treats the same subject - The possibilities – and horrors – of dreams as depicted by a 20th-century novelist, a master director, and an animator.

Crosslisting: JAPN 129.

An introduction to the art and visual culture of India, China, Japan, and Southeast Asia, focusing on historical, religious, and social issues and the function of both art and visual culture.

Crosslisting: AHVC 131.

The horrific violence in the Asia-Pacific region in the first half of the 20th century is known by many names in many countries. Those different countries also often acknowledge different dates for the conflict. In the United States, we often refer to the events under consideration in this course as the Pacific Theater of World War II and think of them as having begun on December 7, 1941, and stretched across more than three and a half bloody years until the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. In Japan, the conflict is often known as the 15-Year War, the Greater East Asia War, or the Second Sino-Japanese War. Some scholars argue that it began in 1937 with the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in Beijing, but others suggest that the Mukden Incident in Manchuria in 1931 was the beginning of what would grow to total war across the Asia-Pacific. This course will introduce students to the experience of those living in the Japanese islands (including non-Japanese) and fighting on behalf of Emperor Hirohito across the Asia-Pacific from 1928 to 1945. Students will read essays, fiction, and a graphic novel, as well as watch a film and an animated feature to gain an understanding of the causes of the war, appreciate the complexities of life on the home front, and the horrors of being on the battlefield. Warning: This course will feature regular depictions of and discussions about warfare, combat, and sexual violence.

Crosslisting: JAPN 139.

A survey of 1,800 years of premodern East Asian history, beginning with the rise and fall of the Han dynasty (202 BCE–220 CE) in China and ending with the devastating Japanese invasions of Korea in 1592–1598 CE, a conflict recently dubbed “the first Great East Asian War. Topics include: Buddhism’s spread in East Asia and its influence on politics and culture; the origins of Japan’s samurai warrior class; the rise of the Mongol world empire and its impact on East Asia; and the beginnings of European commercial and missionary activity in East Asia.

Crosslisting: HIST 111.

A survey of the history of China, Korea, and Japan from 1600 to the early twenty-first century. We begin with the last two centuries of the early modern era, during which East Asian states managed relations with the rest of the world on terms of their own choosing. We then move on to East Asia’s traumatic nineteenth-century confrontation with the newly industrialized and seemingly invincible Western powers, who now insisted on dictating new, “modern” terms of interaction. The sweeping political, cultural, social, and economic changes that sprang from that encounter have dramatically shaped East Asia’s fortunes in the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Topics covered will include early modern and modern empire-building; nationalist and Communist revolutions; the Sino-Japanese, Pacific, and Korean wars; globalization and economic miracles; and movements for democracy and human rights.

Crosslisting: HIST 112.

A general category used only in the evaluation of transfer credit.

This course examines a special group of Chinese texts that will not only enlighten, but also delight modern readers: ancient Taoist text written in fascinating literary style, and a variety of literary works informed with Taoist spirit. No knowledge of Chinese is required.

Crosslisting: CHIN 205.

Through close analysis of some of the most important recurrent themes, this course will examine how the Chinese and Japanese literary traditions reinvent and revitalize themselves in their development. Students will also study the distinctive features of the major genres in the two traditions.

Crosslisting: CHIN 206.

This seminar covers in depth the history of East Asia in 1937–1953, a period characterized by violence, upheaval, suffering, and death on an almost unimaginable scale. The Japanese empire’s cataclysmic clash with the Republic of China and (eventually) the United States left Japan in ruins and under American occupation, China on the verge of a Communist revolution, and Korea divided between American and Soviet spheres of influence. The consequences of these events led to America’s war in Vietnam and still define and bedevil East Asia’s geopolitics today. Our readings will include some of the most significant recent scholarship on four conflicts: the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Pacific War, the Chinese Civil War, and the Korean War. Although we will read much about politics, diplomacy, and military campaigns, our focus will just as often be on the experiences and stories of ordinary people caught in extraordinarily harrowing times.

Crosslisting: HIST 211.

This course provides students an introduction to the written cultural products (available in translation) from Japan, and two countries – China and Korea – occupied by Japan during the Pacific War (1931-1945). Although Japan’s occupation of Korea began in 1910, this course will begin its consideration of this topic in 1890 because the Japanese political and social mechanisms that led to fascist militarist control in the 1930s have their origins at least as far back as 1890. This course fulfills the Modern Core requirement for the East Asian Studies major/minor.

Crosslisting: JAPN 219.

Japan often conjures images steeped in tradition such as samurai warriors, sumo wrestlers, and geisha clad in kimono. At the same time, however, contemporary Japan is just as easily associated with businessmen, anime, automobiles, and high technology. How have "tradition" and "change" fueled competing visions of Japan what it means to be "Japanese"? How does one go about reconciling these conflicting views? How have these debates evolved over time? How have variously situated individuals and groups in society negotiated shifting circumstances? These questions will be at the heart of this seminar as we consider case studies from different segments of Japanese society. A range of material will be treated as "texts" for analysis and discussion including anime, manga, literary works, and films as well as ethnographic scholarship on Japanese society.

Crosslisting: ANTH 221.

This class provides a space to engage in regular, sustained language and culture exchange with native speakers of Chinese and English in a “language partner” format. Students learning Chinese will practice basic oral Chinese, and native Chinese speakers will practice advanced colloquial English. Over the course of the semester, students will improve their ability to speak, listen, and build social relationships in their target language. We will meet every week for regular class, but twice during the semester, we will cancel the regular class for an enrichment activity, such as Game Night, Karaoke Night, or Restaurant Night, to practice language in social contexts. During all class times and class activities, there will be a language pledge - for half of the time, we will speak only Chinese, and for half of the time, we will speak only English. In this class, students develop their language skills and also practice leadership in building a cross-cultural community on campus.

Crosslisting: GC 222.

An introduction to Japanese architecture, sculpture, painting, and the decorative arts from prehistoric times to the 20th century, with an emphasis on the works in their cultural and religious context.

Crosslisting: AHVC 231 and INTL 261.

This course is an introduction to Chinese visual culture from prehistoric times through the Mao era. Organized around a selection of key objects and images, this course explores a variety of art forms from China through diverse contexts such a ritual, gender, imperial patronage, literati ideals, and political icons.

This course is designed to provide an introduction to modern Chinese and Japanese fiction for the student who has little or no background in the language, history, or culture of these countries.

Crosslisting: JAPN 235.

Genre fiction (sometimes called “commercial fiction”) around the world has been broadly categorized as less-refined, or less literary. Postmodern thinkers have demonstrated, however, that popular fiction can serve as a fascinating lens through which to read place (society, race, gender, etc.) and time (historical period). This class will serve as an introduction to Japan’s long, rich tradition of genre fiction. In addition to reading recent criticism of the genres discussed, we will consider representative works, primarily by twentieth-century authors, in three genres: historical/period fiction, mystery/detective fiction, and horror fiction. This course is taught in English. No Japanese language required.

Crosslisting: JAPN 239.

This course engages the question: ‘How are images used to imagine our place in the world?’ Students are invited to study fascinating practices of spatial image-making in East Asia from the inside out, by exploring these world-views from the perspective of their makers. You will be asked to pay special attention to how social and economic power structures inflect these representations: to envision and decode spatial imagery as a site of imagination, control, and resistance. Artists and patrons in China, Japan, and Korea have for centuries produced elaborate maps and landscape imagery, photographs, and film to imagine the world in a variety of ways. This course invites you to approach modern and contemporary representations of space in East Asia both in theoretically and historically informed ways. In the first part of the course, students build a frame of reference for their analysis of post-war case studies, by reading core texts in spatial theory and exploring important visual representations of space from pre-modern East Asia. In the second part of the course, students apply these theoretical and historical approaches to select cases that exemplify more recent struggles over space and its imagination in East Asia.

Crosslisting: AHVC 263 and SES 263.

Selected topics in East Asian Studies.

This course uses film and modern literature to consider responses to political, economic, and sociological changes in Japanese society over the course of the twentieth century. This course is taught in English.

Crosslisting: JAPN 273.

This course explores both historical and contemporary traditions of Tantric Buddhism, focusing on the theories and practices of yoga, meditation, and magic. We will examine how these interconnected practices operate within the social, political, and cultural landscapes of India, Tibet, and Japan. Our captivating journey will involve the study of religious manuscripts, esoteric artwork, and modern films. As we delve into the worlds of yoga, magic, and meditation, we will explore how these traditions have transformed across time and cultures.

Crosslisting: REL 380.

Through a close reading of representative prose essays in both classical Chinese and vernacular Chinese, students will trace the development of Chinese cultural history and catch a glimpse of the core values and dynamic, self-reflective experiences of the heart and mind among the cultural and intellectual elite in China. This course is taught in Chinese and is open to native speakers. Native-speaker-level knowledge of Chinese is preferred; advanced proficiency in Chinese is required.

Crosslisting: CHIN 345.

From the chilling folklore of horror movies to the breathtaking worlds of anime, Japanese pop culture has captivated a global audience. Despite its popularity, what secrets remain hidden within? This class will interrogate film as a window into society and culture. You will become a film analyst, dissecting cinematic texts to uncover key themes, traditions, and social anxieties. We will explore the fascinating journey of Japanese films as they are adapted in the West, discover what is lost and gained in translation, and examine what these changes reveal about both cultures.

Crosslisting: ANTH 287.

This course surveys the philosophical texts at the foundation of two millennia of Chinese thought and of East Asia as a global region. The core concern of these texts is the ‘way’ (dao): the way to live, the way to rule, the way to know, and the way for words to guide us. We will read the books of Confucius, Mozi, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, and Xunzi (among others), and critically assess their most unique and groundbreaking ideas.

Crosslisting: PHIL 288.

This course explores the intersection of gender and digital technologies in a globalized world. Based on scholarship from sociology, science and technology studies, and intersectional feminism, we will examine how digital technologies both shape and are shaped by the dynamics of gender relations in China, East Asia, the U.S., and beyond. Key topics include the gender digital divide, labor inequalities in the tech sector, the changing STEM education, digitalization of family life, as well as women’s contributions to the digital economy and the role of social media in emerging feminist activism. Students will also work with large-scale datasets from East Asia and the U.S. to learn how to analyze and visualize data to answer theory-driven questions. By combining theoretical reading and empirical endeavors, students will understand the complex role of technology in both empowering and marginalizing women in global context.

Crosslisting: WGST 289.

Some scholars argue that film is the new literary form of the late 20th and early 21st century. This course will focus on films that are products of one of the most populous and economically powerful parts of the world – East Asia. We will look at some famous East Asian films to see in what ways they are unique expressions of Asian culture and thinking, and in what ways they are part of a more global world of filmmaking. We will study film theory and learn how to critically watch a film. We will look at current trends in East Asian film, with particular emphasis on the way East Asian films have influenced Hollywood. We will begin by watching an early silent film from Japan and end by watching a recent East Asian film that has captured global attention. In between will be films about samurai, Godzilla, flying swordsmen, Beijing opera singers, and Korean pansori singers, as well as Hong Kong gangsters, and of course anime.

Crosslisting: JAPN 290.

In this course, we will examine the various iterations of “bad women” in Japanese mythology, literature, film, and social media. We will look at examples of Japanese “bad” women, both past and present. Questions we will consider are how “bad” gets defined over time and by gender. Why is there even a need for any society to have such a label used for women and not men? When men are “bad,” are the standards different? How does the notion of the “bad” Japanese woman compare with such a notion in other cultures? By examining a variety of sources on Japan’s “bad” women, both past and present, we will try to discern whether there are any universals in the definition of “bad” and how this label reflects broader ideas about gender in Japanese culture and in other societies.

Crosslisting: JAPN 291.

In this course we will read extensively from the works of the four twentieth-century Japanese authors who have been elevated to the status of canonized writers, that is, whose works are regarded both in and out of Japan as essential in the history of Japanese letters. Note that readings will vary from semester to semester. This course is taught in English.

Crosslisting: JAPN 309.

In this course, we will together examine the beliefs, practices, and discourse that consist of the Chinese religious landscape from the early 20th century to the present day. Our journey starts with a review of the religious heritage in pre-modern China, and moves on to the twentieth century, a formative age where a new country tries to establish itself on a long history of a religiously pluralistic society, by carefully negotiating the ways of its ancient civilization and the challenges presented by a new age of global conversation and conflicts. We will pay particular attention to the relationship between the many religious institutions and traditions, between religious institutions and the state, and between the ideologies, practices, and traditions past and present.

Crosslisting: REL 316.

This course explores how art has engaged social transformation in China. You will be guided to take an inside look at how the notion of revolution stands front and center in art making during China’s long 20th century. We think deeply about two interrelated questions: how can art have social and critical agency, and how has it been related to social change in China? We approach these questions historically to become sensitive to the different contexts and experiences of the artists we study but also to how their struggles and creative interventions connect across time. In the process, you will build a framework of reference for understanding social and creative life in 20th century China, and its enduring connections to the global world.

Crosslisting: AHVC 333.

This course is an in-depth introduction to the history and culture of the Tang empire (618–907), widely regarded as China’s “golden age.” Modern Chinese historical memory idealizes the Tang as an age of great military conquests, exotically “cosmopolitan” tastes in art and music, religious tolerance and cultural diversity, brilliant poets, and free-spirited, polo-playing women. A primary goal of the class is to enable students to take an informed and critical perspective on this romanticized popular image by studying a wide range of historical scholarship and translated primary sources, which they will use to write a major research paper on a topic of their choice.

Crosslisting: HIST 312.

A student in good standing may work intensively in areas of special interest under the Directed Study plan. A Directed Study is appropriate when, under the guidance of a faculty member, a student wants to explore a subject more fully than is possible in a regular course or to study a subject not covered in the regular curriculum. A Directed Study should not normally duplicate a course that is regularly offered. Directed Studies are normally taken for 3 or 4 credits. A one-semester Directed Study is limited to a maximum of 4 credit hours. Note: Directed Studies may not be used to fulfill General Education requirements.

A student in good standing may work intensively in areas of special interest under the Directed Study plan. A Directed Study is appropriate when, under the guidance of a faculty member, a student wants to explore a subject more fully than is possible in a regular course or to study a subject not covered in the regular curriculum. A Directed Study should not normally duplicate a course that is regularly offered. Directed Studies are normally taken for 3 or 4 credits. A one-semester Directed Study is limited to a maximum of 4 credit hours. Note: Directed Studies may not be used to fulfill General Education requirements.

Independent Study engages a student in the pursuit of clearly defined goals. In this effort, a student may employ skills and information developed in previous course experiences or may develop some mastery of new knowledge or skills. A proposal for an Independent Study project must be approved in advance by the faculty member who agrees to serve as the project advisor. Note: Independent Studies may not be used to fulfill General Education requirements.

Independent Study engages a student in the pursuit of clearly defined goals. In this effort, a student may employ skills and information developed in previous course experiences or may develop some mastery of new knowledge or skills. A proposal for an Independent Study project must be approved in advance by the faculty member who agrees to serve as the project advisor. Note: Independent Studies may not be used to fulfill General Education requirements.

Students may enroll in Senior Research in their final year at Denison. Normally, Senior Research requires a major thesis, report, or project in the student's field of concentration and carries eight semester-hours of credit for the year. Typically, a final grade for a year-long Senior Research will not be assigned until the completion of the year-long Senior Research at the end of the second semester. In which case, the first semester Senior Research grade will remain "in progress" (PR) until the completion of the second semester Senior Research. Each semester of Senior Research is limited to a maximum of 4 credit hours. Note: Senior Research may not be used to fulfill General Education requirements.

Students may enroll in Senior Research in their final year at Denison. Normally, Senior Research requires a major thesis, report, or project in the student's field of concentration and carries eight semester-hours of credit for the year. Typically, a final grade for a year-long Senior Research will not be assigned until the completion of the year-long Senior Research at the end of the second semester. In which case, the first semester Senior Research grade will remain "in progress" (PR) until the completion of the second semester Senior Research. Each semester of Senior Research is limited to a maximum of 4 credit hours. Note: Senior Research may not be used to fulfill General Education requirements.