Graduate Social Sciences

ENG-L 107 Oriental World Masterpieces (3 cr.) Literary masterpieces from the Arabic, Persian, Indian, Japanese, Chinese, and Malay cultures.

FINA-A 362 The Art of Japan (3 cr.) P: ENG-W 131, ENG-W 290. A survey of Japanese art from the Jomon to the nineteenth century.

REL-R 153 Religions of Asia (3 cr.) Modes of thinking; views of the world and the sacred; the human predicament and paths to freedom; human ideals and value systems in the religions of India, China, and Japan.

REL-R 354 Buddhism (3 cr.) Historical survey of Buddhism from its origins in India through its diffusion throughout Asia in subsequent centuries. Emphasis on practice (ritual, meditation, and ethics) and social grounding (including individual roles and institutional structures) as well as on doctrinal debates.

Study and analysis of selected historical issues and problems in Asian societies; especially important are their political institutions, economic development, ideological and religious foundations, and social changes.

HIST-G 200 Issues in Asian History (3 cr.) Study and analysis of selected historical issues and problems of importance in Asian societies, such as China and Japan. Topics will vary from semester to semester. May be repeated once for credit.

Focus on China, Japan, and Korea in the twentieth century. Explores the history of each individual country and the experiences shared by all three. Traditional values challenged by modernism, interactions with the West, domestic strife.

HIST-H 208 American-East Asian Relations (3 cr.) Interaction of the United States and East Asia from the founding of the republic to the present. First contacts, growing economic ties, political considerations, U.S. occupation of the Philippines, role of the U.S. military, growing tensions during the 1920s and 1930s, World War II, East Asia during the Cold War, growing interdependency between East and West in modern times.

HIST-G 385 Modern China (3 cr.) From the decline of the last empire to the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, modern China struggled with many issues, such as traditionalism, nationalism, imperialism, republicanism, and communism.

HIST-G 451 The Far East 1 (3 cr.) Social, cultural, political, and economic development from ancient to modern times, including China, Japan, Korea, Indo-China, Burma, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

HIST-G 387 Contemporary China (3 cr.) Focusing on the People’s Republic of China, this course will illustrate the triumphs and failures of the communist regime, investigate the causes, and explain the direction that China is taking. The course will also cover Chinese society in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Survey of select philosophical traditions of India, China, and Japan, including Vedanta, Mahayana Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. Topics include the nature of reality, ethical responsibility, and the role of the “self” in creating ignorance and attaining enlightenment.

PHIL-P 334 Buddhist Philosophy (3 cr.) P: ENG-W 131; 3 credit hours of philosophy. An examination of the basic philosophical concepts of early Buddhism and their subsequent development in India, Japan, and Tibet. Implications of the Buddhist view of reality for knowledge, the self, and ethical responsibility will be explored.

PHIL-P 374 Early Chinese Philosophy (3 cr.) P: ENG-W 131; 3 credits of philosophy. Origins of Chinese philosophical traditions in the classical schools of Confucianism, Taoism, Mohism, and Legalism. Explores contrasting agendas of early Chinese and Western traditions.

POLS-Y 369 Introduction to East Asian Politics (3 cr.) R: POLS-Y 107. This course examines the political diversity in Asia, a region of growing global importance, by exploring governing structures and processes, political culture and ideologies, and the forces shaping them. Case studies may include China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and India.