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Spring 2025 Featured Courses

ARAB/LING 3251 (new course!)

ARAB/LING 3251 Language in Arab Society
TTh 3:30pm-4:45pm
Mona Attwa

This course introduces the multilingual situation of Arab societies and presents fundamental concepts in sociolinguistics. Students study the major theories and frameworks of language variation and change and the influence of variables such as gender, social class, religion, and colonization on language choice. Students will understand the relationship between language, identity and ideology revealing power dynamics in Arab communities. The course is taught in English and no prior knowledge of Arabic language is required

CHIN 2441

CHIN 2441: Film and the Dynamics of Chinese Culture
TTh 2pm-3:15pm
Evelyn Shih

This course introduces a broad range of Chinese cinema, from early film and the advent of sound cinema to contemporary film of the 21st century. We might ask two related questions:听 First, how does cinema help us to understand the arrival of modernity in the context of the Chinese speaking world? And second, how did audiences at the time of these films鈥 release experience these films as media, as art, or as a living document of collective memory in the making?

The early part of the course focuses on the history of film as new media in the early 20th century, and how it related to other theatrical and visual media at the time. Having established some of the basics of film terminology based on this study, we will move on to a unit on gender, highlighting the ways in which the so-called 鈥淣ew Woman鈥 signified a modern society. Since this second unit is mostly situated in the mid-20th century, we will also use this opportunity to discuss the different cinemas emerging out of the People鈥檚 Republic of China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. This tripartite framework carries through to the next unit on New Waves, which features the master directors of the millennial period (80s-early 2000s) contemplating the turbulent history of the past century. Finally, we will end the semester with two animated features that give us an alternate view of cinematic practice as the writing of personal history.

CHIN/JPNS 3200

CHIN/JPNS 3200 Adv Wrtg Topics on Chinese & Japanese Literature and Civilization
Section 001: TTh 9:30am-10:45am
Section 002: TTh 11am-12:15pm
Evelyn Shih

The main aim of this course is to introduce to students the idea that writing is a process and a skill. It requires practice and repetition. In this course, we will introduce some basic exercises for academic writing in the fields of Japanese and Chinese literature and culture. This term, the writing course will cover comics, photography, and film in addition to classic literary genres such as poetry, essays, and fiction. We will cover basic approaches/methods of reading, aspects of argumentation, and conventions of formatting and citation. This will be done mostly through the act of writing as well as in-class discussion.

CHIN 3321

CHIN 3321 Political Thought in Ancient China
T 3:30pm-6pm
Matthias Richter

Focuses on the political, religious, philosophical and literary aspects of ancient Chinese civilization (1500 B.C.-A.D. 200). Special attention is paid to foundational works that influenced later developments in Chinese culture. All readings are in English and taught in English. Recommended prerequisite: or .

(Optional: For students with basic reading skills in Chinese, there is an option to add a one credit ASIA 4001 class. Students will study texts and materials in Chinese in the class. Students will need to register separately in ASIA 4001-016. Please reach out to the instructor to be registered in the class)

CHIN 4042

CHIN 4042 Readings in Classical Chinese
MWF 11:15am-12:05pm
Antje Richter

Introduces a wide spectrum of texts from pre-modern China: philosophical, historical, ghost stories, and poems (including the Ballad of Mulan). We will read these texts closely, focusing on their linguistic and literary features and on their cultural background.

HIND 1011

HIND 1011 Introduction to South Asian Civilizations
MWF 1:25pm-2:15pm
Nidhi Arya

Survey of traditional and modern world views and experiences of people on the Indian subcontinent through literature and film, beginning with the Ramayana and including medieval tales, modern novels, and feature films. Taught in English.

JPNS 4120

JPNS 4120 Advanced Readings in Modern Japanese 2
MWF 11:15am-12:05pm
Mariko Yoshimura

Continuation of . Texts and selections vary from year to year.

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