Transnational Chinese
Cinemas:
Fantastic Spectacles
039:173/048:174
39:173
This course will explore the development, evolution, and significance
of popular genres in postwar Chinese‐language cinemas, with an
emphasis on the rela5onship to gender and the fantastic. Issues to
be discussed include generic descrip5on and distinction; genre and
intermediality; modes of production; identification of iconography,
conventions, themes, and...Detail
Topics in Asian Studies:
Contemporary East Asian
Literature and Culture
039:198
The dynamism of the East Asian cultural scene of the past two decades, and the striking aesthe:c similari:es and shared
concerns found in the recent ar:s:c works of different East Asian countries, raises the ques:on of how Asia defines and
represents itself in the context of globaliza:on. Is there a dis:nct East Asian iden:ty that is formed outside of the usual
East‐West binary system? How do ideas circulate throughout East Asia and beyond? How are they exchanged and
transformed, and how do they evolve as they travel from one region to another?...Detail
Languages of Asia in Cultural and Historical Perspective
039:034, 3 CR TTH, 2:30-3:45
This introductory course presents an overview of the languages of roughly a third of the earth’s inhabitants, accompanied by fascinating information on geography, history, and culture. Focusing on the major Asian languages offered at UI (and an excellent introduction for students considering learning one of them), it is team-taught by instructors specializing in Chinese, Sanskrit, Japanese, Korean, and Hindi/Urdu. Students learn something of the worldview of each language’s historical and contemporary users, as well as pertinent information on language evolution, human migration, and the impact of gender, politics, and globalization on language use. For each language, students also receive basic training in the writing and sound system and learn some useful conversational phrases.
Requirements: 5 short quizzes; final 5-page research paper.
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