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

The list below do not comprise of all the courses but include the courses most frequently taught.

World Cultures: The Chinese and Japanese Traditions
V55.0506 4 points.
Essential aspects of Asian culture - Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and Shintoism - studied through careful reading of major works of philosophy and literature. A roughly equal division between Chinese and Japanese works is meant to give a basic understanding of the broad similaries and the less obvious, but all-important, differences among the cultures of Confucian Asia. One reading is a Vietnamese adaptation of a Chinese legend. The last two readings, modern novellas from Japan and China, show the reaction of the traditional cultures to the Western invasions.

World Cultures: China
V55.0512 4 points.
Fundamental concepts and practices of Chinese society and culture, examined using primary sources in translation whenever possible. By studying the social, political, religious, ideological, ritual, economic and cultural life of the Chinese, students gain a sense of the core values and issues of Chinese civilization and how these have affected and continue to have an impact on teh way people think and live.

World Cultures: Japan - A Cultural History
V33.0084 4 points.
A consideration of the prehistory to Japan’s modernist transformation through an analysis of key literary, religious, and artistic texts. Concentrates on the historical experiences that produced elements of a national culture before there was a nation and on the consciousness of being Japanese before there was a "Japan." Examines how key cultural elements were used to make a modern nation-state.

© 2003 NYU Department of East Asian Studies