27 courses with the subject ASIAN, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
This course examines major cultures of Asia from interdisciplinary and comparative perspectives. Themes vary from year to year, but may include urban and rural life, heroic ideals, gender and sexuality, medicine and healing traditions, and nation-building and empire. OLE Core Requirement: Global Histories and Societies.
This interdisciplinary course introduces the field of Asian American Studies and the multiple cultural and historical productions of Asia and America, from art and film to food and lifestyles. Critical analysis of topics such as ethnic/cultural identities, stereotypes, citizenships, media/pop cultures, body images, sexuality, practices of different Asian communities, and various contemporary issues are explored through interactive in-class activities, films, presentations, and field trips. Offered periodically. OLE Core Requirement: Power and Race.
This course explores major aspects of language use that reflect Japanese culture and society. Issues covered include the characteristics of the Japanese language, loan words, regional differences, politeness, gender differences, and communication styles. The course is taught in a combination of lectures, class discussions, subtitled Japanese films, anime (Japanese animation), and student presentations. Knowledge of Japanese helpful but not necessary. Readings, lectures, and discussions are all in English. Offered alternate years. OLE Core Requirement: Social Science; Global Histories and Societies.
This course explores the evolution of and the imagined possible worlds in Asian science fiction, which has proven to be a media-hopping genre, from the early 20th-century to the present. The quest thus will traverse short stories, novels, manga, anime, and films. Emphasis is placed on close readings of primary sources, the historical moments that prompt the texts' science fictional musings, and their cross-cultural appeals. All readings and viewings will be available in English translations. Offered alternate years. OLE Core Requirement: Global Histories and Societies.
This course examines contemporary China through Chinese-language cinema across different eras, genres, filmmakers, and geographic regions. Students explore the art of film and how visual narratives represent, reinterpret, and redefine Chinese society and culture both at home and abroad. Discussion topics include modernity and tradition, nationalism and globalization, class and race, gender and sexuality, and independent and commercial films. All readings are in English. LAC component available. Offered periodically. OLE Core Requirement: Global Histories and Societies; Creativity.
The department periodically offers courses on special topics. The specific title will be listed in the class and lab schedule when it is offered. Depending on course content, can also count toward Chinese and/or Japanese majors. Prerequisite: determined by instructor. OLE Core Requirement: Global Histories and Societies.
The department periodically offers courses on special topics. The specific title will be listed in the class and lab schedule when it is offered. Depending on course content, can also count toward Chinese and/or Japanese majors. Prerequisite: determined by instructor. OLE Core Requirement: Global Histories and Societies.
In this course, students travel to China. They consider how direct experience provides them with their own narratives about people, places, and culture of China. Through attention to their own structured and unstructured experiences during the course, students better understand how ordinary people construct "Chinese" and "Asian" culture and society today. Through multifaceted engagement with multiple sites in China students may visit during their stay, they analyze the role representation and narrative play in both their encounter with and study of Asia. Offered periodically during January Term. Apply through Smith Center for Global Engagement. Prerequisites: at least one Chinese language course or equivalent. OLE Core Requirement: OLE Experience in Practice; Social Science.
Students pursue guided fieldwork experience and language study in Japan. Activities and readings in this course build on the topics from ASCON 110 and ASCON 120 and language study. Students continue to explore their understanding of Asia through language activities, site visits, and ethnographic observations. Students complete language-based tasks and follow a process of inquiry that will help them understand how ordinary people construct "Asian" culture and society today. Offered periodically during January term. Priority will be given to ASCON students. Prerequisite: at least one semester of Japanese language study at St Olaf or equivalent. OLE Core Requirement: Global Histories and Societies; OLE Experience in Practice.
In this course students read and analyze a selection of 20th- and 21st-century Japanese novels and short stories in English translation, and then watch film adaptations of the same works. Students analyze the literary and cinematic works in terms of cultural themes, artistic expression, and specific socio-historical contexts. Students learn and apply introductory approaches to adaptation theory, and consider the creative process of adapting literary works to film. Taught in English. No knowledge of Japanese required. Evening film screenings are required in addition to class meetings. Offered periodically during January term. OLE Core Requirement: Creativity.
This course considers works of anime from the post-World War II period to the present. The course begins with an introduction to the language and theory of Anime Studies. In subsequent weeks, students watch and analyze a variety of anime genres. This course employs a comparative approach to the study of anime; each anime is paired with excerpts from germane works of philosophy or literature. All anime viewed for this course includes English subtitling. Language Across the Curriculum (LAC) component course available. Offered periodically. OLE Core Requirement: Global Histories and Societies; Creativity.
Students read a selection of 20th & 21st century Japanese literary works written by women. Close readings and class discussions focus on representations of the (female) body and bodily/embodied experiences in the assigned texts. What do these representations reveal about specific social contexts and gendered roles/expectations in Japanese society? Gender is a primary analytical concern, and students must feel comfortable reading about and discussing gender, sexuality, and the body. All course materials are read in English translation. No knowledge of Japanese is required. Offered periodically during January term. OLE Core Requirement: Global Histories and Societies; Creativity.
Students explore the major genres of traditional Chinese literature -- poetry, short story, novel and drama -- in English translation. A small number of major works are singled out for close attention. Offered periodically. OLE Core Requirement: Global Histories and Societies.
This core course of Asian studies introduces students to modern Chinese literature and society. It examines canonical and popular works of Chinese writings including fiction, drama, autobiography, correspondences, and poetry from the early 20th century to the 21st century. Films and songs also serve as supplementary material when appropriate. Students read texts in translation and approach them in the context of modern Chinese society. They also study the literature as it reflects diverse Chinese communities across political boundaries. Offered annually. OLE Core Requirement: Global Histories and Societies.
A rich array of diasporic literature is set amongst the Pacific waves, tracing not only life journeys between homelands and islands, but also racial and ethnic tensions compounded by nuclear weapons and wastes. This course introduces novels, poems, plays, and memoirs that tell Asian, Oceanic, and Austronesian experiences of displacement. Students explore how literary writing carves out spaces for and lends voices to diasporic communities in the Pacific world. Offered alternate years in spring semester. Prerequisite: WRIT 120 or equivalent. OLE Core Requirement: Power and Race; Writing Across the Curriculum.
While explicit racism is not tolerated, implicit language-related racism is usually invisible and pervasive. Why? This course examines the relationship between language, race, and power. Through exploring materials from different times (from the nineteenth century to contemporary), spaces (Japan and USA), and texts (language policies, popular media), students examine the role of language in constructing racial Other and how speakers "negotiate" race with language. Offered periodically. Also counts toward the Japanese and race and ethnic studies majors and the applied linguistics and race and ethnic studies concentrations. OLE Core Requirement: Power and Race.
Engaging the diverse cultures and Asian American communities in San Francisco, students learn about the intersection of power, race, class, gender, sexuality, language, and multiculturalism. Students examine the past through immigration history, museums, and Angel Island; experience the present in Chinatown, Nihonmachi (Japantown), and the Castro District; and explore the future by connecting with alumni, academics, and Silicon Valley professionals. Through guest lectures, readings, discussions, field trips, and digital projects, students gain unique perspective and knowledge in one of the historical, political, and cultural centers of Asian America. Offered periodically during January term. Apply through Smith Center for Global Engagement. Prerequisite: Sophomore status or above. OLE Core Requirement: OLE Experience in Practice; Power and Race.
From classical form to avant garde, this course introduces students to the various artistic representations of Asian calligraphy. Students explore the aesthetic concepts, evolution of different styles, and practical techniques of brush-written writings. Class lectures complement hands-on practice in which students master the basic strokes, structures, compositions, and movements that are involved in producing calligraphic work. Asian language knowledge is not required. All readings and demonstrations will be in English. Materials fee. Offered periodically. OLE Core Requirement: Global Histories and Societies; Creativity.
This interdisciplinary course explores principles and approaches in second language learning and teaching with the focus on Asian languages. Through debunking myths in second language learning, students will learn key factors affecting second language learning and effective language learning strategies. Skills in teaching a second language in Asian context are also discussed. However, this course focuses on the research and theoretical understanding of language acquisition rather than on pedagogical methods of language teaching. Offered periodically. OLE Core Requirement: Social Science.
OLE Core Requirement: OLE Experience in Practice.
Independent work is guided by a faculty member. Students need to have the necessary background, including appropriate coursework, before an independent project is approved. A student may not substitute an IS/IR course for a course regularly offered in a department or program. IS/IR culminates in at least one product (a paper, laboratory report, work of art, etc.). Normally, the student and faculty instructor are expected to meet at least once a week. See catalog for more information under registration and course enrollment. Prerequisites: at least second-year standing; at least 2 relevant courses for 298 (IS); approval from the faculty instructor, the academic advisor, and the department chair or program director.
This interdisciplinary course explores the timeless concept of the hero from both Asian and Western traditions. Classical heroes will be analyzed along with those featured in contemporary films, fictions, comics, and pop culture. The main goal is to compare and examine how heroes have informed intellectual, artistic, and moral traditions in various cultures and how heroic ideas were spread, transformed, and re-imagined to suit the needs of their times. Offered periodically. OLE Core Requirement: Global Histories and Societies; Ethical Reasoning in Context.
OLE Core Requirement: OLE Experience in Practice.
This course provides a comprehensive research opportunity, including an introduction to relevant background material, technical instruction, identification of a meaningful project, and data collection. The topic is determined by the faculty member in charge of the course and may relate to his/her research interests. Offered based on department decision. May be offered as a 1.00 credit course or .50 credit course. Prerequisite: determined by individual instructor.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims that "the inherent dignity and ... the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family [are] the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world." Who speaks to human rights in East Asia? What ethical perspectives are voiced? Case studies presented through memoirs, films, reports, and multidisciplinary analyses provide the material for exploring diverse normative claims about individual rights in East Asia. Offered annually. This course is designed as a capstone experience for Asian Studies, Chinese and Japanese majors and Asian Studies concentrators. Other students need permission of instructor to enroll. OLE Core Requirement: Ethical Reasoning in Context.
Independent work is guided by a faculty member. Students need to have the necessary background, including appropriate coursework, before an independent project is approved. A student may not substitute an IS/IR course for a course regularly offered in a department or program. IS/IR culminates in at least one product (a paper, laboratory report, work of art, etc.). Normally, the student and faculty instructor are expected to meet at least once a week. See catalog for more information under registration and course enrollment. Prerequisites: at least second-year standing; at least 5 relevant courses for 398 (IR); approval from the faculty instructor, the academic advisor, and the department chair or program director.
A capstone experience offering an opportunity to pursue a research project and to discuss issues of general interest to students of Asia. This seminar proceeds along two tracks: one focusing on discussion of readings of general interest to Asian Studies students, the other devoted to research, writing, and presenting findings to the class. Offered annually. Prerequisites: junior or senior Asian Studies, Chinese, or Japanese major.
Source: St Olaf College's catalog, linked per course · table learning_unit · CourseShelf publish 61
