Asian Studies

This is a course in an all-round way to review Chinese history from ancient times to the Qing Dynasty. The students will know the outline of ancient Chinese history and be interested in it. 

This course examines Hong Kong’s culture and its people from an anthropological perspective. Through close readings of ethnographies, viewing of videos, and fieldtrips, the class explores the interaction of different cultural flows in various social systems, and learns about the linkage between the past and the present, the local and the global, and the Chinese and the rest. 

The course examines the representation of modern China in both literature and film from the cultural renaissance of the 1910s and 1920s, through the upheavals of the Sino-Japanese War. Topics covered include the emancipation of women, youth and age, sex and love, literature and dissent, literature and power. The course stresses the close ties that have existed between the worlds of literary and cinematic creativity throughout this period. The course develops insights into one of the world's major civilizations in its modern transformations; develops an understanding of 20th China through two of its chief modes of expression; and develops the communicative skills of writing and discussion.

The ‘Silk Roads’ are often considered to be the world’s greatest network of throughways that linked China to the Mediterranean world over land and sea. The historical development of Chinese culture and civilization cannot be scrutinized without a reflective understanding of the Chinese Empire’s dynamic interactions with the nomadic peoples and the Western world that were situated along the Silk Road. This course examines the geopolitical and cultural landscapes of Eurasia; the migration of peoples; as well as the spread of goods, religions, ideas, technologies, art and diseases between the East and the West. It explores the construction of an early form of globalization, and how it has contributed to the formation and dissolution of people’s ethnic, religious, linguistic and cultural identities. This course ends by examining Chinese government’s grand initiative 'One Belt One Road', and inquiring about the way in which the geopolitics of the Silk Road region in the past still exerts tangible and long-lasting impact on the world today.

This seminar course explores the impacts of globalization, with a focus on China. The course will include in-class readings, discussions, and mini-projects. We will together read through the recent economics literature on a set of topics related to the open-up of China in the mid-19th century, impacts of free trade agreements, imports and exports, foreign investment, migration, human capital accumulation, income inequality, etc. 

This course examines China’s natural environment; its institutional, legislative and administrative frameworks in environment protection and nature conservation; and discusses the government’s strategies for environmental protection and sustainable development.

This course aims to provide students with a basic understanding of the role of folk culture in cultural studies, the history, current state, and future development of folklore in the international humanities, the characteristics, functions, and modern significance of Chinese folk culture, as well as the origins, development, and spiritual essence of key folk culture events. Through this course, students will develop a deeper understanding of Chinese wisdom, national characteristics, and cultural traits, expanding their knowledge base and enhancing their ability to analyze and judge social phenomena from multiple perspectives.

The first part of the course helps students to understand how Korea and Japan, existing in a region where politics and culture revolved around the vicissitudes of Chinese power, built quite unique early modern political systems that ensured centuries of peace and stability. The damage caused by 19th century European and American expansion is explored through political, economic, social, and cultural lenses. Analyzing fascism, democratization, nationalism, and communism, including the era of 'total war' (1931-1945), helps students to understand how early 20th century East Asia was part of global trends at a time when populism and mass movements reshaped the old world order. The course covers the Cold War "peace," which included the Korean War and massive social protest in Japan, to understand how much American and Soviet interests influenced the region. Finally, only through a close examination of the normalization of international relations, particularly with China, and dramatic changes in the Japanese and Korean economies at the end of the last century, can we come to understand how East Asia became one of the centers of global production, security crises, and cultural output.

This course establishes a basic understanding and experience of Chu Bamboo Calligraphy. Since the Chu silk scrolls were unearthed from Changsha Tsukuro in 1942, and the Japanese calligrapher Imai Reisetsu devoted himself to it, Chu bamboo slips of the Warring States Period have been unearthed one after another at Baoshan, Guodian, Shangbo, and Tsinghua. The study of Chu bamboo slips has flourished, starting from the history of calligraphy. From the perspective of calligraphy, its glyphs are novel, its ink marks are bright, and its research and copying are unprecedented. It is full of a free and casual atmosphere, and it has finally become an independent and important new field in calligraphy learning and research.