Boston College
Asian Studies Courses at a Glance*
Spring 2016
(Updated October 29, 2015)
*Note: This list includes only essential information such as course number, title and, class time, name of
professor and an abbreviated course description. For full course descriptions, syllabi, and course sections, see
BC online course listing through Agora.
Course
Number
Title
Instructor(s)
Japanese Visual Culture
Aurelia Campbell
Time
TTH 10:30-11:45 am
This course surveys the visual and material cultures of Japan from Neolithic to present times. Our subject matters
ARTH 2245 include ancient pottery, Buddhist temples, tea culture, Edo woodblock prints, and contemporary art. Particular
attention will be paid to understanding objects within their original social and cultural contexts. Students will be
trained in various art historical methodologies and will deepen their knowledge about one aspect of Japanese art
history through an in-depth research project.
The Arts of Buddhism
Aurelia Campbell
TTH 1:30-2:45 pm
Students in this course will be introduced to the major styles and types of Buddhist art and architecture, as well as
ARTH 2274 to the fundamental role it played in religious practice. Topics to be explored include the origins of the
anthropomorphic Buddha image, pictorial narratives of the Buddha’s life, the sacred architecture of mandalas,
and visual representations of hells and paradises. Students will also deepen their knowledge about one aspect of
Buddhist art or architecture through an in-depth research project on a well-conceived topic.
Masterpieces of Islamic Art
ARTH
228001
Jonathan Bloom
A detailed examination of a dozen masterpieces of Islamic art ranging from architecture to ceramics, the seventh
century to the present, and Spain to India. Emphasis on placing the works in their historical, social, craft, and
visual contexts.
Arts of Islamic Spain
ARTH
331501
Jonathan Bloom
T 3 pm
This seminar introduces students to the rich artistic heritage of the Iberian Peninsula and adjacent regions in
northwest Africa when Muslims ruled much of the region from the eighth century through the fifteenth. Iberian
cities such as Cordoba, Seville, and Granada were centers of a brilliant Arab Islamic civilization, epitomized by
the Great Mosque of Cordoba or the Alhambra palaces. This course examines the extraordinary architecture and
decorative arts including ivory, woodcarving, metalwork, textiles, and manuscripts. As Muslims lost control of
large areas of the Iberian peninsula, the impact of Spanish Islamic art and culture remained strong among the
Christians and Muslims elsewhere in Islamic lands. Students participate in class discussions, research a topic,
prepare oral presentations, and submit a written research paper.
The Material Culture of Private Life in China
ARTH 4315
TTH 12 pm
Aurelia Campbell
W 3-5:30 pm
This research seminar employs close readings of primary objects, images, and texts as windows into the lives and
minds of people living in Ming-Qing China (c. 1400-1900). We will focus on the Chinese house, as well as its
gardens and furnishings, seeking to uncover the complex meanings embedded within them. Themes to be
explored include the family, gender, love, death, cultural consumption, artistic practice, and aesthetic theory.
Throughout the semester we will take trips to local museums, including to Yin Yu Tang, a two-hundred-year-old
Chinese house at the Peabody Essex Museum. Students in this course will also take part in the planning of an
upcoming exhibition to be held at the McMullen Museum of Art on domestic objects from the Ming and Qing
periods.
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Course
Number
Title
Instructor(s)
Time
Fang Lu, Huimin Li, and MWF 8-10 am
Violet Richardson
TTH 9-10:30 am
Elementary Chinese II
EALC 1122
EALC1122 (coreq: EALC1123) Elementary Chinese II is the continuation of Elementary Chinese I (EALC 1121,
+
coreq: EALC1123). It trains students in all four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. This
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course continues to build the comprehensive introduction of the basics of Mandarin. Weekly class meetings
include two 75-minute lectures (Tuesdays and Thursdays) focusing on grammatical explanations and three 50minute practicum in small groups (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays).
Elementary Japanese II
Ritsuko Sullivan
MWF 12:00 W 11:00
EALC 1222- This is a continuation of Elementary Japanese. The ultimate goal of this course is to get
comfortable communicating in Japanese. Building a sold foundation of Japanese grammar will be
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emphasized. In order to learn the language from the perspectives of Japanese culture, students will have some
Japanese cultural activities.
Introduction to Korean II
Choong-Nam Yoon
TTH 12 - 1:15 pm
This course is designed for those who have taken Introduction to Korean I (EALC1311) or had some knowledge
EALC 1312 in Korean. The primary objective of this course is to develop the four fundamental skills of reading, writing,
speaking, and listening comprehension. Classroom exercises focus on pronunciation, grammar, reading and
speaking. Special emphasis is placed on the expansion of vocabulary by learning basic Chinese characters.
Far Eastern Literary Masterpieces
Sing-Chen Chiang
TTH 12- 1:15 pm
Introduction to the literary traditions of East Asia through close reading of selected passages from three
EALC 2064 masterworks in Japanese, Korean, and Chinese literatures. Texts include the Tale of Genji, Biography of Ch’unHyang, and Dream of the Red Chamber. Class discussion focuses on critical analysis of literary works both
within their own specific historical contexts and as artistic responses to the universal human condition. No
prerequisites; taught in English.
EALC 2122
Intermediate Chinese II (co-requisite EALC
Sing-Chen Chiang
2023)
TTH 9-10:15 am
Intermediate Japanese II
MWF 1 pm; F 11 am
Ritsuko Sullivan
EALC 2222- This is the second semester of intermediate Japanese, and student will complete learning basic Japanese
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grammar. Four languages skills are emphasized, but communicative skills, especially writing and speaking, are
more targeted.
Media Chinese
EALC
31620
Fang Lu
MWF 12-12:50 pm
Prerequisite: EALC41220 Advanced Chinese II or equivalent
Introduction to the special vocabulary and sentence structure used in Chinese news and media both in print and
on the Internet (including texts, videos, and podcasts). The course aims to help students acquire advance
proficiency in reading, listening, speaking, comprehending, and translating Chinese journalistic discourse.
Advanced Chinese II
Fang Lu
MWF: 10-11 am
(section1);
9-10 am (section2)
Prerequisite: EALC4121 or equivalent
EALC 4122 This course is a continuation of the advanced Chinese I and aims at further developing the students' ability to use
Chinese in a more advanced way. The priority of the course is given to in-depth reading of authentic writings in
Chinese, with an emphasis on accurate comprehension, expansion of vocabulary for expressing more refined and
sophisticated ideas, and development of ability to process sentences with complex structures used mainly in
formal speech and writing.
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Course
Number
Title
Instructor(s)
Asia in the World II
HIST 1006
Franziska Seraphim
Ling Zhang
Yajun Mo
Yajun Mo
Prasannan Parthasarathi
TTH 9- 10:15 am
This course is a survey of the history of the Indian subcontinent from Mughal times to Independence. Topics to
be covered will include: the decline of the Mughal Empire, the rise of British rule and its impact, the Mutiny and
Civilian Revolt of 1857, the invention of a traditional India in the nineteenth century, law and gender in British
India, Gandhi and Indian nationalism, and independence and partition.
East Asian Security
POLI 4590
MWF 1-1:50 pm
How have Chinese defined what it means to be a proper "man" or a "woman"? How have these gender norms and
ideologies shaped the life experiences and self-perceptions of individual men and women in modern China? How
have they shaped Chinese social, political, economic, and cultural institutions? We will explore these questions
though an in-depth study of the construction of gender in modern China, focusing primarily on Chinese women’s
lives and the changes in shared social ideas about what women should do and be from the mid-19th century to the
present, a time of profound change on the Chinese mainland. The central question animating the course is this:
when we foreground gender as a category of analysis, how does history look different?
Modern South Asia
HIST
409001
MWF 11-11:50 am
During the tenth through thirteenth centuries, China was believed to have experienced? The Chinese enjoyed a
higher living standard than people in the rest of the world. This course explores these questions by investigating
the environmental, political, and socio-economic transitions during this period.
Women & Gender in Modern China
HIST
404801
MWF 11-11:50 am
The history of China from the mid-nineteenth century onward can be divided into four sections: the fall of the
Qing Empire; the developments in the Republican era; the post-1949 attempts at socialist transformation; and the
course and consequences of economic reform since the early 1980s. This course will explore Chinese society as it
was understood by the Chinese as well as by outsiders. The focus will be on the daily life of ordinary people, and
to the forces that helped shape that life: the state, village and urban economic activity, ethnic conflicts, gender
relations, foreign imperialism, and reforms and revolutions.
Environment, Economy & Politics in Medieval China Ling Zhang
HIST
404301
MWF 2-2:50 pm
This course studies the history of early imperial China, by focusing on the short reign of the First Emperor of the
Qin dynasty (221-210 BCE). Students will learn to use a variety of materials (literary, archaeological, artistic,
and multimedia) and to think critically about issues including the formation of China?s early imperial dynasties;
early China's social, intellectual, and cultural histories; the continuity of China?s bureaucratic system and
authoritarian tradition; and China?s relations with the outside world. The course is reading and discussion
intensive.
Modern China
HIST
205101
TTH 10 am
This course examines Asia in the shaping of the modern world, from competing definitions of empires circa 1800
to the rise of the notion of the twenty-first century as a "Pacific Century." It investigates the definition(s) of Asia
as a world region, explores transnational interactions, and emphasizes Asians as historical actors via written,
visual, and aural sources.
First Emperor and Rise of Imperial China
HIST
204301
Time
Robert Ross
TTH 3-4:15 pm
This class focuses on the strategic conditions of post-Cold War East Asia. It examines the regional
political structure, the strategic characteristics of the region’s great power relationship – U.S.-China
relations – and the implications for the conflicts on the Korean peninsula, in the Taiwan Strait, and in
the South China Sea, and the role of alliance relationships in regional diplomacy. From these different
perspectives, it considers the sources of state behavior and prospects for regional stability.
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Course
Number
Title
Instructor(s)
Ethical Principles in Comparative
Perspective
Fr. Joseph You Guo
Jiang, S. J.
Time
TTH 1:30 pm
The course will explore the major concepts of and current trends in Eastern and Western ethical
PHIL447701 principles, values, beliefs, and practices. It will also illustrate the diversity of their social, cultural,
ethical and philosophical life by means of a cross-cultural perspective in order to communicate to
students the importance of global changes, dialogue and exchanges. This course will qualify for
cultural diversity core requirement.
Buddhist Ethics in Theory and Practice
PL4472, TH
EO
4472, TMCE
4472
T 2-4:25 pm
We will explore ethical principles and practices of Buddhism in India, Southeast Asia and Tibet, then application
of those principles to current ethical problems by several leading Buddhist writers, e.g. social justice, ecology,
global economics, war and peace. Daily mindfulness practice, based on class instruction, is
encouraged. Requirements: Weekly writing of about 3 pages, active class participation, and final
paper. Prerequisite: for undergrads, at least one prior course in philosophy or theology and a B+ or higher
average in prior humanities (non-science) courses.
Mahāyāna Buddhism in East Asia
THEO5387/
PHIL5387
John Makransky
David Mozina
MW 3-4:15 pm
The nature of the bodhisattva—a wise and compassionate being dedicated to the salvation of all sentient beings—
is perhaps the subject debated by the major schools of Mahāyāna thought in East Asia (China, Japan, Korea, and
Vietnam). These philosophical debates in turn shaped, and were shaped by, the distinctive modes of practice that
developed within these schools. This course will explore the sophisticated interplay between the philosophical
and cultic dimensions of various Buddhist traditions in East Asia—Tiantai (Tendai), Chan (Zen), Pure Land, and
Esoteric (Shingon). Close readings of texts and images will challenge Western assumptions about ultimate
reality, ethical norms, and ritual forms.
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