This course introduces students to the diversity of Buddhist ideas and practices in Asia. Exploring Buddhism as a living tradition, the course focuses on the impact and interpretation of Buddhism in historical and contemporary cultures. The course develops a background in basic Buddhist philosophy in order to explore its broader cultural impact in literature, art, […]
An introduction to Japanese culture centred around comparisons of major classical, modern and postmodern literary works - including manga comics - as well as their screen adaptations or other related films and anime.Note: This is an approved LA&PS General Education courseCourse credit exclusion: AP/HUMA 2435 9.00 (prior to Fall 2014).PRIOR TO FALL 2009: Course credit […]
This course offers an introduction to the study of Korean culture through a historical survey of literary, social, religious and political trends from ancient times to the present.Note: This is an approved LA&PS General Education courseCourse credit exclusion: AP/HUMA 2420 9.00 (prior to Fall 2014).PRIOR TO FALL 2009: Course credit exclusion: AS/HUMA 2420 9.00.
No single course can adequately address the richness and complexity of the cultures and societies of East Asia. However, this course will introduce students to important practices and concepts from a broadly humanistic perspective and offer a peek into what it might have been like to actually live in East Asia before widespread globalization. In […]
In this course you will use anthropological approaches to increase your understanding of global issues in diverse locales. This course challenges you to engage with other ways of knowing and being, and to rethink your taken-for-granted knowledge and beliefs through the comparative analysis of the human condition. This course will take a problem-based approach to […]
Provides practical instruction in the folk repertoires of Korean ensemble drumming. Students study the technique and rhythmic patterns for various instruments: the jango (hour-glass drum), buk (bass drum), sogo (fan drum) and small gongs. Traditional singing and dancing are included. Open to all majors/non-majors/minors.
This course uses the Chinese body as an entry point into the richness and complexity of daily life as it was lived and experienced in Chinese history. It focuses on two preeminent concerns in Chinese civilizationhealth and foodand on one of the most mysterious, widely condemned, and little understood Chinese bodily practices of footbinding.
Provides practical and repertoire studies in traditional instrumental techniques (shakuhachi, koto etc.) Students concentrate on issues of performance such as tone colour, rhythmic accuracy and nuance and ensemble performance. Open to majors/non-majors.
Provides practical and repertoire studies in traditional Chinese orchestral techniques (yangqin, erhu, dizi,xiao, pipa, etc.). Open to majors/non-majors.
This course examines the modern evolution of Asian countries with special emphasis on imperialism and the rise of nationalism. With distinctive political, cultural, and socio-economic traditions, Asian countries shared the experience of western imperialism's expansionist pressures. Those traditions helped mould the varieties of nationalistic responses to that intrusion, culminating in the independence struggles which, in […]