Area Courses

An "area course" is defined as a content course (non-language, non-tutorial) in East Asian subjects. This includes content courses taught in an East Asian language, which can be counted toward either area or language course requirements. Area courses also include East Asia courses in General Education, which provide varying degrees of general background, as well as more focused EALC departmental offerings, and East Asia-focused courses from across FAS and the graduate schools.

The following chart includes all courses that count for area course credit that are being taught this academic year.

Courses marked with an asterisk (*) are intended primarily for graduate students and may require instructor approval in order to register. It is solely at the instructor’s discretion whether to admit undergraduate students to these courses.

Spring '24 Semester
Fall '24 Semester

Number	Course	Instructor	Department	May also fulfill:
ANTHRO 1877	Anthropology of Chinese Culture and Society	Tamburo	ANTHRO
This course will enable students to acquire a knowledge and understanding of the recent history and contemporary society, culture, and politics of China through ethnographic writings.
CHAGHATAY A	Elementary Chaghatay	Eziz	EALC
This course is intended to develop a basic reading knowledge of Chaghatay, the classical antecedent of modern Uzbek and modern Uyghur, and the common literary language of all Central Asian Turks from the fourteenth to the early twentieth centuries. The course includes a survey of Chaghatay literature as well as a discussion of grammar, the writing system, and lexicographical resources.
CHNSE 106A	Introduction to Literary Sinitic	TBD	EALC	100-level EALC (SF requirement)
Basic Grammar and the reading of simple historical narrative.
CHNSE 136R	Introduction to Chinese in the Humanities	Liu	EALC	100-level EALC (SF requirement); Language Course
Pre-Advanced language practice associated with adapted or abridged texts in humanities disciplines (e.g., media, literature, history studies). Emphasis on understanding Chinese cultural products, practices and perspectives via interpretive, interactional and presentational communication, with a comparative lens linked to contemporary issues and events within the global community. May be offered independently in Chinese or linked with an English-language content course.
CHNSE 150A	Readings and Discussions in Academic and Professional Chinese	Cai	EALC
The course seeks to consolidate and hone students’ advanced Chinese ability through in-depth examination of Chinese society and culture.
CHNSHIS 234R	*The Historiography of Early Chinese History	Puett	EALC
A study of major trends in the history of scholarship on early China. The main focus will be on 20th-century scholarship, but earlier developments will be introduced where relevant.
CHNSHIS 253	*Topics in Late Imperial History	Elliott, Szonyi	EALC
Review of historical scholarship on China from roughly 1500 to the early 20th century. This course is designed to aid in preparations for the general examinations and in developing a dissertation topic.
CHNSHIS 268	*Cultural Theories and Practices, 8th-14th Century	Bol	EALC
The course investigates changes in the status and practice of wenxue文學, broadly conceived, from after the An Lushan rebellion in the mid-eighth century to the formal inclusion of Daoxue 道学in the civil service examination in the fourteenth century.
CHNSLIT 114	Introduction to Premodern Chinese Literature	Tian	EALC	Historical Survey; 100-level EALC (SF requirement)
This course will introduce students to the best-known writers and canonical works of Chinese literature from the premodern period.
CHNSLIT 172	The Monster That Is History: History, Violence, and the Politics of Writing	Wang	EALC	100-Level EALC
This is an intermediate level course (100 level for both undergraduate and graduate students) that seeks to delineate the multivalence of Chinese violence across the modern century and inquire into its ethical and political consequences. Taking into account the campaigns of violence and brutality that have rocked generations of Chinese―often in the name of enlightenment, rationality, and utopian plenitude―this course places its arguments along two related axes: history and representation, modernity and monstrosity.
CHNSLIT 229R	*Topics in Early Medieval Literature	Tian	EALC
This semester will focus on writings from the Northern and Southern Dynasties, with emphasis on historiography, geographical works, anomaly accounts, and poetic genres.
CHNSLIT 231	*Late-Ming Literature and Culture	Li, Wai-yee	EALC
Surveys writings from second half of sixteenth century until fall of Ming, including prose (including ``informal essays''), poetry, drama, fiction. Examines late-Ming literary-aesthetic sensibility (and questions how such a category may be justified.)
COMPLIT 112X	Reparative Co-Futures in Chinese Sci-Fi		COMPLIT
In this course, we encounter an array of sci-fi and speculative fiction. We will also examine multimedia adaptations of contemporary Chinese sci-fi, examining the work’s evolution from page to screen to stage. All readings will be available in English and films will be available either dubbed or with English subtitles.
COMPLIT 210X	*Translating the World		COMPLIT
This course uses cases of literary translation and transmediation into and out of modern China, Taiwan, and Latin America to explore the history, theory, and aesthetics of global literary translation and intertextual adaptation. Adopting a transcultural perspective, we will identify key aesthetic and conceptual issues in the field of Translation Studies and explore their implications for politics, canon formation and linguistic evolution.
EABS 255	*Readings on Chinese Religions: Recent Scholarship on Chinese Buddhism and Daoism: Seminar	Robson	EALC
This seminar aims to discuss significant new works in the field of Chinese Religions by focusing on the historical, doctrinal, and philosophical development of the Buddhist tradition in China.
EAFM 123	Korean Stars	Bu	EALC	100-level EALC (SF requirement)
What makes stars “shine?” In other words, what are the conditions for stardom? In this course, we will explore how stars embody the intersection of constantly changing media infrastructures; media aesthetics; social norms concerning gender, race, age, and economic status; and geopolitics surrounding Korea.
EASTD 98L	Junior Tutorial: The Art of Original Research on East Asia	Kuriyama	EALC	Junior Tutorial
A junior tutorial in East Asian Studies designed to help students make the transition from student to scholar—help them, that is, to move from studying the research of others to crafting the sort of original scholarship expected in a strong senior thesis. Key topics covered will include: What is a good research question, and how do you find one? What sorts of new tools and creative methods can you deploy to analyze the question? and, How can you frame and communicate your findings most compellingly? The class is limited to junior concentrators in East Asian Studies; if enrollment is under twelve, however, other undergraduates may enroll with the permission of the instructor.
EASTD 143A	Digital Tools and Methods in East Asian Humanities: No-coding Approach	Tang	EALC	100-level EALC (SF requirement)
This course is designed for students in East Asian humanities with no prior background in digital literacy. It will introduce digital tools and methods used for the acquisition, transformation, analysis, and presentation of data. Coding is not required. Students completing the course will be able to integrate and apply the tools and methods into their research.
EASTD 211	*Historical Theory and Methods	Kuriyama	EALC
The seminar this fall will concentrate on cultural history. In addition to surveying major approaches to and trends in cultural history, we will explore key tools and techniques that students can use to enhance their own cultural historical studies.
EASTD 91R	Supervised Reading and Research	[EALC Faculty Member]	EALC	100-level EALC (SF requirement)
Open to students who have given evidence of ability to do independent reading and research. May be taken on an individual basis or by small groups of students interested in working on the same topic, with an EALC faculty member. Permission of the Director of Undergraduate Studies required.
FYSEMR 43W	History, Nationalism, and the World: The Case of Korea	Kim, Sun Joo	FYSEMR
This seminar will explore the quandary that faces all historians: To what extent is the understanding of past episodes influenced by current politics and to what extent is current politics influenced by people’s understanding of the past? In the study of Korean history, this question is particularly sharp since the postcolonial division of Korea into North and South has thrust the memory of past events into current political discussions as well as scholarly debates. The seminar will investigate selected events in Korean history to map the interaction between historical writing and politics: the origins of Korea; Korean territory and the Korean people; cultural contacts with China and Japan and indigenization; social and regional marginalization and discrimination; Confucian transformation of Chosŏn Korea and its legacy in contemporary Korean culture; the legacy of pre-World War II Japanese occupation; and the contending history of popular movements and religion. Why have some historians pictured Korea as a Japanese colony, a miniature replica of China, or a local variant of Chinese civilization? Why have other historians emphasized certain periods and aspects of Korean history while ignoring others? How have historians described Korea’s relationships to China, Japan, and the rest of the world? Has the perception of Korea as a marginalized people and region influenced how its history has been described? Are there any connections between popular traditions and movements and this historical and scholarly discussion? Reading (all in English) will include translated primary documents as well as political and historical studies. Students are required to write five short critical essays in addition to weekly Web posting.
FYSEMR 52G	Nuclear Dilemmas	Wilson	FYSEMR
This first-year seminar explores major issues in nuclear weapons history and policy. Did the use of atomic bombs by the United States against Japan end the Second World War? Have nuclear arsenals prevented a direct conflict between nuclear powers since 1945? Why have some countries pursued nuclear arsenals while others have not? Could society survive a nuclear war in any meaningful sense, and should we prepare for that possibility? What harms has the pursuit of nuclear weapons caused to natural environments and human bodies? How have fictional portrayals shaped our understanding of the nuclear age? Is there any hope of eliminating nuclear weapons? Our discussions will take up classic historical controversies about the role of nuclear weapons in war and international relations, as well as major debates about the theories of nuclear deterrence and proliferation. We will study the arguments of pacifists, feminists, and other critics of nuclear weapons, and we will use films and works of imaginative fiction to consider the place of nuclear weapons in modern culture. In a final project, students will have the option of writing a “white paper” or “op-ed” on a current nuclear policy question or pursuing a historical or creative project in consultation with the instructor.
FYSEMR 61M	Silk Road Stories		FYSEMR
What do we really know about the Silk Road? What if it turns out that much of what we believe about the Silk Road turns out to be a myth? This seminar invites you to embark on your own Silk Road journey, exploring the invention of the idea of the Silk Road, the material and historical reality behind the fabled Eurasian trade routes, and the ways in which different Silk Road stories serve today as artistic inspiration, political capital, and economic stimulus.
FYSEMR 62Z	Buddhist Enlightenment: Visions, Words, and Practice	Abe	FYSEMR
This seminar looks at famous visual images of Buddhist enlightenment—not only iconographies of Buddhist divinities, but also architecture, gardens, ritual instruments, and maps of the world—and using them as our gateways, studies narratives, parables, metaphors, and theories that explain what enlightenment is, how to attain enlightenment, and how to retain it in one’s everyday life.
FYSEMR 65R	Tea in Japan/America	McCormick	FYSEMR
This first-year seminar examines the history, culture, and practice of the Japanese tea ceremony (chanoyu) and its reception in the United States and beyond. What began as a ritualized preparation of tea developed into a wide-ranging cultural practice, the study of which opens onto issues of Japanese aesthetics, social history, and philosophy.
GENED 1083	Permanent Impermanence: Why Buddhists Build Monuments	Kim, Wang	HAA	historical survey
Why do Buddhists build monuments despite the core teaching of ephemerality, and what can we learn from this paradox about our own conception of time and space?
GENED 1091	Classical Chinese Ethical and Political Theory	Puett	EALC	Historical Survey; 100-level EALC (SF requirement)
What is the best way to live a fuller and more ethical life? Concretely what should we do to begin to live in a more flourishing and inspiring way? Questions such as these were at the heart of philosophical debates in China.
GENED 1111	Popular Culture and Modern China	Wang	EALC	100-level EALC (SF requirement)
This course examines "popular culture" as a modern, transnational phenomenon and explores its manifestation in Chinese communities (in People's Republic of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia and North America) and beyond. From pulp fiction to film, from "Yellow Music" to "Model Theater", from animations to internet games, the course looks into how China became modern by participating in the global circulation of media forms, and how China helps in her own way enrich the theory and practice of "popular culture."
GENED 1136	Power and civilization: China	Bol, Kirby	GENED	Historical Survey; 100-level EALC (SF requirement)
What does China’s past mean for its and your future as China once again becomes the most powerful nation on earth?
GENED 1145	Global Japanese Cinema	Zahlten	GENED	100-level EALC (SF requirement)
Global Japanese Cinema introduces some of the masterworks from the rich history of Japanese cinema as a way of exploring the global language of film. Participants will learn how to analyze moving images and the ways they influence us – a basic media literacy that we all need for life in a media- saturated society.
GOV 1280	Government & Politics of China	Wang	GOV	historical survey
This course is a broad introduction to the main issues of contemporary Chinese politics and social change. The course is divided into two sections: the first section covers the period from the end of the last imperial dynasty to the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976. The second section examines the last thirty years of economic reform, looking at both how the reforms began and how they were sustained.
GOV 1783	Central Asia in Global Politics	Kassenova	GOV	historical survey
The course is designed as an in-depth study of the place of Central Asia in Eurasian and global politics, and the policies of key external actors, such as Russia, the United States, China, the European Union, Turkey, Iran, Japan, South Korea and India, toward the region.
GOV 1982	Chinese Foreign Policy, 1949-2024	Johnston	GOV
Introduction to the descriptive history of China's international relations with special focus on different theoretical explanations for changes in foreign policy behavior (e.g. polarity, history, ideology, leadership, bureaucracy, among others).
HAA 182G	Art and Embodiment in Buddhism		HAA
What is a sacred image? Does it embody a presence or merely serve as a visual reminder? Does it need to look like its subject? How is it manufactured, used, repaired, and discarded? How do sacred images differ from tourist art or works in a museum? This course investigates answers to such questions for Asian Buddhist traditions, foregrounding an interdisciplinary examination of visual art, material culture, literary text, and ritual performance.
HIST 1001	The War in Vietnam	Logevall	HIST
The struggle for Vietnam occupies a central place in the history of the 20th century. How did it happen? Why did first France and then the United States wage large-scale war there, and why did both powers fail in their effort to subdue the revolutionary Vietnamese forces? And what is the legacy of the struggle for our world and for U.S. foreign policy today? This course examines these and related questions, with particular attention to the long period of direct American involvement. The events will be considered in their relationship to Vietnam's history, to American politics and society, and to the concurrent Cold War.
HIST 1026	Rise and Fall of Postwar Japan	Gordon	EALC	Historical Survey; 100-level EALC (SF requirement)
Examines Japan’s rise from the ashes of wartime defeat to global economic power and subsequent stagnation, with primary focus on society and economy.
HIST 2639	*Histories of Modern China: Research Seminar	Ghosh	HIST
Over the last twenty years, spurred by the increasing accessibility of materials inside and outside the archive and by methods such as oral history, historians have offered new and compelling perspectives on the early years of the People’s Republic of China. In this research seminar students will explore this history by reading some of the most innovative work in the field and developing and presenting research that will culminate in a 25-35 page research paper.
HIST 2645	*Historiography of Modern Japan	Gordon	HIST
A critical introduction to the historiography of modern Japan, with emphasis on English-language scholarship.
HIST 2653	*Historiography of Modern Japan: Proseminar	Gordon	EALC
A critical introduction to the historiography of modern Japan, with emphasis on English-language scholarship.
HIST-LIT 90CM	Asian American Cultural Studies
This course examines Asian American cultural production and the political histories of various Asian American communities. We will place a wide range of primary texts, including fiction, poetry, film, television, and visual art, in conversation with larger political and cultural questions about race, gender, citizenship, imperialism and belonging in the U.S.
JAPAN 106A	Classical Japanese	Truscott	EALC	100-level EALC (SF requirement)
In this course, we will learn and practice reading the fundamental grammatical patterns of classical, or literary, Japanese (bungo). From Murasaki Shikibu’s The Tale of Genji to Bashō’s famous haiku, this linguistic form appears in a wide variety of Japanese literature.
JAPAN 106D	Kana and Kanbun Texts in Early and Classical Japan	Truscott	EALC	100-level EALC (SF requirement)
Educated classes in premodern Japan read and often wrote utilizing both kana (“vernacular”) and kanbun (“Chinese”) writing systems in recording their lives and creating art. Following in their footsteps, students will read and translate texts written in both kana and kanbun from Japan’s early and classical periods (710-1185).
JAPAN 150A	Readings and Discussion in Japanese Social Sciences	Asakura	EALC
Selected readings and discussion in Japanese primarily on contemporary topics in economics, sociology, political science, psychology, and cultural studies, with occasional readings from literature. Readings are supplemented by selections from audiovisual media on current social issues.
JAPAN 210A	*Reading Scholarly Japanese for Students of Chinese and Korean	Jacobsen	EALC
Development of skills in reading and translating academic genres of Japanese, with special attention to Japanese scholarship on Chinese and Korean studies. Introduction to old kana usage and classical forms commonly used in scholarly writing.
JAPNLIT 271R	*Topics in Gender and Culture in Japan: Seminar	Yoda	EALC
This semester, the seminar will examine theories and practices of feminism in Japan and elsewhere. In particular, we will study several forms of “radical feminism,” including women’s liberation movement or ribu in early 1970s Japan.
[CANCELED] KORHIST 142	The Two Koreas and the Korean Diaspora	Kim, Sun Joo	EALC	100-level EALC (SF requirement)
This course introduces students to the Korean experiences of colonialism and Cold War division, which contributed to the formation of modern Korean identity, society, and politics on the Korean Peninsula and in the global Korean diaspora.
KORHIST 240R	*Selected Topics in Premodern Korean History: Seminar	Kim, Sun Joo	EALC
Introduction to the major Engllish-language scholarship and historiographical debates on the history of premodern Korea.
KORHIST 257	*Modern Korean History: Special Seminar	Eckert	EALC
Readings and research in modern Korean history. Students are required to write a seminar paper based largely on primary materials.
KORLIT 235	*Readings in Premodern Korean Literature: Literary Sinitic in Pluriliterate Chosŏn Korea	Park, Si Nae	EALC
This course surveys a range of writings to explore the language and script diversity in Korea during the Chosŏn period (1392–1910).
RELIGION 1760	Knowing Animals: Buddhist and Posthuman Resources for a New Interspecies Ethics	Gyatso	EALC
A constructive exercise in the optimal epistemic orientations and bodily habits for post-human life on planet Earth, with focus on the plight, and value, of animals.This course will study exemplary new writing in animal phenomenology, philisophical ethics, and animal ethology.
SOC-STD 98LF	Globalization and the Nation State	Prevelakis	SOC-STD
Despite globalization, the nation is still a major actor in today's world. This course tries to understand why this is so by examining the role that nationalism plays in peoples’ identities and the effects of globalization on nations and nation-states. It includes theoretical texts, but also an examination of ethnic conflicts around the world, the rise of populism and authoritarianism, and the urgency of global issues such as climate change, inequality, and migration. Case studies from the United States, Europe, Latin America, China, and the Middle East.
SOC-STD 98NQ	Global East Asia	Newendorp	SOC-STD
In this course, we will consider the everyday effects of globalization on contemporary East Asia as well as topics related to cultural exchange and interaction more broadly around the globe.
TDM 174PO	Performing the Orient		TDM
This class will explore over 300 years of "exotic" portrayals of "Orientals" on the Western ballet and opera stages, and geopolitics that impacted how we view Asian people and cultures to this day: from Genghis Khan, the Opium Wars, Chinese Exclusion, to Japanese Internment and #StopAsianHate. The course will also examine the creative process of shifting a Eurocentric work of art for a multiracial audience and provide practical frameworks for how to create art outside of your own cultural experience.
UYGHUR 130A	Pre-Advanced Uyghur	Gulina	EALC
The Advanced Uyghur (3rd year two semester courses) is a continuation of Uyghur 120B. This course is designed for students who want to gain proficiency in Uyghur in speaking, aural comprehension, reading and writing.
VIETNAM 91R	Supervised Reading and Research	Le	EALC	100-level EALC (SF requirement)\
Independent reading and research in the Vietnamese language.
WOMGEN 1208	Gender and Sexuality in Korean Pop Culture	Choi	WOMGEN
What can the songs of BTS and Blackpink, the TV-show “Squid Game,” and the films Parasite and Kim Chi-yŏng: Born 1982 teach us about gender roles in contemporary Korea? Topics will include privilege, class, inequality, masculinity, femininity, eating disorders, beauty ideals, marriage, family relationships, reproductive rights, housework, intimacy, and violence against women.

Number	Course	Instructor	Department	May also fulfill:
AFVS 177	Traditions of Avant-Garde Cinema	Guest	AFVS	Area
This course studies traditions and legacies of avant-garde cinema from the 1920s through the present day. Special emphasis is placed on experimental film movements that emerged in the US, Europe, Latin America, South Korea and Japan; among them Surrealist cinema, avant-garde feminist filmmaking, structuralist/materialist cinema, and the found-footage, diary, essay and landscape film. Filmmakers will regularly visit to present and discuss their work and active study will be made of unique collections (both films and papers) housed at the Harvard Film Archive. Attendance of weekly screenings is a course requirement.
ANTHRO 2855*	Deep China: The Moral Life of the Person: What Anthropology and Psychiatry Tell Us About China today	Kleinman	ANTHRO	Area
What do accounts of depression, suicide, substance abuse, sexually transmitted diseases, SARS, HIV/AIDS, starvation and the personal and family trauma of political violence teach us about China and the Chinese over the last few decades?
CHAGHATAY 120B	Intermediate Chaghatay	Eziz	EALC	Area or Language; 100-level EALC
A continuation of Chaghatay 120a. This course aims to develop learners’ reading, transliterating, transcribing, and analyzing skills. Mainly focuses on reading the primary sources materials. These firsthand manuscript passages include selections from different time periods (fourteenth to early twentieth century), different places (both Eastern & Western Turkestan), and different genres (religious, historical, literature, legal, healing and medical etc.).
CHNSE 106B	Introduction to Literary Chinese	Sena	EALC	Area or Language; 100-level EALC
Introduction to pre-Qin philosophical texts.
CHNSE 150B	Readings and Discussions in Academic and Professional Chinese	Cai	EALC	Area or Language; 100-level EALC
Continuation of Chinese 150a. The course seeks to consolidate and hone students’ advanced Chinese ability through in-depth examination of Chinese society and culture.
CHNSE 166R	Chinese in the Humanities: Masterpieces of Modern Chinese Literature	Liu	EALC	Area or Language; 100-level EALC
Advanced language practice through the reading and analysis of authentic academic texts in humanities disciplines (e.g., art, literature, cinematic studies). May be offered independently in Chinese, or linked with an English-language content course. Specific content varies by year.
CHNSHIS 229R*	Ming Intellectual History	Bol	EALC	Area; upper-level EALC
Examines various intellectual texts and movements during the Ming dynasty. Prerequisite: Knowledge of literary Chinese
CHNSLIT 134	Strange Tales: The Supernatural in Chinese Literature	Kelly	EALC	Area; 100-level EALC
This course introduces students to traditional Chinese literature by focusing on “tales of the strange.” We will examine how ghosts, demons, fox spirits, and other liminal creatures haunt the literary imagination, stretching the possibilities of storytelling. Students will gain familiarity with masterpieces of Chinese literature and their intriguing afterlives in performance, film, and popular culture. Our discussions will consider how literary accounts of ghosts and the supernatural grapple with issues of gender and sexuality, the cultural meanings of death, the boundaries of human community, and the experience of historical trauma. We will focus on developing skills in close reading, while critically engaging theories of the “strange.” No background in Chinese is required.
CHNSLIT 207*	Between History and Literature	Li, Wai-yee	EALC	Area; upper-level EALC
This course will explore what it means to read historical texts as literature and to take a historical view of literary texts. What role should historical understanding and historical imagination play in literary criticism? How is “historical knowledge” understood? What is the role of imagination in the writing of history? How do allegorical and philological interpretations function in the reading of historical and literary texts? What does it mean to read fictional texts as responses to historical events? We will consider these questions from three perspectives: the genealogies (and rewriting) of figures and stories, the role of genres and contexts in shaping reception, and the relationship between history and fiction.
CHNSLIT 235*	Theater and Theatricality in Early Modern China	Kelly	EALC	Area; upper-level EALC
This seminar charts the development of Chinese dramatic literature from the fourteenth to the seventeenth centuries. We will focus on the close reading of major works in the zaju, xiwen, and chuanqi forms, examining how the theater shaped new practices of writing and reading. The seminar will follow two central themes: 1) the shifting relationship between the figures of the playwright and the actor; 2) the interplay between the spaces of the page and stage. Engaging with recent scholarship, we will reflect on how modes of theatrical performance and spectatorship transformed broader understandings of self and society. Our discussions will seek new frameworks for approaching the place of the theater in Chinese literary history. Reading ability in Literary Chinese is required.
CHNSLIT 245R*	Topics in Sinophone Studies - Modern Chinese Fiction on the Periphery	Wang	EALC	Area; upper-level EALC
Survey of modern Chinese fiction and narratology from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the Chinese Diaspora: polemics of the canon, dialogues between national and regional imaginaries, and literary cultures in the Sinophone world.
COMPLIT 264	Thinking and Writing Transculturally	Thornber	COMPLIT/EALC	Area
This course explores approaches to literature and transculturation in the context of new understandings of human and textual border creation and crossings. Topics include the ethics of dividing cultural products along ethnic, linguistic, and national lines on the one hand and classifying phenomena as global on the other, and the possibilities and ramifications of cross-cultural study. We also examine the relationship between creative production/literary scholarship and ethnic studies, empire and (post)colonialism, identity, travel/migration/exile/diaspora, labor, war, trauma, multilingualism, translingualism, literary reconfiguration (adaptation, intertextuality), and world literature. Course readings are drawn from Africa, Asia, and the Americas.
EAFM 111	East Asian Media Studies	Zahlten	EALC	Area; 100-level EALC
This course explores the explosion of media in East Asia and the resulting forms of media production, circulation and consumption that transform everyday life, economy and politics. From pop culture phenomena such as K-Pop, fan fiction and internet platforms such as Sina Weibo, 2channel or DC Inside, from mobile phone culture to video games and social networks used in political protests, complex media forms and practices are developing with lightning speed across the region and exerting global influence. The starting point of the course are questions such as: What effects does this intense new media environment have in East Asia? How are ways of thinking and behaving adjusting to completely new forms of media? What are the consequences for the future of East Asia? How do media influence us in ways that go beyond the films, music, games, news or other forms that they supply us with?
EAFM 220*	Topics in Chinese Film and Media Studies: Seminar	Li, Jie	EALC	Area; upper-level EALC
This graduate seminar surveys the current field of Chinese cinema studies with a focus on film culture and historiography from the end of the 19th century to the start of the 21st century. We will be asking three questions preoccupying film and media studies--What is cinema? When is cinema? Where is cinema?--in Chinese and Sinophone contexts. Beyond the interpretation of film texts, we will also examine film production and exhibition, stars and audiences, genres and movements, technologies and infrastructures, propaganda and censorship, industries and markets, experiences and memories, transnational and transmedial connections. Situating films within broader media ecologies, we will discuss some of the most innovative scholarship published in recent years as well as delve into untapped primary sources to explore future research projects that can make new contributions to this emerging field. The organization of the syllabus is roughly chronological, while many weekly themes will resonate throughout the semester.
EASTD 140	Major Religious Texts of East Asia	Abe	EALC	Area; 100-level EALC
This course aims at enabling students to read and analyze in depth major religious texts of East Asia, representing diverse traditions and genres. The course encourages students to take up their reading of texts not only as ways to acquire knowledge on Asian religious traditions, but as practice, labor, and play in which their ordinary way of understanding/experiencing the world and themselves will be challenged, reaffirmed, and renewed.
EASTD 143B	Digital Tools and Methods in East Asian Humanities: Coding Approach	Tang	EALC	Area; 100-level EALC
This course is designed for students in East Asian Humanities who are interested in adopting digital methods in their research with basic Python coding. It will introduce fundamental programming concepts, SQL and relational databases, popular Python libraries in data cleaning, text analysis, and supervised and unsupervised machine learning. Students completing the course will be able to integrate and apply the Python libraries taught in class into their research and to explore the rapidly growing newcomers without hurdles. Ability to read Chinese, Japanese, or Korean documents is required.
EASTD 153	Buddhism, Japanese Arts and Culture	Abe	EALC	Area; 100-level EALC; historical survey
This course is designed to enable students to analyze a wide range of Japanese cultural creations - including the traditional Noh theater, classical and modern Japanese paintings, and contemporary anime – by illustrating the influence of Buddhism both in their forms and at their depths. The first part of the course is a study of major Buddhist philosophy and its impact on Japanese literature. The second part observes Buddhist ritual practices and their significance for Japanese performing arts. The last part traces the development of Japanese Buddhist art, and considers the influence of Buddhism on diverse contemporary popular Japanese art media.
EASTD 170	Medicine and the Self in China and in the West	Kuriyama	EALC	Area; 100-level EALC; historical survey
Comparative historical exploration of the striking differences and unexpected similarities between traditional conceptions of the body in East Asian and European medicine; the evolution of beliefs within medical traditions; the relationship between traditional medicine and contemporary experience.
EASTD 196	Political Geography of China	Koss	EALC	Area; 100-level EALC; junior tutorial
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.
EASTD 271*	Language, Script, and Power in East Asia	Park	EALC	Area; upper-level EALC
How do we speak, write, and think and feel about the languages we know and use? This seminar introduces students to ideas about language, language structure, and language use—ideologies about language and script—that have shaped society, culture, and literature within the East Asian context (China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam). Readings—all in English—are drawn from multiple disciplines and fields to provide students with opportunities to examine comparatively a wide-ranging topics. Topics to explore include the rise of written vernaculars in the Sinographic Cosmopolis of pre-twentieth-century East Asia, linguistic modernity, nationalization of language and literature, script reform, colonial governance and racialization, empire building, decolonization, linguistic hybridity, translation, and questions of rupture vs. continuity when discussing premodernity vs. modernity in East Asia.
EASTD 97ab	Introduction to the Study of East Asia: Issues and Methods	Kuriyama	EALC	Sophomore Tutorial
This interdisciplinary and team-taught course provides an introduction to several of the approaches and methods through which the societies and cultures of East Asia can be studied at Harvard, including history, philosophy, literary studies, political science, film studies, anthropology and gender studies. We consider both commonalities and differences across the region, and explore how larger processes of imperialism, modernization, and globalization have shaped contemporary East Asian societies and their future trajectories. Required of sophomore concentrators and secondary field candidates. Open to freshmen.
EASTD 98K	Economic Governance in East Asia	Koss	EALC	Area; Junior Tutorial
East Asia has given rise to models of development with distinct visions for the relationship between the state and the market. Hallmarks of the designs are powerful ministries, gigantic conglomerates, state-supervised labor unions, and spectacular corruption. Students will develop a deeper comprehension of phenomena such as national champions, tycoons in the digital economy, Communist party control, international expansion, and slogans such as “Made in China 2025.” Throughout the course, we will occasionally go back in time to historical foundations of economic governance. This junior tutorial provides individualized support in the research process toward a final paper.
FYSEMR 33R	The Chinese Language, Present and Past	Huang	FRSEM	Area
This seminar offers an opportunity to learn about the Chinese language, by observing and analyzing its linguistic structure, history, cultural tradition and social relevance. Designed for students with some experience of the Chinese language.
FYSEMR 71D	Zen and the Art of Living: Making the Ordinary Extraordinary	Robson	FRSEM	Area
This seminar explores the rich history, philosophy and practices of Zen Buddhism as it developed in China, Korea, and Japan.
GENED 1068	The United States and China	Kirby	GENED	Area; historical survey
The United States and China are global economic and military powers. They have a rich history of commerce, friendship, alliance, and antagonism. Both countries have been shaped and re-shaped by the nature of their mutual relations. Their relationship is in crisis, the outcome of which will do much to define the world of the 21st century. This University-wide course invites undergraduates and graduate students to examine together the present and future of U.S.-China relations in the light of their past.
GENED 1083	Permanent Impermanence: Why Buddhists Build Monuments	Kim, Wang	GENED	Area; historical survey
Why do Buddhists build monuments despite the core teaching of ephemerality, and what can we learn from this paradox about our own conception of time and space? This Gen Ed course takes a multicultural and reflective engagement with Buddhist sites scattered throughout time and space. Pertinent topics such as cosmology, pilgrimage, materiality, relics, meditation, and world-making will be explored. Through these Buddhist monuments in South and Southeast Asia, the Himalayas, Central Asia, China, Korea, and Japan, students will learn about the rich, diverse world of Buddhist practice and experience.
GENED 1100	[COURSE CANCELED] The Two Koreas in the Modern World	Eckert	GENED	Area; historical survey; junior tutorial
Why is it that the Two Koreas (North and South Korea), sharing the same small peninsula, have followed such radically divergent paths in the modern world? How and why did there come to be two competing and adversarial states on the Korean peninsula in our contemporary world, one a prosperous capitalist democracy of global reach, and the other an impoverished dictatorship, bordering on theocracy and almost totally estranged from the international community—both claiming exclusive rights to speak for the Korean people and the Korean “nation” as a whole?
GENED 1119	Law, Politics, and Trade Policy: Lessons from East Asia	Davis	GENED	Area; historical survey
How do states balance the challenges and opportunities of international markets? Importing ideas and resources while exporting manufactured goods underlies the East Asian growth miracle but also builds conflict with other governments. This course examines the transformative role of trade policy for Japan, Korea, and China. From the “unequal treaties” of the nineteenth century to the World Trade Organization today, trade law binds the interactions between East Asia and the world. Japan grew from an isolated samurai nation to a leading economic power but now confronts stagnating growth. Korea relied on business conglomerates for rapid industrialization and embraced liberalization to steer its way out of financial crisis. China turned to the WTO to anchor domestic economic reforms but now faces U.S. resistance to its export dominance. East Asia offers models of the success and problems that accompany globalization.
GOV 2285*	Political Science and China	Perry	GOV	Area
This graduate seminar gives students control over the secondary literature on Chinese politics, with special attention to competing theoretical and methodological approaches.
GOV 94IA	Sino-US Relations in an Era of Rising Chinese Power	Johnston	GOV	Area
Focuses on the theoretically informed explanations for changing levels of conflict and cooperation in US-China relations. Examines the role of history, ideology, power, economics, and ethnicity/identity. Main assignment is an original research paper that tests alternative explanations for some puzzle in US-China relations.
GOV 94YW	Comparative Political Development	Wang	GOV	Area
This course examines the historical development of different political institutions in the world. Why did modern nation states and representative governments emerge in Europe? What was the path of political development in other parts of Eurasia, such as China and the Middle East? How did different political institutions influence economic development in the long term? We explore these big questions drawing materials from political science, history, sociology, anthropology, and economic history. A major course objective is to understand how the roots of political development in different countries connect with their politics and economies today.
HAA 18P	Introduction to Japanese Woodblock Prints	Lippit	HAA	Area
This course provides an introduction to Japanese art and cultural history through a survey of the Japanese woodblock print from its emergence in the mid-17th century to the modern era. Technical developments, major genres, and master designers are explored within the context of Japan's pictorial traditions and evolving urban culture. Topics for consideration include aesthetic discourse, censorship, erotica, Japonisme, the construction of social identity, print culture, and the representation of war.
HIST 1602	Modern China: 1894-Present	Ghosh	HIST	Area; historical survey
This lecture course will provide a survey of some of the major issues in the history of post-imperial China (1912- ). Beginning with the decline of the Qing and the dramatic collapse of China’s imperial system in 1911, the course shall examine how China has sought to redefine itself anew over the past one-hundred years. The revolutionary years of 1911, 1949, and 1978 will serve as our three fulcra, as we investigate how China has tussled with a variety of ‘isms’ (such as republicanism, militarism, nationalism, socialism, and state capitalism) in its pursuit of an appropriate system of governance and social organization. In so doing, we shall also explore the social, economic, cultural, and scientific changes wrought by these varied attempts at state-building.
HIST 89J	The United States and China: Opium War to the Present	Manela	HIST	Area
This research seminar will focus on the history of Sino-American relations and interactions since the Opium War (1840s). It will examine major episodes such as the Boxer intervention, the first and second world wars, the Korea and Vietnam wars, the Mao-Nixon rapprochement, and the post-Mao transformations, and explore central themes such as immigration, trade, culture, diplomacy, and security.
JAPAN 210B*	Reading Scholarly Japanese for Students of Chinese and Korean	Jacobsen	EALC	Area or Language; upper-level EALC
Continuation of Japanese 210a.
JAPNHIST 270*	Early Modern Japanese History: Proseminar	Howell	EALC	Area; upper-level EALC
This seminar surveys the recent English-language literature on the history of early modern Japan, roughly from the late sixteenth century to around 1875.
JAPNLIT 162	Girl Culture, Media, and Japan	Yoda	EALC	Area; 100-level EALC; junior tutorial
In contemporary Japan, girls and girl culture are considered to be among the most significant sources of popular cultural trends. For instance, the girly aesthetics of “cute” (kawaii) has animated broad areas of Japanese culture since the 1980s and has become a global cultural idiom through the dissemination of Japanese entertainment medias and fashion products abroad. The course will explore a number of key questions about Japanese (and global) girl culture. How did the conceptualization of girlhood, girl culture, girl bodies, and girl affect transform in Japan from the early twentieth century to the present? How did various medias and media consumption help shape these trends? What can the exploration of “girls’ question” tell us, not only about Japanese socio-cultural history, but also about the general conditions of youth, gender, and media culture in the world today (e.g., the sea of pink at Women’s March, 2016)? We will begin the semester by unpacking key terms such as “girl,” “girlhood,” and “girl culture” in relations to the modern and contemporary notions of gender, maturity, and majority. The course materials include fiction, fashion magazines, teen films, manga, and animation. No prior knowledge of Japanese language or history is expected.
JAPNLIT 260*	Early Modern Japanese Literature and Culture	Atherton	EALC	Area; upper-level EALC
This course explores the literature of the Edo period, a time that saw the emergence of a dynamic market for popular literature, the rise of new dramatic forms such as kabuki and puppet theater, the heyday of comic linked verse and satirical poetry, striking innovations in travel writing and the essay, and radically new approaches to the literature of Japan’s past. Surveying a diverse range of prose, poetry, and drama, we will explore such relationships as those between text and image, stage and page, orality and literacy, print and manuscript, high and low, literature and politics, and Japan and the continent.
JAPNLIT 270*	Topics in Modern and Contemporary Japanese Fiction: Seminar	Yoda	EALC	Area; upper-level EALC
A seminar course on the history, theory, and practice of modern to contemporary Japanese fiction. The course will be organized around a specific theme, time period, a cluster of writers, critics, or genres.
KORHIST 230R*	Readings in Premodern Korean History	Kim, Sun Joo	EALC	Area; upper-level EALC
Examines the social, political, economic, and intellectual history of premodern Korea. Designed primarily for graduate students preparing for the general examination.
KORLIT 134	Korean Literature in Translation	Park	EALC	Area; 100-level EALC;
This lecture course introduces undergraduate students to major works, writers, themes, and styles of Korean literature while exploring literature-inspired questions using Korean literature. All readings are in English. No knowledge of the Korean language is required. Knowledge of Korean culture and history is not required but is encouraged. Graduate students may take this course for credit after consultation with the instructor.
MUSIC 194RS	Special Topics: Proseminar: Music in Japan from Ghibli to Gagaku	Hynes-Tawa	MUSIC	Area
Like Japanese culture in general, Japan’s music has been stereotyped both as simultaneously very old/traditional and very modern/Western, a dichotomy that fails to take into account the many rich layers of history that have combined to create the landscape we see today. This course will walk through several different genres and periods in the history of Japanese music, exploring its relations with its East Asian neighbors as well as Western cultures. By engaging both with music and with readings (in English), students will practice writing about music from a variety of approaches. No knowledge of music theory or the Japanese language required, though students that do have/are developing these skills are encouraged to apply them.
PHIL 159S	Skepticism	Rinard	PHIL	Area
This course will primarily focus on attempts to develop a workable skeptical philosophy. Much effort has been, and continues to be, expended in trying to defeat, or argue against, or undermine, skepticism. Here we will look at what happens if we take seriously the possibility that skepticism is actually true. How can we build a philosophy, and a life, that acknowledges the truth of skepticism? We will look at a number of different attempts to do this from a wide range of times. We will pay particular attention to the Ancient Greek Pyrrhonians and the Ancient Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi, reading both the original texts and later commentaries on them.
RELIGION 116	The Conduct of Life in Western and Eastern Philosophy	Unger, Puett	HDS	Area; 100-level EALC
A study of approaches in the philosophical traditions of the West and the East to the conduct of life. Philosophical ethics has often been understood as meta-ethics: the development of a method of moral inquiry or justification. Here we focus instead on what philosophy has to tell us about the first-order question: How should we live our lives?This year a major concern will be the study and contrast of two such orientations to existence. One is the philosophical tradition focused on ideas of self-reliance, self-construction, and nonconformity (exemplified by Emerson and Nietzsche). The other is a way of thinking (notably represented by Confucius) that puts its hope in a dynamic of mutual responsibility, shaped by role and ritual and informed by imaginative empathy.
RELIGION 1599	Asian American Religion	Eck	HDS	Area
How "Asian" is America today? This seminar explores the Asian dimensions of American history, immigration, religion, and culture as immigrants have come from India, China, Southeast Asia, Korea, and Japan. When and why did they come to the U.S.? What forms of religious and cultural life did they bring to the U.S. in the 19th and 20th centuries? What opportunities and obstacles did they find here? How do Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs, Buddhists of many lineages, as well as Asian Christian communities contribute to the religious landscape of American cities and towns today? How has Asia reshaped the collective identity of the United States from the first encounters of Thoreau and Emerson with texts and ideas of the "Orient" to the saturation of modern America with the holistic cultures of yoga, tai chi, and mind-body medicine? Offered jointly with Divinity as HDS 3490; permission of instructor required.
SOCIOL 1141	Contemporary Chinese Society	Lei	SOCIOL	Area
This course will equip you with the basic literacy required to comprehend contemporary Chinese society, which is an increasingly essential skill for informed citizens in our present global context. No prior knowledge or language proficiency is necessary to enroll in this class. We will delve into the profound transformations that have occurred during the post-1978 reform period, including China's shift to a market economy, the emergence of the digital economy, the implementation of population policy by the government, urbanization, rising inequality, and contentious politics. The course will analyze how these changes have influenced social relations and how they have been experienced and understood by individuals. From a sociological perspective, this course will address topics related to the state, development, market, population, migration, urbanization, inequality, gender, labor and work, civil society, the public sphere, and social movements. Although the course is listed in the sociology catalog, readings and topics covered in the course are situated at the intersection of sociology, political science, law, anthropology, and history.
SOCIOL 1181	Social Change in Modern Korea	Chang	SOCIOL	Area; Junior Tutorial
This course explores the incredible transformation of Korean society in the modern period. We begin with the demise of the Choson Dynasty at the end of the 19th century before covering the Japanese colonial period (1910-1945), the emergence of two Korean nation-states (1945-1948), the Korean War (1950-53), and the contemporary period (1960-present). The course is divided into two sections: in the first part of the course we will discuss Korea’s political and economic transformation, and in the second part we will cover social and cultural change. Upon completion of the course students should have a thorough grasp of the vast social changes Korea underwent in the 20th century.
TDM 168K	Contemporary Mixed Media Theater Production in Asia	Kim	TDM	Area
Contemporary Asian theater has emerged in recent years as a source of influence and inspiration in the global culture industry. Specifically, mixed media productions in Asia have created a provocative performance and compositional space through which to link cultural experiences of the past with the artistic vision and expression of contemporary creative practitioners. Audiences around the world are increasingly eager for pathbreaking new media productions that engage with cultural diversity and multiple traditions. Correspondingly, global production theaters have changed their models to satisfy audience demands. This course combines seminar discussion, lecture, and hands-on practical engagement to develop students’ understanding and appreciation of mixed media performing arts, especially those that incorporate and innovate upon traditional Asian aesthetics and cultural experiences. Course materials will cover traditional music and theatres, the technical development of contemporary Asian theater, diverse forms of media production in contemporary, social, and political performance arts in Asia, and their global circulation. In particular, this course will focus on contemporary mixed media theater from Korea, China, and Japan.
WOMGEN 1216	Women's Voices in Asian and Asian American Literature	Choi	WGS	Area
This course introduces students to the writings of both canonical and lesser-known Asian and Asian American women writers. The course especially examines the works by Chinese/ Chinese American, Japanese/ Japanese American, Korean/ Korean American women writers. Moving from the pre-modern to contemporary era, the course will explore a range of women’s voices and experiences as reflected through poetry, fiction, diaries, and epistles. Authors will include Murasaki Shikibu, Li Qingzhao, Ono no Komachi, Lady Hyegyŏng, Qui Jin, Higuchi Ichiyo, Kim Wŏn-ju, Gong Jiyoung, Yoshimoto Banana, Maxine Hong Kingston, Tamiko Beyer, and Min Jin Lee. Topics will include family, marriage, loyalty, motherhood, women’s rights, sexual violence, same- sex desire, censorship, and gender and race politics.

Area Courses

East Asian Studies

(617) 495-8365 | eas@fas.harvard.edu

9 Kirkland Place, Room 102
Cambridge, MA 02138

East Asian Studies

(617) 495-8365 | eas@fas.harvard.edu

9 Kirkland Place, Room 102Cambridge, MA 02138

9 Kirkland Place, Room 102
Cambridge, MA 02138