New York University
	Department of East Asian Studies
	Graduate Courses & Descriptions

The list will expand semester by semester.

First Year Seminar: Introduction to Critical Asian Studies
G33.1001. 4 points.
The course is a team-taught introductory seminar offered to first year graduate students in East Asian Studies. The seminar provides a critical overview of the social, political, intellectual, and institutional history of the field of Area/East Asian Studies. Coordinated by the Director of Graduate Studies, members of the faculty and outside guest speakers will cover areas of their specialty, such as Sinological research, McCarthism and the Cold War, the Sixties, Social Sciences and Area Studies, the rise or Theory, and globalization. Parallel to a historical, chronological account of the evolution of the field, speakers will examine the major research paradigms and influential discourses, from the Fairbank School impact/reaction model to postcolonialism, from philology to critical theory and Cultural Studies.

Historical Epics of China and Japan
G33.1726. Same as V33.0726. 4 points. Roberts.
This course involves in depth study of the major epics of China, Japan, and Vietnam - the historical-military and the social-romantic. The Chinese historical epic Three Kingdoms is read against the Japanese epic Tale of the Heike. Emphasis is placed on the political nature of the dynastic state form, the types of legitimacy and the forms of rebellion, the process of break-down and reintegration of an imperial house, the empire as dynasty and as territory, and the range of characterology. In the second half of the course the Chinese classic Dream of the Red Chamber is read against the Japanese The Tale of Genji. In addition to the above-mentioned topics, attention is given to the role of women and marriage in a governing elite, the modalities of social criticism in a novel of manners. The Vietnamese national classic, Tale of Kieu is used as an introduction to the course because it combines all of the key topics. Finally, we pay particular attention to the ways in which Buddhist, Daoist, and Confucian doctrines function in each work.

Problems in the History of Early Modern China
G33.1919. Waley-Cohen. 4 points.
This advanced reading-intensive course is intended for those who have already taken at least one and preferably two courses in Chinese history and/or those with an interest in world hstory. During the semester we will explore some of the most hotly debated issues concerning China 1500-1900. General topics will include: empire and ethnicity; China and the global economy; intellectual life; gender relations; urbanization; material culture and consumption; civil society and the existence of a public sphere. Requirements including keeping up with reading assignments, regular attendance and active participation in class, and three 5-10 page papers.

The Asiatic Mode of Production: Theory & History
G33.2530. 4 points. Karl.
This course investigates aspects of the historical interpretation of China and Japan in the 19th and 20th centuries, focusing on the genesis and development of one of the most debated and enduring tropes of the historiography of Asia: the Asiatic Mode of Production.

Colonialism & Modernism in East Asia
G33.2570. 4 points. Poole.
This seminar explores the cultural and intellectual history of modernism in East Asia. Particular attention will be paid to the relationship between modernism and various East Asian social formations of colonialism. Concepts such as colonial modernity, semi-colonialism and postcolonialism will be interrogated through intensive reading both of theoretical work on modernism and colonialism and modernist cultural texts. Although a major emphasis will be placed on literary modernism, it will be understood as part of a broader historical phenomenon which encompassed artists, philosophers and other intellectuals. Contemporary essays will be juxtaposed with novels and short stories, and, where possible, other media. The course will also build upon the recent proliferation of research on modernism in East Asia. Where possible, emphasis will be placed on the interconnected nature of modernism in East Asia.

Global Modernity: Politics After Politics
G33.2610. 4 points. Park.
This course engages with streams of thoughts on global modernity. The flourishing study of globalization in recent years has differentiated the contemporary world and the preceding one, conceptualizing the former as late modernity accompanied by a flexible capitalist regime, transnationalism, migration, and displacement and the latter as modernity marked by a Fordist capitalist regime, nationalism, and citizenship as a fundamental right. In rethinking the periodization, the course considers ecominomic logics of global capitalism of these periods. It also examines the shifts (and their premises) in the understanding of capital accumulation, post/democracy, post/nationality, socialist hegemony, human rights, citizenship, and diaspora. It considers the contestation of history and historical change. The discussion of these theoretical and conceptual issues will be combined with readings on historical and contemporary changes in East Asia. A broader goal of this course is to understand variant
paradigms on modernity, democracy, and rights of individuals that have emerged after the dissolution of historically existing socialism and the advancement of cultural studies. In other words, the course seeks to understand the state of the current politics that have come after the putative end of (radical) politics.

Narratives of the Novel in Modern Japan
G33.3101. 4 points. Vincent.
This course examines the rise of the novel (shosetsu) as the preeminent literary genre in modern Japan as a lens through which to read the discourses of Japanese modernity and modernization. We will look both to the novels themselves and to secondary theoretical treatments of the Japanese, European and Chinese novel to see how debates about formal aspects of the novel such as closure, free indirect discourse, characterization, tense, description, and narrative dilation and development run parallel to and sometimes stand in for similar concerns revolving around the nation and the modern. Beginning with an examination of several premodern notions of narrative and the literary including the monagatari (tale), renga (linked verse), and Edo-Period fiction and drama, the course aims to provide students both with a background in the various forms of narrative to be found in premodern Japanese literature and an understanding of the way these forms have been appropriated in a modern context. Finally, through comparisons of the Japanese novel with its Euro-American counterpart, the course aims both to give students a sense of both the universality and particularity of the Japanese experience of modernity.

Cinema and Modernity: Melodramatic Imaginations
G33.3615. 4 points. Yoshimoto.
This seminar examines melodrama as a quintessential film genre and as a mode of imagination specifically articulating modern experiences. Melodrama has been extensively studied and analyzed since the early 1970s because it is an overdetermined genre, the study of which has significant implications for many critical issues in film, media, and cultural studies. Critique of capitalist ideology, feminist criticism, gay studies, revisionist theories of mass culture, and reexamination of the concept of so-called classical Hollywood cinema all privilege melodrama as an excess whose function and value are scrutinized in various ways in relation to dominant critical discourses and paradigms. Unfortunately, a vibrant theoretical inquiry into melodrama has been almost exclusively based on the study of Hollywood even though melodramatic film practices occupy a central position in cinemas of so many other countries. In this seminar, we will focus on Japanese film melodrama as a genre and as a mode of imagination negotiating the Japanese self-identity in the age of modernity leading up to our contemporary times. The seminar’s approach is fundamentally comparative; we will first familiarize ourselves with Hollywood melodrama and the extensive scholarship on this subject, and then closely dissect concrete Japanese films and relevant written texts not only to probe into the specificity of Japanese film melodrama but also to critique and revise the existing melodrama theory and criticism.

UPPER LEVEL LANGUAGE COURSES

Readings in Japanese Humanities and Social Sciences: Academic Prose and Critical Terminology
G33.0280. 4 points
This course is designed to train students to conduct scholarly reading and research in modern Japanese. With varied content, approaches, and organization, the course exposes students to modern literary and expository works, and particularly to academic prose. Texts will be selected to reflect circuits of knowledge and the development of disciplinary characteristics in style. Some emphasis will be paid to the choice of text in order to facilitate familiarization of critical terminology. Particular attention will be given to the role of translation as a means of considering the circulation of academic and intellectual terminology (and concepts) and development of language by which academic discourse is conducted. The course will also introduce students to some of the key reference work and methodology for solving problems of reading and interpretation at advanced level. (Open to graduate and undergraduate students by permission.)

Chinese Philosophy in Chinese
G33.1223. Same as V33.0223. 4 points.
Through selected quotations from the major philosophical texts, students will be introduced to the core issues of Chinese political and social philosophy. Thinkers to be discussed will include Confucius, Mencius, Mozi, Laozi and Han Feizi. Students will be expected to master the basic doctrines of Confucianism, Taoism and Legalism as they were originally formulated in Chinese.

Narrative Texts in Classical Chinese
G33.1224. Same as V33.0224. 4 points.
This course intends to develop the ability of graduate students and upper level undergraduate students to read texts in classical Chinese. Proficiency in classical Chinese is necessary for those students to conduct qualified research in their advanced studies of Chinese. It is a companion course to V33.0223 Chinese Philosophy in Chinese.

Readings in Chinese Culture I
G33.1221. Same as V33.0221. 4 points.
Designed for those students who have completed Advanced Chinese II at the college level but intend to further improve their language skills. It is especially helpful for those students who are interested in ancient Chinese culture or wish to enhance their abilities of reading authentic texts. It is also very beneficial to those students who wish to learn classical Chinese language. The course attempts to integrate language learning with culture study. It will focus on China during the period from ancient times to the 19th century. By reading a large variety of authentic texts, students will examine certain important themes that premeate antient China. The required readings are classics that were written by some most prestigious Chinese scholars and have produced profound impacts on the country. They will be drawn from sources of varied genres, such as sanwen, zhuanji, shi, ci, zaju, and xiaoshuo. The topic of the readings will cover different fields, including philosophy, history, politics, and literature, so as to satisfy the manifold needs and interest of the students.

Readings in Chinese Culture II
G33.1222. Same as V33.0222. 4 points.
Designed for those students who have learned Mandarin Chinese at the college level for three years but intend to further improve their language skills. It is especially helpful for those students who are interested in modern China or wish to enhance their abilities of reading and understanding authentic texts. Although this is the continuation of Readings in Chinese Culture I, students can choose to register for this course without taking the other previously. This course attempts to integrate learning modern Chinese language with studying Chinese culture. It will examine certain most significant issues in China during the period from the 19th century to the present. Students will read a large variety of authentic texts that were published and have exerted widespread impacts on the country during this period. The required readings will be drawn from sources of varied genres, such as essay, speech, fiction, and reportage. The theme of the readings will touch upon different fields, including history, politics, and literature, in order to satisfy the manifold needs of the students.

Literary Korean
G33.1260. Same as V33.0260. 4 points.
Literary Korean is meant to assist advanced students of Korean language as they continue to learn skills in reading and writing. This course will not compete with Advanced Korean I or II as its subject matter will focus on Korean texts of traditional fiction and philosophy.

© 2004 NYU Department of East Asian Studies