Global Arc

The history of Japan from the origins of the Japanese people to the establishment of Tokugawa rule in 1600, using the epic war tale The Tale of the Heike as a lens. Particular emphasis will be placed on institutional and cultural history. One three-hour seminar.

The history of Japan during the period of Samurai rule. Distinctive features of Tokugawa society and culture from the foundation of the regime in 1600 to its decline in the 19th century, the opening of Japan to Western contact, the course of economic development, and the consolidation of the Meiji State. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

This course centers on a set on cinematic genres-melodrama, horror, and action-that have proven to be particularly suitable to global adaptation and appropriation. Their mobility may stem from the physical responses (tears, fright, violence) they represent or elicit. We will examine films from Hollywood, European, and East Asian cinemas to interrogate the question of cultural translatability, while at the same time reconsidering the social and cultural effects of genre itself. One of the central questions of our investigations will be: How do cinematic forms and their translation inform the discourses of nation and cultural difference?

The seminar explores the interplay of religious and aesthetic -- especially poetic -- practice in ancient China, and how the performance of texts in religious contexts contributed to the formation of Chinese cultural memory and identity from 1200 BCE through 200 CE. Combining anthropological, art historical, and literary analysis, the discussion centers on the performative nature and functions of texts and artifacts (including texts as material artifacts) in their social and religious spaces. Emphasis on close analysis of original texts (in English translation) and visuals.

This course takes a historically and formally rigorous approach to East Asian films that have breached the global visual field. We look at films from a variety of genres and historical moments, ranging from Akira Kurosawa's 1950 Rashomon to Bong Joon-ho's 2007 The Host, and investigate the conditions for their success - critical, commercial, or otherwise. Along the way, we will consider problems of nationalism, race, and globalization, and at the same time think seriously about the function of cinema in society, politics, and culture.

Close reading of classical Chinese poetry through transliteration, word-to-word explication, notes on allusions and background, and literal translation. Discussion of Chinese theories of poetry and the comparison between Chinese and Western poetic traditions. Knowledge of the Chinese language is not required or expected. One three-hour seminar.

Analysis through selected literary and cinematic works of authors' ideas, hopes, and worries about the fate of modern China. Consideration of literary and cinematic technique as well as the larger historical context. Readings in English.

An introduction to major literary works in the early modern period when Japanese literature was attempting to re-establish itself through Western influences. Readings in English translation include works by Ogai, Soseki, Ichiyo, Toson, and Shiga. Topics include the evolution of modern Japanese fiction vis-a-vis the modernization of Japan, representations of self, individualism, and nationalism.

A critical survey of important literary, critical, and popular texts in postwar Japan. Readings and discussion of translated texts by writers and thinkers such as Kawabata, Oe, Maruyama, and Abe as well as by lesser-known women writers, avant-garde poets, and comic writers. Topics include the impact of war and urbanization, existentialism, ethnicity, postmodernism, and feminism. One three-hour seminar.

North Korea is the subject of an array of often contradictory political and aesthetic representations, each of which make claims to truth. This course sets out to scrutinize these very real and productive imaginaries. Primary engagements will include official speeches and documents, artistic productions and defector testimonies from North Korea, as well as historical research, policy analysis, journalism, and non-state activities from outside the nation's borders. The task of understanding this most troubled of states will be challenged by visits from journalists, former intelligence or policy consultants, defectors, and religious groups.