Asian Studies Courses

ARAB 151: Survey of Arabic Literature, Yaqub, TR 12:30-1:45
Arabic 151 is designed to introduce students to the rich literary heritage of the Arabic language. The course will span Arabic literary production from pre-Islamic to modern times and will encompass the range of major genres of Arabic literature. Upon completion of the course, students will be able to situate works of Arabic literature within a literary and cultural context. Students will also learn to consider their own positions as they study another part of the world and the possible political implications of their scholarship. They will develop their skills in literary analysis and academic writing.
Assignments will consist of weekly reading and postings to Blackboard discussion boards; three essays, and a midterm and final exam. The course has no prerequisites and no knowledge of Arabic is required. LA, BN. [GC Non-Western/Comparative perspective.]

ASIA 056: First-Year Seminar: Writing Women in Modern China, Visser, TR 12:30-1:45
In “liberating” China from its traditional cultural practices, Chairman Mao denounced the oppression of women by famously declaring that “women hold up half the sky.” One of the Communist Party’s achievements was its elevation of women. As China embraces a new market economy, however, women may be losing ground. This seminar compares the rhetoric of equality between the sexes presented by late Qing, May Fourth, and communist thinkers to perspectives by women writers. We examine how generations of Chinese women reconcile themselves to – and resist – gender expectations under Confucianism, Communism, and Capitalism in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. BN, LA [GC Non-Western/Comparative perspective].

ASIA 89: First Year Seminar: Dis-Orienting the Orient, Driscoll, TR 9:30-10:45
This course will deal with Euro-American perceptions of Asia from the 19th century until now. Using film, poetry and travel writing we will discuss some of the ways in which the non-West is constructed. As we do so we will look at some of the ways in which writers based in Asia have responded to these representations. We will try to bring some of the ways "Orientalism" works in the US down to earth by visiting 2 Asian restaurants in the area.

ASIA 152: Survey of South Asian Cultural History, Lothspeich, MW 3:00-4:15
This course offers a serendipitous journey through South Asian cultural history from approximately 1500 BCE to the present. In order to fruitfully engage with such a huge topic, we will focus on an enduring theme: love and desire. That is, we will consider love towards the divine, human beloveds, and even the nation as expressed in literature, drama, film, music, art, and architecture. In doing so, we will pay special attention to developments within Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Sikhism—major religions of South Asia that have grappled with humanity’s desire and quest for both earthly and spiritual fulfillment. Some of the issues we will discuss include the means to salvation in various religious traditions, the tension between renunciation and ‘householding’ in South Asian society, the sublimation of the divine as a human paramour, purdah or the seclusion of women, courtesan culture, and romance in Bollywood. Along the way, we will chart the broad contours of Indian political life, particularly from the 16th century onwards, noting sites of intercultural contact between Mughals, Europeans, and the native inhabitants of South Asia. LA, WB, BN. [GC Non-Western/Comparative perspective.]

ASIA 261: India Through Western Eyes, Lothspeich, TR 3:30-4:45
This course considers how Europeans and more recently Americans have understood and represented the heterogeneous peoples of India and their culture, chiefly in literature, but also in travel writing, film and painting. We will begin in the 18th century, when colonial administrators and ‘Orientalist’ scholars first set the terms of representing the ‘Other’ in South Asia. And we will conclude in the present, focusing on representations (and persistent stereotypes) in fiction and Hollywood films. At the same time, the course deals with how Indians have responded to colonial and postcolonial critiques of South Asian culture, how they have represented themselves in various forms of cultural production, and how they have positioned themselves against those of other cultures both within and outside of India. Some of broad themes in the course include cultural stereotyping, hybridity and cross-cultural contact, the emergence of Indian national consciousness in the crucible of colonialism, the effects of globalization in South Asia, the New Age movement, and the cultural synthesis and culture clash engendered by the South Asian diaspora. [GC Non-Western/Comparative perspective, Cultural Diversity requirement.]

ASIA 451 (FREN 451, INTS 451): Orientalist Fantasies and Discourses on the Other, Amer, TR 11:00-12:15
This interdisciplinary course will use literature, film, painting and music to examine the French and US encounters with and discourses on the Orient, defined as the Middle East and the Arab world. The period covered will be from the "official" rise of European Orientalism at the end of the 17th century with the discovery and translation by French author and diplomat Antoine Galland of the Arabian Nights and will continue through the French expedition to Egypt under Napoleon (1798), and the French colonization of Algeria (1830). We will compare orientalist discourses in France to orientalist discourses in the US that have been especially prominent in Hollywood films and that witnessed a resurgence after the end of the Cold War. We will also ask whether it is possible to speak of Orientalism in the contemporary period; discussions will center on the relations between Orientalism and globalization, Orientalism and the European Union, Orientalism and the US. LA, NA, GL. [A&S Non-Western/Comparative perspective.]

ASIA 460: Sex, Crime and Corruption in East and Southeast Asia, Hewison, M 4:00-6:30
The course is an examination of the political economy of crime and corruption in contemporary East and Southeast Asia. The course seeks to understand the linkages between illegal and underground activities and the relationships between corruption and development in the context of rapidly changing political, social and economic contexts in the Asian region. Some attention will be given to comparative questions, examining developed and developing societies. The cases considered include: crony capitalism, money politics, human trafficking, prostitution/sex work, gambling and drug trafficking.
The course is an exercise in critical social science that seeks to challenge some conventional ideas. It will take a conflict perspective approach to the exercise of power and the linkages between the state, business, crime and corruption. SS, BN, GL. [A&S Social Science perspective.]

CHIN 150: Introduction to Chinese Civilization, Hsiao, MW 4:30-5:45
This course will depart from the convention of most introductory courses on Chinese civilization structured as chronological surveys that trace China’s historical development from the earliest to most recent eras. This course, instead, will address several elements central to the culture – “Family,” “Education,” “Government,” “Entertainment,” “Religion,” and “Art and Craftsmanship” – as they play out at the level of the family, the community, and the nation. BN. [GC Non-Western/Comparative perspective.]

CHIN 354: Chinese Culture Through Calligraphy, Li, W 3:00-5:30
This course is an introduction to Chinese culture through the learning of Chinese calligraphy. Course content includes (1)cultural, historical and linguistic knowledge related to Chinese calligraphy, (2) basic skills of brush writing, and (3) artistic value and aesthetics in Chinese calligraphy. A hands-on approach is adopted inteaching the use of writing instruments, the structure and composition of Chinese characters, and the method of composing a piece of calligraphy artwork. Class procedure is lecture followed by a studio session of writing practice. The course is taught in English and open to any students (undergraduate and graduate, with and without Chinese language skills). There is weekly brush writing homework, readingassignments, one class presentation and paper, a final brush writing project, a midterm and a final exam. VP, BN. [GC Fine Arts perspective.]

JAPN 161: Geisha in History, Fiction, & Fantasy, Bardsley, MWF 1:00-1:50
In this course, we will study the Japanese entertainers known as geisha by looking at them first of all as performers, learning about their practice of classical dance, music, and other arts, as well as their past connections to the courtesans of the Edo pleasure quarters. We also discuss the geisha’s connection to the history of prostitution in Japan. We consider the geisha, too, as a subject of Kabuki plays, woodblock prints, postcards, Impressionist paintings, rock star fashion, and Japanese as well as Hollywood movies. Importantly, we also see the geisha as a contemporary business woman and artist. Our study will prompt us to ask broad questions about art, gender, sexuality, and politics, and in the process of asking these questions we will discover that definitions of the geisha change according to the history, fiction, fantasies--and controversies-- we examine. VP, BN.

JAPN 261: Japanese Theater, Bardsley, MWF 3:00-3:50
This course introduces students to Japanese theater -- inside/out. We look inside the theater, exploring elements of performance, acting techniques, and plays. We also look outside the theater, thinking about the cultural contexts for diverse theatrical forms. Students also get inside the theater through their own designs and plays, and outside the theater by discussing and writing responses to the plays and doing a group presentation that looks at the broader social context of a particular theatrical form. Technology--from early puppet-making to video game programs--plays an important role in Japanese theater and gives us yet another avenue for thinking of Japanese theater inside/out. VP, BN. [A&S Aesthetic perspective.]

Chinese Language Courses

CHIN 510: Introduction to Classical Chinese, Hsiao, MW 3:00-4:15
Topic: "The Representation of Femininity in Traditional Chinese Culture." This course focuses on the issue of the representation of femininity in traditional culture. The course investigates material in its original language like poem, novel, and visual images that relates to the theme of the course and are primarily produced before 1700. Students must produce essays that analyze the material both in Chinese and in English. FI. [A&S Aesthetic perspective.]

CHIN 590: Ancient Sages and Modern Celebrity, Yue, TR 3:30-4:45
This course is focused on the reinterpretation and appropriation of Kongzi (Confucius) and Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu) in contemporary China. The primary materials are two bestsellers published by Yu Dan, a female professor and television celebrity. In addition, the course will examine the "Yu Dan phenomenon" that highlights the interface of mass media, female celebrity, and popular consumption of ancient wisdom in a rapidly changing world. All readings and class discussion will be in Chinese.

Crosslisted Courses

ANTH 574-001 (ASIA 574, RELI 591) : Chinese World Views (3). L. Lai, TR 3:30-4:45
To learn "Chinese World Views" in one semester is ambitious, challenging yet exciting. This interdisciplinary course invites you to take an exploratory journey, together with the instructor, through important philosophical and practical dimensions of Chinese culture, under the theme of embodied Chinese world views. In particular, two perspectives will be emphasized: the living heritage in Chinese vernacular architecture and the “elusive” body perceived in Chinese medical and aesthetic practices. The course is not intended to substitute for surveys of Chinese history or literature or religion, rather it provides reflective and critical points of view on selected resources from Chinese studies, along with a close reading of indigenous Chinese metaphysical texts on which these bodies of knowledge have drawn. Original texts in Chinese will be provided at class to supplement the translated Chinese Classics. The Western sources that are used take an anthropological, aesthetical, historical or philosophical point of view. Students interested in East Asian culture, or in methods of systematically thinking about non-western culture and history, will find “Chinese World Views” particularly useful. This course fulfills an Arts and Sciences philosophical perspectives credit.
The course is divided into three sections. How to ‘decode’ China effectively? With this question raised by Francois Jullien, in the first section we are going to read a series of conversations between Jullien, a Western interpreter of "the Chinese," and Chinese classics, mainly Confucius and Zhuangzi. In the second section we will examine critically a series of topics on houses and bodies from Chinese macrocosmic perspectives. Accordingly, the Chinese classics selected in this section are from the three main schools of thoughts, namely, Confucian儒, Buddhist释, and Taoist道. The third section pays more attention to lived life, i.e., the intimate relationship between embodiment, social organization and cultural values. Through the case studies provided by anthropologists and architecture scholars, this section leads to perceptible "Chinese world views" embodied in house, furniture, architecture aesthetics, decoration, and everyday life. SS, BN.

ANTH 586-001 (ASIA 586) : The Gardens, Shrines and Temples of Japan (3). N. Johnson, TR 5:00-6:15 This course is an encounter with the religious landscape of Japan, with emphasis on religious concepts of nature, buildings, and human-constructed environments. The gardens, shrines, and temples of Japan are renowned for their beauty and spiritual significance. This course studies the history, aesthetics, principles of design, and religious foundation of the building and landscape architecture of Japan.
The study of gardens is emphasized, and types of garden are presented and discussed. Consideration is given to tearoom architecture and gardens. Shrine and temple buildings are studied as architectured space, a structural component of gardens. Emphasis here is placed on study of Zen Buddhist temple buildings and gardens, a focus of the Instructor's research. We consider the influence of Indian and Chinese Buddhism, Chinese Taoism, and Japanese Shinto on the physical forms and various meaning of the religious landscape of Japan.
• Texts (at Student Stores)
* A course pack of required readings.
* A Japanese Touch for your Garden.
Kyoshi Seike, Masanobu Kudo, and David H. Engel.
Tokyo and New York: Kodansha.
* Wind and Stone, by Masaaki Tachihara.
Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press.
• Course Format
The purpose of this course is to provide an opportunity for you to experience salient aspects of the religious landscape of Japan. This course combines presentations by the Instructor, accompanied by photographic slides, as well as the contributions of students to our studies. Classroom sessions combine discussions of photographic slides, student in-class projects, and discussion of the required readings.
• Examinations:
There are three requirements to this course: (1) in-class quizzes, (2) a final examination, and (3) and out-of-class writing assignments.
There are three in-class quizzes testing your ability to identify, comment upon and interpret, and compare images presented in your readings and on photographic slides. For these in-class quizzes, you will be presented with 8-10 slides to identify and discuss, on sheets provided you with short-answer and multiple-choice questions. Slides chosen will be about 50% from your readings and 50% from any other slides shown in class. You might also be presented with photographic slides you have not seen previously, but which you will be expected to interpret based on your class studies. Slides shown in class and slides of illustrations in your readings are available for your study on the course webpage -
www.unc.edu/courses/2003spring/anth/196/001/
Out-of-class writing generally is in the form of a 10-15 page essay. A week or so before the in-class examination you will be handed several questions, serving as a guide to organizing your readings and class lecture notes. Your essay ought to display your ability to define, illustrate, and discuss aspects of the gardens, shrines, and temples discussed as well as be well-conceived, organized, and written.
The final examination is composed of a section (5-7 slides) on course material after the last quiz and a section of slides (@ 10) and review questions on material basic to the course as a whole. Questions on the final examination are a combination of multiple-choice and short-answer. VP, BN.

CMPL 379-001 (ASIA 379): Cowboys, Samurai and Rebels in Film and Fiction (3). I. Brodey, MW 10:00-10:50 Cross-cultural definitions of heroism, individualism, and authority in film and fiction, with emphasis on tales or images that have been translated across cultures. Includes films of Ford, Kurosawa, and Visconti. VP.


ECON 469-001 (ASIA 469): Western and Asian Economic Systems (3). Rosefielde, MWF 11:00-11:50 Prerequisite, ECON 310 or 410. Policy seminar on the systemic factors distinguishing Western economies from their rivals in the former Soviet bloc and Asia, focused on conflict resolution and global integration.

GEOG 267-001 (ASIA 267): Tropical Asia (3). M. Meade, TR 12:30-1:45 The cultural diversity and regional organization, emphasizing the spatial structure and contemporary dynamics of population, agriculture, urbanization, and economic development, primarily of the nations of Southeast Asia. BN.

HIST 136-001 (ASIA 136): South Asia since 1750 (3). Y. Saikia, TR 11:00-12:15 Social, cultural, and political history of the south Asian (or Indian) subcontinent during and after British rule. Emphasis on encounter with Europe, colonialism, resistance struggles and independence, postcolonial order. HS, BN.

HIST 276-001 (ASIA 276) : Modern Middle East, S. Shields, TR 11:00-12:15
This course introduces students to the recent history of the Middle East while fulfilling the expectations of UNC’s cultural diversity requirement, which demands that we focus partly on the United States. For this survey course, we will define “modern” as beginning in 1798, and the Middle East as stretching from Morocco to Afghanistan. Students will be expected to read and write each week. Grades will be based on participation in discussion, a map quiz, two essays, summaries of campus events, and a final exam. Readings include three novels, two historical monographs, a number of documents, and a few articles. HS, BN, GL. [GC Non-Western/Comparative, A&S Non-Western/Comparative, Cultural Diversity.]

HIST 281-001 (ASIA 281, PWAD 281) : The Pacific War, 1937-1945: Its Causes and Legacy (3). W. Fletcher, TR 3:30-4:45 An examination of the origins of the Pacific War, the course of this bitter and momentous conflict, and its complex legacy for both Asia and the United States. HS, BN, GL.

HIST 287-001 (ASIA 287): Japan's Modern Revolution (3). D. Botsman, MWF 9:00-9:50 Covering the period from 1600 to 1900, this course examines the causes and impact of the Meiji Restoration of 1868 which marked the start of modern Japan. HS, BN.

RELI 181-001 (ASIA 181): Later Islamic Civilization and Modern Muslim Cultures (3). Omid Safi, TR 12:30-1:45This course is the second half of a two-part survey of Islamic civilization and culture from the sixth century to the present. This part focuses on the last six centuries (from roughly 1500 C.E. to the present), and includes a brief overview of the rise of the new religion, its ethics, and spiritual traditions; the relation between politics and religion, from world empires to European colonialism and independence; questions of religion and gender, such as Islamic feminism; and case studies on Shi`ism in Iran, the Ottoman Empire, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Close attention will be given to the rise of Wahhabism, 9/11, and the Muslim responses to 9/11. This course assumes no prior knowledge of the subject. In addition, one does not need to be a believer in any particular religion, or for that matter a skeptic, to realize the importance of Islam in history and in the contemporary world.
Course Objectives:
-Gaining information about the Islamic civilization, which includes history, politics, culture, and religion: to give you access to some basic information about the origins and historical development of Islamic civilization, without attempting to discuss all details comprehensively (that would be an impossible task).
This will be done primarily by examining historical studies and fictional interpretation of different features of Islamic civilization, as well as through primary sources (religious and literary texts, film, art, music) that illustrate some of the ways in which Muslims and the non-Muslims with whom they interacted established the structures of their societies. The classes are designed to clarify the relationship between these sources and the larger themes to which they are connected. We hope that students will come away from this class recognizing several historical points: First, that Muslims in the contemporary world, while sharing the same religion, are amazingly diverse in ideology, class, race, education, politics, and even religion. Second, that people who identify themselves as Muslims have had remarkably complex and different ideas about what is meant by Islam. Third, that global forces have had a major impact on largely Muslim societies, even as Islamic civilization and culture has been a part of the history of Europe and America.
- Understanding problems related to the study of religion and history: to equip you with tools to evaluate the ways in which religion is conceptualized. The particular problems that we will discuss in relation to Islam including negative media stereotypes (particularly those involving violence and gender) and"essentialism" (the belief that a particular religion is always the same, regardless of history, location, economics, or politics).
- Developing analytical skills: to refine skills in thinking and writing, so that after the course students will be able to offer informed and insightful analysis of topics in the history of different cultures, including but not limited to Islam.
HS.

RELI 583-001 (ASIA 583): Religion and Culture in Iran (3). C. Ernst, TR 11:00-12:15
This course explores the interaction of religion and culture in Iran from the rise of the Safavid empire to the Islamic Republic of today. Topics include Shi`ism, politics, intellectual and sectarian movements, encounters with colonialism, art and architecture, music, film, literature. While the focus will be on historic Iran, emphasis will also be given to the larger "Persianate" cultural sphere (including India, Central Asia, the Ottoman Empire) as well as Iranian interaction with Europe and America. HS, BN, WB.

Other Courses of Interest

ANTH 375-001: Memory, Massacres, and Monuments in Southeast Asia, Wiener, TR 11:00-12:15
What does the past mean to the present? How are personal memories shaped by social forces and official histories? Under what circumstances do they disrupt these? How do societies cope with traumatic events? How is the past turned into a commodity, or a spectacle? How does a foreign past become interesting? What global, local, and national processes shape memories and histories?
These and other questions will be addressed through an exploration of contemporary Southeast Asia, focusing particularly on Indonesia, Cambodia, and Thailand. In all three countries the massacres of large numbers of people in 20th century political struggles are the subject of social movements, commemorative activities, and debate. In all three as well ancient ruins play a critical role in nation-building and international tourism. What role do these different pasts play in shaping the present and visions of the future? BN, GL.

ART 290-004: Islamic Palaces, Gardens, and Court Culture, G. Anderson, MWF 9:00-9:50
* This course counts toward the Asian Studies interdisciplinary major/minor, in the Humanities category
Prerequisite, intermediate level art history or art studio course or permission of the instructor. Selected topics in art history or art studio.

CLAR 241-001: Archeology of the Ancient Near East, G. K. Sams, TR 9:30-10:45
A survey of the cultures of the ancient Near East, Mesopotamia, Anatolia (modern Turkey) and the Levant, from the first settled villages of the ninth millennium to the Persian conquest of Babylon in 539 B.C. HS, BN, WB.

DRAM 475-001: African and Asian Costume, J. Bettin, TR 9:30-10:45
A survey of the traditional costume forms on the African Continent, in Asia (China, Japan, India), and on the Arabian Peninsula. HS, BN.

HIST 393-006: Israel/Palestine Conflict, S. Shields, T 2:00-4:50
Prerequisite, permission to register from the undergraduate secretary in HM 556; the course is in general limited to 15 students. The subject matter will vary with the instructor. Each course will concern itself with a study in depth of some problem in Third World/non-Western history. CI, Research.

HIST 490-001: America's Pacific Wars: From the Philippines to Vietnam, M. H. Hunt, MWF 3:00-3:50 (Recitations will replace most Friday lectures)
This course examines the four major wars in Asia fought by the United States over a seventy-five year period (between 1899 and 1973). The coverage begins with the colonial war in the Philippines, continues with the conflict that erupted at Pearl Harbor and with the civil war in Korea that turned into a major collision between the United States and China, and concludes with the prolonged and frustrating Vietnam War. Revisiting these conflicts can reveal much about the trajectory that American power took to reach its current unrivaled global situation – and the pitfalls awaiting any ambitious regional project. A diverse and determined set of Asians repeatedly challenged and sometimes frustrated confident, intrusive Americans, although that challenge came at a high cost in life, economic destruction, and social trauma. In examining each of the four major wars, we will consider origins, course, and consequences. Along the way we will be asking questions about policymaking, military strategy, the experience of combat, views of the enemy, and postwar memory and representation of the fighting. A mix of materials, including notably historical accounts, documents, memoirs, movies, and oral histories, will help us explore these multiple facets of each war. Not open to students who have taken History 570 on the Vietnam War. HS.

HIST 490-002: Gender in Chinese History, M. King, R 2:00-4:50 HS.

HIST 490-004: Muslim Identity in South Asia, Y. Saikia, TR 3:30-4:45 HS.

RELI 288-001: Chinese Religions, B. Ambros, TR 11:00-12:15
Historical introduction to Chinese religions: Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism and folk religion. BN.

RELI 480-001: Modern Muslim Literatures, P. Wright, M 3:00-5:50
Stresses the diversity of modern Islamic experience by examining the works of various Muslim authors. Genres may include travelogues, memoirs, novels, sermons, and treatises, among others. LA, BN, GL.

RELI 584-001: The Qur'an as Literature, C. Ernst, R 2:00-4:50
This course is a non-theological approach to understanding the Qur’an as a literary text. Topics will include: Orientalism and the study of Islam, history of the Qur’anic text, the Qur’an and the Prophet Muhammad, form, style, and structure, ritual aspects of the Qur'an, problems of translation, commentary and interpretation, and contemporary understandings of the Qur’an. The format each week will generally be to spend the first hour on lecture and discussion on particular themes in the understanding of the Qur'an. Then after a short break, we will spend the rest of the time closely reading selected suras from the Qur'an in translation, following the historical sequence of the text according to European scholarship. LA.