Director of Undergraduate Studies: Norma Field, Wb 301G, 702-5903,

n-field@uchicago.edu

Departmental Coordinator: Wb 301K, 702-1255,

ealc@humanities.uchicago.edu

Web: ealc.uchicago.edu

Program of Study

The Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations offers a B.A. program in East Asian studies that introduces students to the traditional and modern civilizations of China and Japan and provides them with the opportunity to achieve a basic reading and speaking knowledge of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. This program is interdisciplinary and students may take relevant courses in both the humanities and the social sciences.

Program Requirements

The major requires a three-quarter second-year sequence in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean. In addition, students are strongly encouraged to meet the general education requirement in civilization studies by taking Introduction to the Civilizations of East Asia I, II, III (EALC 10800-10900-11000). This sequence is cross listed with HIST 15100-15200-15300. Beyond the second-year language requirement, students are required to take Issues in East Asian Civilizations (EALC 27105). A further nine courses related to East Asia are required, three of which may be either an additional year of the East Asian language to meet the language requirement for the major or a year of a second East Asian language (examination credit may not be used for either of these two language options). A maximum of six quarters of language may be counted toward the major. A maximum of six approved courses taken while studying abroad may be counted toward program requirements. Before declaring their major in EALC, students must meet with the director of undergraduate studies (ideally before the end of their second year) to discuss their areas of interest.

Summary of Requirements

Major 3 courses in a second-year East Asian language*

1 Issues in East Asian Civilizations (EALC 27105)

9 courses related to East Asia (three of which may be a further year of an East Asian language or a year

__ of a second East Asian language**)

* Credit may be granted by examination.

** Credit may not be granted by examination but may be earned by

courses taken while studying abroad.

Bachelor's Thesis and Honors. Any student who has maintained an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher is eligible to be considered for honors. Students who do not wish to be considered for honors are not required to submit a bachelor's thesis for graduation. However, all students are eligible to write a bachelor's thesis upon submitting an acceptable proposal to the department. Students typically choose an adviser for their B.A. project in Spring Quarter of their third year. The project must be approved by both the adviser and the director of undergraduate studies early in the student's fourth year, typically by third week of Autumn Quarter. Interested students should consult the director of undergraduate studies for details concerning the proposal.

Students may not use the optional B.A. paper in this major to meet the B.A. paper or project requirement in another major. Students who wish to discuss an exception to this policy should consult the director of undergraduate studies before the end of their third year. Consent to use a single paper or project requires the approval of both program chairs on a form available from the College adviser. Honors students are required to enroll in at least two quarters of the Senior Thesis Tutorial (EALC 29500, 29600, 29700), but only one course may be counted toward the major. The B.A. paper may draw on material from other classes in the major; however, to receive credit for the Senior Thesis Tutorial and to be considered for honors, the student must write a paper that represents significant additional work. The B.A. paper is read by two members of the department and, if judged to be of A quality, the student is recommended for graduation with honors. Length and scope of the project should be agreed upon in consultation with the adviser. Use of original language material is desirable but not required.

Grading. Students must receive quality grades in all courses taken to meet requirements in the major.

Faculty

G. Alitto, S. Burns, F.-P. Cai, K.-H. Choi, P. Duara, N. Field, G. Golley, D. Harper, Y. He,
M. Kawai, J. Ketelaar, J.-H. Lee, H. Lory, M. Miyachi, H. Noto, M. Raine, E. Shaughnessy,
L. Skosey, Y. Wang, H. Wu, J. Yang, J. Zeitlin

Courses

The courses listed below are open to students in the College, regardless of level, subject to the consent of the instructor where indicated. East Asian linguistic knowledge is not required for nonlanguage courses unless indicated. Transfer students who wish to enroll in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean language courses, or who wish to validate credit for language courses taken elsewhere, must take the placement examination offered during Orientation in late September. Over the summer, information that describes these tests is sent to all incoming students, and students may also consult Lewis Fortner (HM 213, 702-4858).

East Asian Languages and Civilizations (ealc)

Interregional

10800-10900-11000. Introduction to the Civilizations of East Asia I, II, III. (=HIST 15100-15200-15300, SOSC 23500-23600-23700) May be taken in sequence or individually. This sequence meets the civilization studies requirement in general education. This is a three-quarter sequence on the civilizations of China, Japan, and Korea, with emphasis on major transformation in these cultures and societies from the Middle Ages to the present. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

24702/34702. Globalization and Asia. (=HIST 24702/34702) By examining aspects of the histories of Japan and other Asian countries, this course investigates the common features and problems of globalization. We also discuss the specifics of each crucial historical phase (i.e., before and after World War I, after the 1970s, and after 1991). K. Endo. Autumn.

27105. Issues in East Asian Civilizations. Required of EALC majors. This year the theme is War and Disaster in East Asia. In this seminar, we examine the ways in which the civilizations of East Asia have confronted (i.e., expressed and interpreted) war and disaster. We look at historical, religious, literary, and visual approaches, ranging from the ancient to the contemporary. The course draws on the expertise of EALC faculty. Students work on an individual research project, which they may subsequently develop into a much more substantial B.A. paper. N. Field. Winter.

29405/39405. Marxism in Asia. (=HIST 29405/39405) This course explores the historical significances of Marxism in China, Korea, Japan, and other Asian countries from the early twentieth century to the present. K. Endo. Autumn.

29500-29600-29700. Senior Thesis Tutorial I, II, III. PQ: Consent of EALC Director of Undergraduate Studies. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. One quarter of this sequence may be counted for credit in the major. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

China

16100. Art of Asia: China. (=ARTH 16100) For students not majoring in art history, this course meets the general education requirement in the dramatic, musical, and visual arts. This course is an introduction to the arts of China focusing on the bronze vessels of the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the Chinese appropriation of the Buddha image, and the evolution of landscape and figure painting traditions. We consider objects in contexts (from the archaeological sites from which they were unearthed to the material culture that surrounded them) to reconstruct the functions and the meanings of objects, and to better understand Chinese culture through the objects it produced. H. Wu. Winter.

22305. Archaeology of Early China. This course provides a survey of Chinese archaeology of the last twenty years, particularly as it pertains to the period from c. 1500 B.C. to the turn of the common era (i.e., the Xia, Shang, Zhou, Qin, and Han dynasties). The discoveries of this period, generally deriving from its mortuary cult, include both artifacts and texts; equal attention is paid to both of these types. Texts in English. E. Shaughnessy. Spring.

24300/34300. Assassins, Outlaws, and Swordswomen: The Martial Arts Tradition in Chinese Literature and Film. The martial-arts novel is probably the most popular genre of fiction for today's Chinese-reading public; through the kung-fu/action film industry, this tradition has now been disseminated across the world and has become part of global culture. This course examines the evolution of the martial arts code across a wide range of genres and historical periods. Our objects of study include biographies from the early histories, classical tales, novels, Peking opera, and film. We consider issues such as the representation of violence, the gendering of power, the effect of changes in technology and media, and the relationship between tradition and modernity. Texts available in English, but it is hoped that a language across the curriculum section will be offered to enable qualified students to read some materials in Chinese. J. Zeitlin. Spring.

25105/35105. Feminine Space in Chinese Art. (=ARTH 29400/39400) "Feminine space" denotes an architectural or pictorial space that is perceived, imagined, and represented as a woman. Unlike an isolated female portrait or an individual female symbol, a feminine space is a spatial entity: an artificial world composed of landscape, vegetation, architecture, atmosphere, climate, color, fragrance, light, and sound, as well as selected human occupants and their activities. This course traces the construction of this space in traditional Chinese art (from the second to the eighteenth centuries) and the social/political implications of this constructive process. H. Wu. Winter.

25305/35305. Dream of the Red Chamber and the Culture of Late Imperial China. While closely reading the famous eighteenth-century novel Dream of the Red Chamber (Honglou meng), this course also examines a wide variety of literary and cultural genres in late imperial China. A range of texts, images, and issues that form the historical, intellectual, artistic, and social context of the novel allows us to gain a deeper appreciation both of the novel itself and of the culture of late imperial China. Topics include gender, desire, relations between text and commentary, and the world of theater and performance, as well as dimensions of material culture and theories of medicine and illness. Texts available in English but, readings in the original Chinese are offered to qualified students and are incorporated into class when appropriate. Y. He. Autumn.

25800. History of Modern China I. (=HIST 24300) This lecture course presents the main intellectual, political, economic, and social trends in modern China. The course covers the ideological and organization structures, as well as the social movements that define a process variously described in Western literature as modernization, reform, and revolution, or as political development. We emphasize institutional and intellectual developments during this period, especially in the twentieth century. Some attention is paid to historiographic analysis and criticism. Readings, which are in the secondary literature, are in English. G. Alitto. Winter.

26305/36305. The Science of the Body in Traditional China. This course examines ideas and practices related to the human body in three main areas: traditional Chinese medicine, Daoist religion, and popular culture. Topics include physiological theories, conceptions of health and illness, longevity, meditation and ecstatic states, erotic experience, and body divination. D. Harper. Spring.

36500. The Shijing, Classic of Poetry. PQ: CHIN 21000 or equivalent. This reading course is designed to introduce the major poetic styles included in this earliest anthology of Chinese poetry. In addition to reading a wide selection of poems from the anthology, we also consider some of the major Western interpretations of the text and its place in the development of the Chinese literary tradition. E. Shaughnessy. Autumn.

Japan

14401. Japan, War, Memory. (=HIST 14401) The course examines the legacy of the "Greater East Asia War" (or World War II, as it was known in the United States) for Japanese society and culture from the immediate postwar period to the present. Topics include war monuments and ceremonies of remembrance, the struggles in academia and popular culture to explain the war and its meaning, the impact of the war and Japanese relations with China and Korea, and the so-called "textbook controversy" over how to teach about the war in Japanese schools. S. Burns. Spring.

23705/33705. Literature and the Environment in Twentieth-Century Japan. Reading knowledge of Japanese not required. Open to both graduates and undergraduates. The misleading image of Japan as a "nature loving" culture, which held sway for many decades of the twentieth century, has since been replaced with an equally misguided image of Japan as one of the top environmental villains of the industrialized world. In fact, Japan has been both the locus of some of the world's most notorious environmental disasters and also the site of some of the twentieth century's most original thinkers and visionaries in the field of ecology. This course addresses the specificity of this history through an examination of literary, scientific, historical, and theoretical texts. G. Golley. Spring.

23905. Arts of the Tea Ceremony. (=ARTH 23905) PQ: Any 10000-level ARTH or COVA course, or consent of instructor. This course examines the key development of this greatly influential ceremony over time, from the introduction of tea to Japan and through its development through key figures such as Sen Rikyu, Furuta Oribe, and Kobori Enshu. The texts and the objects of the tea ceremony are examined, and we view actual tea-related objects in local collections. Topics include the political uses of the tea ceremony, the spread of competing forms of orthodoxy, the influence on the pictorial arts, the iemoto patronage system, the incorporation of foreign art objects into the ceremony, and present uses of the tea ceremony. H. Thomsen. Winter.

24703/34703. Early Modern Japan. (=HIST 24703/34703) This course focuses on the history of Japan's early modern period (1600 to 1868), also known as the Edo or Tokugawa period. Topics include the nature of the early modern polity, village and urban life, popular culture, and intellectual developments. S. Burns. Winter.

24803/34803. Histories in Japan. (=HIST 24803/34803) J. Ketelaar. Winter.

26700/36700. Feminist Struggles in Japan I. (=GNDR 22801) Knowledge of Japanese not required. Is feminism dead in Japan, as so many have wished or declared? Or, as with so many instances of sustained and courageous protest, are we simply ignorant of the endeavors pursued by women (and men) around the country? In this course, we examine recent and continuing examples of feminist activism in Japan, addressing issues ranging from reproduction to labor to sexuality to constitutional rights. We use film, fiction, artwork, and other documents (including Web sources) generated by the movements. Our focus extends outward from contemporary Japan both historically and geographically. This course is primarily for undergraduates, but graduate students are also welcome to take the course; they will be expected to produce research incorporating materials from their specialization in East Asia or other regions. N. Field, T. Yamaguchi. Winter.

27605. Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Beyond. Knowledge of Japanese not required. Open only to undergraduates. In this course, we consider the history of Hiroshima and Nagasaki through literature, film, photo essays, and nonfiction writing. We grapple with the shifting understanding of the bomb and continued nuclear testing both within and without Japan during the Cold War and beyond. We also study what many consider the current and ongoing form of nuclear war in the deployment of depleted uranium. N. Field. Spring.

29005/39005. Japanese Handscroll Paintings. (=ARTH 29005/39005) This course is a survey of Japanese handscroll paintings (emakimono or emaki) depicting war scenes, visions of hell, imperial ceremonies, illicit seductions, temple legends, ghost stories, and biographies of famous monks. The handscrolls range from early Buddhist works (e.g., Illustrated Sutra of Cause and Effect) to well-known works from the Heian period and to later medieval and early modern examples (e.g., twentieth-century variations and relations to popular genres such as anime). Incorporating close examination of the objects, we discuss issues such as religious and secular patronage, functions, cross-cultural influences, word-and-text relationships, treatment of space and time, and political satire. Storage visits to museums required. H. Thomsen. Spring.

36800. Feminist Struggles in Japan II. PQ: Reading knowledge of Japanese and consent of instructor. This course is designed primarily for graduate students to extend and deepen the work they began in Part I of this sequence. Students may elect to continue with a contemporary focus, concentrate on historical materials, or pursue a genealogy. In any case, they should choose a body of primary materials for study, including discussion of effective interpretive approaches. N. Field, T. Yamaguchi. Spring.

Korea

22600. Modern Korean Writings. Knowledge of Korean not required. Autumn.

25605/35605. Writings from Traditional Korea. PQ: Advanced knowledge of Korean and consent of instructor. Winter.

26505/36505. "New Literature": From Traditional to Modern. PQ: Advanced knowledge of Korean and consent of instructor. Winter.

Language Courses

Chinese (chin)

10100-10200-10300. Elementary Modern Chinese I, II, III. Must be taken for a quality grade. No auditors permitted. Two sections. This three-quarter sequence introduces the fundamentals of modern Chinese. By the end of Spring Quarter, students should have a basic knowledge of Chinese grammar and vocabulary. Listening, speaking, reading, and writing are equally emphasized. Accurate pronunciation is also stressed. In Spring Quarter, students are required to complete a video project that will be entered in the competition for the Chinese Video Project Award. The class meets for five one-hour periods each week. A drill session with the T.A. is one hour a week in addition to scheduled class time. F.-P. Cai. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

11100-11200-11300. First-Year Chinese for Bilingual Speakers I, II, III. This three-quarter series is designed for bilingual speakers of Chinese. The course objectives include teaching students standard pronunciation and basic skills in reading and writing, while broadening their communication skills for a wider range of contexts and functions. The class meets for three one-hour sessions each week. Students unsure of whether they should register for the course are strongly encouraged to contact the instructor. J. Yang. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

20100-20200-20300. Intermediate Modern Chinese I, II, III. PQ: CHIN 10300 or placement. Must be taken for a quality grade. No auditors permitted. Two sections. This sequence aims to enhance students' reading, listening, speaking, and writing skills by dealing with topics at an intermediate linguistic level. In addition to mastering the content of the textbook, students are required to complete two language projects each quarter. Chinese computing skills are also taught. Class meets for five one-hour sessions each week. Y. Wang. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

20800-20900-21000. Elementary Literary Chinese I, II, III. PQ: CHIN 20300 or consent of instructor. Must be taken for a quality grade. This course introduces students to the basic grammar of the written Chinese language from the time of the Confucian Analects to the literary movements at the beginning of the twentieth century. Students read original texts of various genres including philosophy, memorials, poetry, and historical narratives, and commentary. L. Skosey, Autumn, Winter; D. Harper, Spring.

30100-30200-30300. Advanced Modern Chinese I, II, III. PQ: CHIN 20300 or placement. Open to both graduates and undergraduates. The goal of this sequence is to help students develop advanced proficiency in reading, listening, speaking, and writing. This sequence emphasizes more advanced grammatical structures. We begin with discussion in Chinese on topics relevant to modern China and then shift to authentic Chinese texts in an effort to better prepare students to deal with original Chinese source materials. Discussion in Chinese required. The class meets for five one-hour periods a week. J. Yang. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

41100-41200-41300. Fourth-Year Modern Chinese I, II, III. PQ: CHIN 30300 or placement. Open to both graduates and undergraduates. This sequence introduces a range of influential literary works and scholarly essays on Chinese cultural and social issues from the 1920s to the 1990s. Students not only expand their vocabulary and knowledge of grammatical structures but also learn sophisticated speaking and writing skills through intensive readings and discussions. The class meets for three one-hour periods a week. Y. Wang. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

Japanese (japn)

10100-10200-10300. Elementary Modern Japanese I, II, III. Must be taken for a quality grade. No auditors permitted. This is the first year of a three-year program designed to provide students with a thorough grounding in modern Japanese. Grammar, idiomatic expressions, and vocabulary are learned through oral work, reading, and writing in and out of class. Daily practice in speaking, listening, reading, and writing is crucial. Students should plan to continue their language study through at least the second-year level to make their skills practical. The class meets for five 50-minute periods a week. M. Miyachi, H. Lory, M. Kawai. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

20100-20200-20300. Intermediate Modern Japanese I, II, III. PQ: JAPN 10300 or equivalent, or consent of instructor. Must be taken for a quality grade. No auditors permitted. The emphasis on spoken language in the first half of the course gradually shifts toward reading and writing in the latter half. Classes conducted mostly in Japanese. The class meets for five 50-minute periods a week. M. Kawai, Autumn; M. Miyachi, Autumn, Winter, Spring.

21200-21300. Intermediate Modern Japanese through "Japanimation" I, II. PQ: JAPN 20100 or consent of instructor. This course focuses on learning spoken Japanese that is aimed at native speakers. Our goals are to get students accustomed to that sort of authentic Japanese and to enable them to speak with high fluency. To keep the balance, writing and reading materials are provided. Students are encouraged to watch videos and practice their speaking. M. Kawai. Winter, Spring.

30100-30200-30300. Advanced Modern Japanese I, II, III. PQ: JAPN 20300 or equivalent, or consent of instructor. Must be taken for a quality grade. The third year marks the end of the basic modern language study. The purpose of the course is to help students learn to understand authentic written and spoken materials with reasonable ease. The texts are all authentic materials with some study aids. Classes conducted in Japanese. The class meets for three 80-minute periods a week. H. Noto. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

30800-30900-31000. Reading Scholarly Japanese I, II, III. PQ: JAPN 20300 or equivalent, or consent of instructor. This course focuses on the reading of scholarly Japanese materials with the goal of enabling students to do independent research in Japanese after the course's completion. The materials are selected from a wide range of disciplines covering the past three centuries. H. Noto. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

40500-40600-40700. Fourth-Year Modern Japanese I, II, III. PQ: JAPN 30300 or equivalent. Open to both undergraduates and graduates. This course is designed to improve Japanese reading, speaking, writing, and listening ability to the advanced high level as measured by the ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) Proficiency Guidelines. Weekly assignments require students to tackle modern Japanese texts of varying length and difficulty. Organized around a range of thought-provoking themes (from brain death and organ transplants to Japanese values on work and religion), reading assignments include academic theses in psychology and anthropology, literary texts, and popular journalism. After each reading, students are encouraged to discuss the topic in class. Videos/DVDs are used to improve listening comprehension skills. There are also writing assignments. H. Lory. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

Korean (kore)

10100-10200-10300. Introduction to the Korean Language I, II, III. PQ: Consent of instructor. Must be taken for a quality grade. This introductory course is designed to provide beginners with a solid foundation in modern Korean focusing on the balanced development of the four basic language skills of speaking, listening comprehension, reading, and writing. Along with basic conversational and grammatical patterns, the course introduces students to Korean culture through various channels, including Korean movies and music, as well as a number of other cultural activities. J.-H. Lee. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

20100-20200-20300. Intermediate Korean I, II, III. PQ: KORE 10300 or equivalent, or consent of instructor. Must be taken for a quality grade. As a continuation of KORE 10100-10200-10300, this course is designed to help students increase their communication skills (both oral and written) in the Korean language. Through an integrated framework of listening, speaking, reading, and writing, this course aims to increase fluency and accuracy in Korean. Videotapes and additional reading materials are used in a supplementary fashion and approximately one hundred Chinese characters are introduced for the achievement of basic literacy. Classes conducted mostly in Korean. The class meets for five 50-minute periods a week. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

30100-30200-30300. Advanced Korean I, II, III. PQ: KORE 20300 or equivalent, or consent of instructor. Must be taken for a quality grade. This course introduces readings of a wide selection of written styles (e.g., journalistic pieces, college-level textbooks, literary prose). The class focuses on the exercises of reading comprehension and discussions on various topics/issues related to contemporary Korea. Some audio and videotapes (e.g., televised news programs, movies, dramas) are used to improve the students' capacity in advanced Korean. Classes are conducted in Korean. The class meets for two 80-minute periods a week. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

40100-40200-40300. Readings in Korean Culture, Politics, and Society I, II, III. PQ: KORE 30300 or equivalent, or consent of instructor. The aim of this course is to allow advanced students to improve their comprehension of readings selected from various sources (e.g., newspapers, contemporary journal articles, literary works) that cover topics of Korean culture, politics, and society. These reading materials serve as the foundation for classroom activities and outside projects, which bring both conversation skills and writing ability to a more advanced level. J.-H. Lee. Autumn, Winter, Spring.