Spring 2021 Graduate Courses
Please check ALBERT for accurate course locations and meeting patterns.
Spring 2021
Topics: "Han": Memory, History, and Trauma
Professor Yoon Jeong Oh | W: 2:00 PM - 4:45 PM
Instructional Mode: Online
What does it mean to speak of the unspeakable? The Korean han refers to a complex emotional blockage of sorrow, resentment, anger, and regret, and is often claimed to be the core of untranslatable Korean culture. Yet the untranslatability of such a cultural concept often oscillates between the uncertainty of history and the unspeakability of trauma. Against nostalgic and often essentialist approaches to culture (not only Korean but in general), this course attempts to theorize han as a specific case that intersects with cultural representation, historical trauma, and individuals’ irreducible memories and experiences. Readings will include critical pieces from trauma studies, affect theory, and historical analysis along with literary and filmic texts. No prior knowledge of Korean is required, and upper-level undergraduates are welcome.
Topics: Japanese Literary Criticism
Professor Annmaria Shimabuku | W: 4:55 PM - 7:35 PM
Instructional Mode: Online
This seminar examines the birth of Japanese literary criticism from the Meiji era and traces its development to contemporary times. We will start by examining a series of transitions in reading: texts read communally/theatrically to texts read individually/silently; texts read for aural appreciation to texts read hermeneutically and for comprehension; texts read for visual appreciation to texts read phonocentrically. We will discuss Japanese orthography, problems in Japanese linguistics and the formation of the Japanese language, the genbun ichi movement, realism, and the emergence of the I-novel, formation of a female readership, modernism, proletarian realism, formalism, and postcolonial criticism. Authors that we read include Mikhail Bakhtin, Hélène Cixous, Jacques Derrida, Karatani Kōjin, Kobayashi Hideo, Komori Yōichi, Julia Kristeva, Kurahara Korehito, Maeda Ai, Naoki Sakai, Takeuchi Yoshimi among others. We will focus mainly on literary criticism and examine actual works of literature when helpful. Our overall goal is to examine how language and practices of reading/listening form subjects and contextualize the political implications of that subject formation against the backdrop of Japanese colonialism, nationalism, capitalism, and trans-Pacific movements. No prior knowledge of Japanese is required for this class.
Pedagogy of Teaching East Asian Language: Theory and Practice
Professor Dongmin Kim | R: 11:00 AM - 1:45 PM
Instructional Mode: Blended
The course is designed to help students learn to teach East Asian languages (Chinese, Japanese, and Korean) at the college-level. A wide range of issues related to the teaching of a foreign language will be discussed, including 1) historical overview of language teaching methods and approaches and their application to the classroom teaching; 2) curriculum design and lesson planning; 3) textbooks and supplementary teaching materials; 4) different strategies and skills in language teaching; 5) testing and assessment; and 6) use of technology.
Independent Study in East Asian Studies
For more information, please visit our Independent Study page.
Instructional Mode: Online, Blended, or In-Person
An Independent Study course provides students with the opportunity to work one-on-one with an instructor on a particular topic or creative project. Registration for this course requires approval of the Director of Graduate Studies. You will be asked to submit a proposal, that must include a project abstract (200-250 words) and a bibliography, approved by the professor supervising the course.