Asian Studies

This course provides an introductory overview of Korean history up until the early 1800s, with a special focus on the Chosŏn era and its foreign relations. The course explores Korea’s ancient history, cultural developments, and interactions with neighboring countries, offering insights into the foundation of Korea’s social and cultural identity. Class activities include visits to museums or historical sites in Korea, providing opportunities to deepen understanding of Korean history and culture. 

This special topics, seminar-style course selects one or more topics related to West Asian civilization and language and consists of in-depth coverage, analysis, and discussion of issues related to the topic. The topic of this course may change each time it is offered. For example, the Spring 2025 semester topic was Islam and Inequality: A Historical Perspective, focusing on socioeconomic inequality.  

This course introduces an overview of the cultural tradition of East Asia by examining classical Chinese narratives translated into English. It explores how these narratives depict the essence of humanity and the world, discussing their influence on modern East Asian culture. Through the course, students identify the cultural characteristics inherent in East Asian civilization and develop a critical understanding of its contemporary discourses. 

Student will be able to: 1. Understand the cultural concepts that underlie the individual, the family, and the state in East Asia 2. Learn the historical development of China, Japan, and Korea and their relationships with each other 3. Practice reading East Asian texts in their own literary tradition and relating them to cultural contexts 

This course compares communication phenomena of East Asian societies using student-led international discussions, group studies, and special lectures. Topics include understanding of Chinese, Japanese and Korean media, as well as comparing western and eastern media characteristics. 

This course challenges the limitations of border-based thinking about and explores diverse aspects of (East) Asian society, particularly Korea, Japan, China, and beyond, through the layers of histories, networks, and complex sociotechnical entanglements. Drawing from the methods and theories in Communication and Media Studies, Cultural Studies, Asian/Global Studies, and Science and Technology Studies (STS), the course takes a critical, historically informed, and locally grounded approach to examine both the material and immaterial layers constituting the location in question. Through this course, students reflect on their experiences and perceptions of Asia, practice synthesizing theory with practice, and produce contextualized knowledge about Asia.    

This course provides a detailed, vivid introduction to the origin and distinctive artistic features of Chinese traditional culture, namely, the culture of RITES and MUSIC. Arranged in fifteen lectures, the course will first trace the culture foundation imbedded in archeological artifacts (bronzeware, musical instruments, etc.) as well as in Confucian canons. The course will then dive into three perfections of traditional Chinese arts (calligraphy, painting, and poetry) to analyze those “suggestive but not articulate” features in specific artworks. It will also explain the philosophical ideas, aesthetic interests and humanistic values of Chinese culture.

This course covers the major events that have shaped the US-China relationship today (ping-pong diplomacy, the US-China trade dispute, Tiananmen Square, and COVID-19) and how they have affected the US-China relationship. The course examines events from an objective perspective based on data. Students explore the idea and definition of data and examine data analysis methodologies and how to apply them.  

Based on the past and current relationship between the two countries, the course ultimately discusses the future relationship between the two countries and their impact on the globe.