Featured Courses Fall 2026
EASTD 151: Documenting China on Film
Taught by Prof. Jie Li
What defines a film as “documentary”? How do documentary films inform, persuade, provoke, or move us? Of whom, by whom, and for whom are documentaries made? Can documentary also be “propaganda” or “art”? What rhetorical devices and aesthetic strategies do documentaries use to construct visions of reality and proclaim them as authentic, credible and authoritative? What might documentary films—as opposed to written text—teach us about modern Chinese history and contemporary society? Above all, how would you go about making a documentary film, in China or elsewhere?
In this course, we will examine documentary films made in or about China from the early 20th century to the present day, through the lenses of both Chinese and foreign filmmakers. We will interrogate the visual “evidence” that camera images can offer, look into their production and reception histories, as well as discuss the ethics, aesthetics, and politics of documentation, representation, and exhibition. Weekly topics are roughly grouped into three parts: (1) “Witnessing History” (2) “Social Reportage” and (3) “Art, Experimentation, and Fiction.” The first part will cover the cinematic history and memory of World War II, the Cultural Revolution, and the 1989 Tiananmen protests. The second part will explore documentary engagements with contemporary issues ranging from social inequality, migrant labor, forced demolitions, and environmental degradation. The third part will consider the art of observation, the potentials of experimentation, and the porous boundaries between documentary and fiction. Viewings of documentary films will be complemented by theoretical and contextual readings, as well as short assignments to engage critically and creatively with the films we watch. The final project for the course will be to make a documentary film in a small group.
EASTD 144 - Vietnam in the Twentieth Century: History, Culture, and Identity
Vietnam in the Twentieth Century: History, Culture, and Identity
Taught by Uyen Nguyen
This lecture course introduces students to the modern history and culture of Vietnam by examining major visions of “Vietnam” as a state and as a people that emerged over the twentieth century. Drawing on historical narratives and cultural productions, the course explores themes such as ideas about the origins of Vietnamese society and culture, Vietnam’s relations with its neighbors, colonialism, anticolonialism and nationalism, war, and postwar challenges. Rather than treating “Vietnam” as a continuous and unified entity stretching back to the prehistoric Dong Son culture, the course highlights competing understandings of “Vietnam” and of what it has meant to be “Vietnamese,” as they took shape at key moments in the country’s modern history.
This course counts towards the historical survey requirement for EAS concentrators/secondary fielders, or may count as a junior tutorial with extended final paper required (advance instructor and DUS approval needed).
EASTD 196: Political Geography of China
Political Geography of China
Taught by Daniel Koss
Putting Chinese politics on the map, this course asks how the government deals with the enormous challenges of ruling over a vast terrain with a diverse population, encompassing super-rich urban metropolises as well as poor rural peripheries. We begin with statecraft traditions from the late imperial era; and end with China's place on the future global maps of the 21st century. Topics include: macro-regions; priority zones of governance; Special Economic Zones; the Chinese equivalent of “blue states and red states;” rising inequality; ethnic minorities and borderlands; economic development models; urbanization and city planning; collective action in digital space; domestic and international migration; environmental politics; and the geo-politics of the “One Belt One Road” initiative. We will set aside class time for a hands-on introduction to producing and interpreting maps of China.
This course counts as a junior tutorial, and fulfills the 100-level EALC course requirement for EAS secondary fielders.
JAPNLIT 170
Traditional Japanese Literature: From Mythology to (Early) Modernity
Poetry written by gods, incestuous aristocratic romances, exorcist theater, samurai fantasy novels, fart literature: traditional Japanese literature has something for everyone, and invites us to rethink our assumptions about what literature is and how creativity works. From the most ancient myths up to the 19th century arrival of Western style modernity, we will explore together the relationships between high art and pulp fiction, the stage and the page, words and illustrations, manuscript and print, language and the sacred. We will probe the literary imagination of beauty, nature, desire, and heroism, and ask—through creative experiments and reflections that connect what we are reading to our own lives—what Japanese literature can tell us about what it is to be human.
All are welcome; no prior knowledge of Japanese literature or history is required.
Course Notes:
This course fulfills the East Asian Studies concentration "Historical Survey" requirement.
EASTD 112
Buddhism and the Senses [aka "Buddhist Stuff"]
Taught by Paula Kolata
How does Buddhism smell, taste, sound, look, and feel? This course explores how bodies experience religious worlds. We will investigate how Buddhists encounter divine presence, religious rules, sacred spaces, and powerful imaginaries through the senses. Moving beyond texts and doctrines, we will step into the sensory and embodied practices that make Buddhist worlds tangible: from spirit possession and prayer rituals to carving statues, cooking and tasting feasts, and rolling and smelling incense. You will not only study but also experiment with methods that attune us to the sensory life of religion. Along the way, we will probe what “religious affects” mean and how embodied practices generate lived realities. At the same time, you’ll gain a theoretical and methodological grounding in the study of material religion, learning how to analyze the entanglements of objects, bodies, and belief. By the end of the course, you will have both experienced and critically reflected on how religious worlds come alive through the senses.
Uyghur and Chaghatay Courses
Japanese Courses
