Chinese & Japanese Course Descriptions

An introduction to elementary Mandarin Chinese. Emphasis on the acquisition of basic language skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing, with discussions to practice pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary. Five class meetings per week.

A continuation of CHJA 101 with further practice in basic language skills. Five class meetings per week.

An introduction to beginning Japanese. Emphasis on the acquisition of basic language skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing, with discussions to practice pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary. Five class meetings per week.

A continuation of CHJA 111 with further practice in basic language skills. Five class meetings per week.

Directed study follows a syllabus set primarily by the instructor to meet the needs or interests of an individual student or small group of students. The main goal of directed study is knowledge or skill acquisition, not research or creative work.

An opportunity for students to apply their Chinese or Japanese language skills in business, government, and the non-profit sector on the regional, national, and international levels. Arranged in collaboration with and supervised by a member of the department. Includes discussion, report, and/or portfolio. Advance consultation and application required.

A course to help students attain minimal proficiency in conversational Chinese and begin to read and write beyond the elementary level. Five class meetings per week.

Intermediate-level Chinese with further practice in conversational fluency and exposure to more difficult levels of reading and writing. Five class meetings per week.

Continued intermediate-level work in Chinese. Focus on developing more sustained use of Mandarin Chinese in conversation, reading, and writing. Five class meetings per week.

Rotating topics course, with two alternating topics: (1) Material Culture and (2) The Environment, designed to supplement the intermediate Chinese course if taken concurrently, and to prepare students for internships and field experiences in China. Repeatable when topic is different.

A course to help students attain minimal proficiency in conversational Japanese and begin to read and write beyond the elementary level. Five class meetings per week.

Intermediate-level Japanese with further practice in conversational fluency and exposure to more difficult levels of reading and writing. Five class meetings per week.

Intermediate-level Japanese with further practice in all four skills. A continuation of CHJA 212. Five class meetings per week.

A survey of the Chinese language family, its linguistic structure, dialectal variations, writing system, speech registers, interaction with other languages and the internet world, and its role in reflecting cultural and societal aspects such as social class, familial hierarchy, age and gender, and Confucianism. Taught in English.

A survey introducing major characteristics of Japanese language with reference to the structure of Japanese society. Topics include honorifics, use of pronouns, loan words, age and gender differences in the language. The course will also familiarize students with various aspects of traditional and contemporary Japanese culture.

An advanced Chinese course for students who want to develop their language skills. Extensive use of contemporary print and media materials to emphasize written as well as oral proficiency while providing students with a basic cultural understanding of today’s China. Course does not count toward the humanities general education requirement for B.A. and B.A./B.Mus students.

Survey of genetic, regional, and typological classification of East Asian languages; writing systems for Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Tibetan languages; descriptive and comparative analyses of phonological, morphological, and syntactic structures of East Asian languages. More than one language may be investigated in detail.

This advanced course is designed for students who wish to develop their language skills in Japanese beyond the intermediate level. It provides students with a basic cultural understanding of today’s Japan. Contemporary print and media materials will be used to enhance written as well as oral proficiency. Course does not count towards the humanities general education requirement for B.A. and B.A./B.Mus students.

This course introduces students to seminal works of Japanese literature and film from 1868 to the present, as a way to think about the transformation of Japan from a traditional society to a modern nation state.

A survey of 20th-century Chinese fiction and cinema. Iconoclastic works of modern Chinese vernacular fiction from 1919 through the post-Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) will be juxtaposed alongside films dealing with the same period, such as Red Sorghum (1987) and Farewell, My Concubine (1992) made by the so-called Fifth Generation of film directors (born after 1949, when the People’s Republic was founded). Class conducted in English. No knowledge of Chinese required.

This course covers the history of the Chinese language, including the structural characteristics of the language, invention and evolution of the writing system, general survey of the major dialects, dichronic changes, spread and influence of the Chinese lexicon in East Asia, birth of the common language putonghua, evaluation of traditional versus simplified characters, and challenges of the language in the modern era.

Using feature films and documentaries from the so-called Fifth [1982-] and Sixth Generations [beginning in the 1990s] of film directors in China, this course provides a visual record of the immense political, economic, and social changes in China since the Reform and Opening up period at the end of the Cultural Revolution. Taught in English.

This course explores the history of the Japanese language, including theories of its origin, the importation of the Chinese characters, Kanji, the invention of the Japanese syllabaries, Kana, the development of the writing system, lexical influence of loan words, and the evolution of both written and spoken forms in modern Japanese. The course also investigates two other lanuages in Japan, the Ainu and the Ryukyu languages.

An introduction to the texts and schools comprising traditional Chinese literature and thought. Reading across time and genre, from ancient classics such as Shijing to Tang poetry, to later Ming novels Water Margin and Romance of the Three Kingdoms, students will explore the breadth of the Chinese literary tradition while engaging with primary texts from the Confucian, Buddhist and Daoist traditions that shaped it. Lecture, discussion and exams.

With lectures and discussion, the course introduces students to the canon of texts comprising classical Japanese literature and thought. Reading across time and genre, we look at myth-histories, poetry compilations, Chinese-inspired literature, the birth of fiction and women's literature. Monks and warriors expand our scope into the areas of religion, philosophy, and military theory and we culminate with an introduction to the dramatic arts of the Muromachi.

Individualized advanced study under regular staff direction on topics not covered in lower-level courses.

Directed study follows a syllabus set primarily by the instructor to meet the needs or interests of an individual student or small group of students. The main goal of directed study is knowledge or skill acquisition, not research or creative work.

An opportunity for students to apply their Chinese or Japanese language skills in business, government, and the non-profit sector on the regional, national, and international levels. Arranged in collaboration with and supervised by a member of the department. Includes discussion, report, and/or portfolio. Advance consultation and application required.

Individualized advanced research under staff guidance to prepare a substantial paper, usually for submission for honors.

An advanced course, taught in Chinese, designed to strengthen the language proficiency of upper-level students, especially those returning from studying abroad in the Associated Colleges in China program. Students gain intensive practice in all communicative skills through extensive oral discussion, preparation of written reports on various social topics, and exposure to current academic essays, short stories, and films. Course does not count towards the humanities general education requirement for B.A. and B.A./B.Mus students.

An advanced course in Chinese that introduces students to texts in classical and documentary style. During the first half of the course, students review the basic grammar and vocabulary of classical Chinese through short readings in traditional classical texts. The second half builds upon this base to introduce students to contemporary readings in literature and documents, which draw heavily upon classical elements. Course does not count towards the humanities general education requirement for B.A. and B.A./B.Mus students.

An advanced course, taught in Japanese, designed to strengthen the language proficiency of upper-level students, especially those returning from studying in Japan. Course does not count towards the humanities general education requirement for B.A. and B.A./B.Mus students.

Individualized advanced study under regular staff direction on topics not covered in lower-level courses.

Directed study follows a syllabus set primarily by the instructor to meet the needs or interests of an individual student or small group of students. The main goal of directed study is knowledge or skill acquisition, not research or creative work.

An opportunity for students to apply their Chinese or Japanese language skills in business, government, and the non-profit sector on the regional, national, and international levels. Arranged in collaboration with and supervised by a member of the department. Includes discussion, report, and/or portfolio. Advance consultation and application required.

Individualized advanced research under staff guidance to prepare a substantial paper, usually for submission for honors.

Individualized advanced study under regular staff direction on topics not covered in lower-level courses.

Directed study follows a syllabus set primarily by the instructor to meet the needs or interests of an individual student or small group of students. The main goal of directed study is knowledge or skill acquisition, not research or creative work.

An opportunity for students to apply their Chinese or Japanese language skills in business, government, and the non-profit sector on the regional, national, and international levels. Arranged in collaboration with and supervised by a member of the department. Includes discussion, report, and/or portfolio. Advance consultation and application required.

Individualized advanced research under staff guidance to prepare a substantial paper, usually for submission for honors.