SENIOR PERSPECTIVE COURSE
SRP/PHL434: Philosophy of Asian Literature and Film
Fall 2012
Core B International/Global Studies
Certified Writing Course
Policy Sheet and Syllabus
Instructor: Dr. Jinmei Yuan, Associate Professor
Office: Humanities Center, Room 114
Class Meetings: MWF 12:30-1:20
Office Hours: MW: 8:30-9:200 pm., MWF 11:30-12:20 pm., and by appointment
Phone: 280-3309
Email: jinmei@creighton.edu
Prerequisites: PHL/THL 250 or one of the followings: a) PHL 251 or 253, b) PHL/THL
351 or 353, or c) PHL 320 or PHL 323
Required Texts:
John M. Koller
Asian Philosophies (Fourth Edition), Printice Hall, 2002
Graham, A. C.
Chuang-Tzu, the Inner Chapters, Hackett Publishing
Kawabata, Yasunari (Tran. J. M. Holman) The Dancing Girl of Izu and Other Stories,
Basic Books, 1998
Lin Yutang
Importance of Living by Lin Yutang, William Morrow
and Company, Inc. 1998, originally published in 1937
P. J. Ivanhoe
Confucian Moral Self Cultivation,
Rabindranath Tagore
Gitanjali:Offerings from the Heart, Simon & Schuster
Adult Publishing Group, 1997
Handouts:
Selection from East Asian literatures:
1. Jinmei Yuan’s Loyal Courtiers and Their Rebellious Children (part)
2. Mishima’s Spring Snow (part), Penguin Books, 1985
3. Kawabata, Yasunari’s Snow Country (part), Knopf Alfred A, 1996
4. Gao, Xingjian’s
Soul Mountain (part), HarperCollins Publishers, 2001
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Selection from East Asian philosophy:
5. Ames, Roger (ed.)
Self as Person in Asian Theory and Practice, State
University of New York Press, 1994
6. Confucius’ The Analects of Confucius: A Philosophical Translation (part), (Tran.
R. Ames) Ballantine Books, Inc. 1999
7. Aung San Suu Kyi’s The Voice of Hope (part)
8. Gandhi’ s The Bhagavad Gita According to Gandhi, Berkeley Hills Books, 2000
9. John M. Koller, Sourcebook in Asian Philosophy
10. Others
Xerox Materials: To be announced
Optional Texts:
Malhotra, Ashok Kumar,
Li, Zehou
Transcreation of the Bhagavad Gita, NJ: Prentice
Hall, 1998
The Path of Beauty, Art Media Resource Ltd
Press, 2001
Course Description and Course Objectives
Course Description:
This course introduces East Asian way of thinking and moral values. Based on a
philosophical investigation, the course will discuss the moral values that guide the real
life of people who live in East Asian world today. A wide range of master works from
famous East Asian writers and filmmakers will be introduced because the literature and
film represent the practical life and culture in the East Asian countries. These master
works provide students with a ground to examine how Buddhism, Confucianism, and
Daoism function in peoples’ lives. The moral issues and wisdom involved in these
master works will be viewed from many different perspectives, such as culture, history,
and religion. The course will discuss how and why the philosophy of non-violent
action is rooted within Buddhist countries, such as, India and Burma; how and why
aesthetic order and ritual order are highly prized in China and Japan; what the
philosophical roots of East Asian family morality are and what is the impact of East
Asian women movements in today’s world. Students are encouraged to explore and
reflect on the East Asian wisdom that may be valuable to our modern society nowadays.
Course requirements include discussion, examinations, and critical writing.
Course Objectives:
To help students learn to:
1) understand the basic philosophical concepts and moral principles that East
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Asian people often apply in their real life;
identify the common values held by both western and eastern philosophers;
open a wide worldview from the perspective of eastern wisdom to look at the
world of today.
recognize the contributions of East Asian philosophy and literature to world
civilization.
apply the concepts of the arts of living in East Asian philosophy to their
daily lives and consider this application through discussion and written
personal reflections.
enrich the skills of critical thinking from the perspective of eastern
philosophy.
Synthesize research on one issue that is discussed by East Asian
philosophers and remains an important issue in our contemporary society.
The overall goals of this class are for students to gain an awareness and understanding
of positive and negative aspects in East Asian culture and way of thinking, to open a
common discourse between East Asian philosophy and Western philosophy, and to
learn the valuable doctrines and theories of East Asian culture. I hope that some of
these East Asian values and wisdom will help students solve problems that they might
face in real life
Course Requirements and Grading
Course Assignments:
Written Assignments: Criteria for each paper will be identified in my web-notes.
Please read them carefully. Your final paper must be rewritten to show that you have
improved your writing.
There are three types of written assignments:
1) Short Papers (4%)
Students will be required to write 1 short paper (4 pages, approx. 250-300 words
per page) or 2 short papers (2 pages each) establishing, assessing, and responding to the
significance of the readings. The instructor will give a list of topics for you to choose.
You will choose no more than two of them to write about. The writing should be in
essay style and should address: 1) an interest issue addressed in the readings; 2) your
reflection on the issue. All papers must be typewritten and will be due at class time on
the indicated day (see the schedule).
2) Summaries of moral issues in the film (6%)
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Each student should write three 1-page summaries for three films: 1) Himalayas
(Nepal) or Water (India); 2) To Live or Farewell My Concubine or Ju Dou (China);
3) Snow Country or Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (Japan). The summaries
should include two parts: 1) the ethical/aesthetical issues that the films bring in; 2)
what philosophical/religious theories involved in the films. The summaries can be
brief but both part one and part two have to be clearly stated. Summaries have to
be typed.
3) Final Paper (20%):
You will choose an East Asian philosophy topic on which you will write your
final paper. Students should be prepared to redraft their final paper in light of
written comments by the instructor within two weeks of receiving them back.
The final paper will be 12 total pages and is broken down into two parts. The
first part of the paper is a creative work. You need to write a short piece (an essay,
a story or a dialogue) that is guided by the Eastern wisdom and written in the
Eastern style. This part is no more than 2 pages. The second part of the paper is
your discussion of the Eastern wisdom shown in your 2 page creative writings.
You need to develop an argument to criticize the social problems that we face today
from the perspective of East Asian philosophy and examine whether the Eastern
wisdom could be a contribution to the modern world for solving our problems.
First draft and rewriting process: Students need to submit their first draft of
the final paper on Nov. 14. I will give written comments on your first drafts. You
might need to make appointment with me to discuss your idea of how to prove your
first draft. The first draft is 5% of your total grade.
Final draft: The final draft will be due in the fourteenth week of the class. You
need to submit your first draft with your final draft. Your final draft is 15% of your
total grade.
Criteria for all three types of written assignments:
All written assignments will be graded on the following criteria:
Content:
Clarity and Logic—how clearly the issues are presented and how well
reasoned are the conclusions
Thoroughness—how completely the issues are analyzed
Documentation—how correctly are concepts attributed to sources
Writing Mechanics:
Grammar/Punctuation—how well are the rules of grammar and
punctuation followed
Spelling/Typing—how accurate are the spelling and typing
Sentence Construction—how well are awkward, incomplete sentences
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avoided
Organization—how logical is the flow of the paper
Grading guidelines for short paper and final paper:
For a grade of A:
In addition to those items required for a grade of B. The paper shows an
exceptional degree of understanding of the issues discussed in the course. An especially
thoughtful reflection on the student’s capacity of critical and creative thinking is
evident. The paper demonstrates insight into the relationship between the issues in the
course and the student’s mission and future responsibilities.
For a grade of B:
The paper should demonstrate the student’s understanding of the relevant concepts
and clearly articulate the student’s philosophical inquiry to these concepts/issues. The
assignment is well organized. Paragraphs contain topic sentences and are coherent and
appropriate in length. Sentences are smooth and carefully crafted. Transitions connect
sentences and paragraphs so the writing is not choppy. There are virtually no errors in
punctuation, spelling, grammar, and usage.
The paper avoids triteness and
generalizations. The thesis statement is clearly delineated. The introduction presents
the issue and outlines its significance. Terms are adequately defined. The writer shows
an understanding of the topic. Conclusions are well supported and follow from the
argument. The paper is tight, not wordy. The bibliography is correctly displayed and
refers to a sufficient number of current sources. Sources are correctly cited.
For a grade C:
The paper demonstrates a basic understanding of the concepts and issues involved.
The student has basic skills to do a philosophical reasoning but the application of
course-related concepts and issues is sometimes inadequate. The paper shows research
beyond the level of assigned texts in the course. The work is well organized, but the
paragraph structure may sometimes be disjointed. The paper contains no more than a
few awkward passages. There are some errors in punctuation, spelling, grammar and
usage. The language is too general, but none of these errors is glaring or highly
distracting. The sources cited may be limited in number or somewhat out-of-date.
There may be some errors in format in the citations and bibliography.
For a grade of D:
The relevant concepts and issues from the course materials are presented, but some
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inaccuracies may exist. The student’s skills of reasoning are discussed, but sufficient
detail or clarity may be lacking. Application of course-related concepts and issues is
often inadequate. Research is at the level of the assigned texts for the course. The work
is adequately organized, though some paragraphs may be disjointed or misplaced.
Generally, it shows that the writer has followed a logical plan. The writing is competent
but wordy, general, or imprecise. Sentences may at times be awkwardly constructed,
but their meaning is clear. Paragraphs do not develop topic sentences. Errors in
grammar, punctuation and spelling are distracting. Errors in citations and in the
bibliography are more extensive.
For a grad of F:
The student’s description and discussion of the relevant concepts and issues
contains major errors or is omitted form the paper. The student fails to demonstrate
significant thoughtfulness about his or her personal critical and creative thinking. The
paper lacks a clear thesis. The language is frequently muddled and unclear. The
technical errors in writing are numerous and highly distracting. The writer’s
understanding of the topic is in question. Bibliography and citations are missing or
incorrect.
Due days for your assignments: see the Tentative Schedule
In-Class Work and Participation (30%)
In addition to the writing portfolio, the instructors will assess and grade each
student's overall involvement, development, and accomplishment in the course. This
grade will take into account all aspects of a student's performance, including:
1) In-class work (Attendance, class participation, Pop-quiz, class preparation and
Contributions): (20%)
Instructor will give students a list of research topics. Students can work as small
groups. Each group should cover 2 topics during the semester. You are expect:
1) to report to the class your research results, 2) to make a film or prepare a play
or write a story based on your research and discover. (5% for each project, 10%
total)
A list of group activities (5%) as in-class work. The dates of these group
activities are unexpected and the make-up work is not acceptable.
Each student needs to bring at least 5 questions to the class during the course of
the semester (5%). Students need to discuss/answer each questions in a few
sentences based no his/her knowledge. Submitting your 5 questions at the last
class of the semester is not encouraged.
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3) Presentation (10%):
Each student needs to do one oral presentation to report his or her research.
The instructor will give the students a list of research topics at the fifth
meeting. The presentation includes two parts. Part one is a Photo Story
“movie” made by students. Part two is students’ presentation about the eastern
philosophical points of view in your “movie.” The instructor will teach the
students how to use PhotoStory3 software to make your “movie.”
For the oral presentation, the instructor’s evaluation will be based on:
a. Good preparation
b. Specific topic
c. Good understanding and personal thinking
d. Good skills of leading a discussion
e. Good conclusion
The schedule for student presentations will be arranged at the fifth class.
Two Exams (40%)
Test material will be taken from lectures, handouts, and reading assignments.
Exams will include objective questions as well as a written portion including some
definition and short answer/essay questions.
Grading: Your course grade will be based on the following assignments:
Exams: (40%)
Exam1……………………………….100 points=20%
Exam 2………………………………100 points=20%
Written Assignments: (30%)
One short essay……………….……………………4%
Summary 1…………………………………………2 %
Summary 2…………………………………………2%
Summary 3………………………………………….2%
Final Paper…………………………………………20% (The first draft: 5%; the final draft:
15%)
Activities/Participation: (30%)
2 research reports……………………………………10%
In-class work………………………………………...5%
5 questions……………….………….…….…………5%
Presentation……….……………….……………….10%
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Grading Scale:
90 above=A,
85—89 =B+,
80—84 =B,
75—79 =C+,
70—74 =C,
61—69 =D,
below 60=F
The list of films that will be involved in this class:
Instructor will show the required films on Thursday 6:00-8:00pm at L02 (Dates
have not confirmed yet but will be notified soon).
There are eight films with *. They are the required films. Watching these films
are parts of your assignments. Students are encouraged to watch these films as a group
on Thursday. After each Thursday, the instructor will put the film in the reserved desk
in the library for a week. If you are not able to watch the film with the group on
Thursday, you need to watch it before the class when we discuss it in the coming week.
Students are also encouraged to watch the rest if they have time.
Family Relationships and Morality:
*The King of Mask (China)
*To Live (China)
* Shower (China)
Red Cracks, Green Cracks (China)
Red Sorghum (China)
Human and Nature:
*Himalayan (Nepal)
Keke Xili
*Snow Country (Japan)
The Dancer of Izu (Japan)
Individuals and Social Problems:
Lover (Vietnam and China)
*Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence
*Deer Hunters
Shall We Dance (Japan)
Sailor (Japan)
Rashomon (Japan)
*Farewell My Concubine (China)
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World Peace:
The Burmese Harp (Japan)
*Aung San Suu Kyi (Burma)
Interview with Dalai Lama (Tibet)
Women’s Rights:
*Ju Dou (China)
Joy Luck Club (China)
*Water (India)
Human Rights:
1998 Tiananmen Movement (China)
Circle (India & Pakistan)
The links with other Asian Literature reading materials will be found in my WebPages
Instructor will create a link with World Literature course for helping students to understand the
Asian Literature assignments in this course better.
Expectations and Policies
Course Format and Learning Activities: The format of the class is lecture/discussion
with group activities. The professors from other departments will join students’
discussion sometimes (see the tentative schedule). The learning activities in this course
will include four steps:
1) From the first week to the third week: the topic that we will focus on is “The Position
of Human Being in the Universe according to East Asian Philosophers.” we will focus
on the introduction of the origin and development of the main schools of East Asian
Philosophy. We will read essays selected from East Asian philosophers’ works. The
related films (short pieces) will be shown in the class. Students will be encouraged to
look at the differences between Eastern culture and Western culture.
2) From the fourth week to the seventh week: the topic that we will focus on is “Nonviolence Movement and Indian Culture.” Students are required to read the materials of
the Philosophy of Indian literature and film before each class. The important influence
of Indian Philosophy to other East Asian countries will also be involved. Instructor will
assign two film as after-class assignments.
3) From the eighth week to eleventh week: The topic that we will focus on is: “The
Eastern Wisdom—the Way of Living this Life.” We will discuss the philosophy of
Chinese literature and films and the influence of Chinese culture. Instructor will assign
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four films as after-class assignments. Students are encouraged to do their group research
on Family Morality in East Asian culture.
4) From the twelfth week to fourteenth week: The topic that we will focus on is:
“Morality and Aesthetical Goal of Life.” We will discuss the philosophy of Japanese
literature and films and the relation to Indian and Chinese philosophies. Instructor will
assign two films as after-class assignments. Students need to pay attention to how
people in Japan combine beauty and morality in their daily life.
Each meeting of this class, in that period, will consist of one discussion, initiated by
student participants. Students will work as a team (no more than three people). The
group that will initiate a discussion needs to bring at least three questions (from either
readings or films) to the class. Initiating a discussion involves briefly surveying
material to be discussed. The group who is initiating the discussion needs to contribute
his or her understanding of the issues. Each student will, over the course of the
semester, initiate one or two such discussions. Each discussion is about ten minutes.
Policies:
Exams: Exams must be taken with the group. If you cannot take an exam due to an
excused absence, you will not be penalized. You need to take the make-up exam within
a week. “Travel Arrangements” are not an acceptable excuse for missing an exam. If
you fail to take an exam for an unacceptable reason, you will receive a zero for that
exam.
Class Attendance/Participation: The only way to succeed in college is to attend class.
Your attendance and participation are very important in this class, as much of the
learning and application of concepts take place in class. No more than two absences are
allowed before your grade is affected. Each absence thereafter will result in 0.5 %
deducted from your final grade. There may be exceptions at the discretion of the
instructor for absences.
The instructor needs to be informed as soon as possible if your absence is related to
extreme circumstances (family emergencies, hospitalization).
Academic Honesty Policy: You are expected to follow the college’s guidelines for
academic honesty. I advise you to consult the undergraduate issue of the Creighton
University Bulletin 2002, pp. 87-88, the Creighton University Handbook for Students,
and the statement on academic honesty at the college’s Web site at
http://puffin.creighton.edu/ccas/Students/students.html. If you have any questions
concerning these guidelines, please see me. Unless you have specific direction or
permission otherwise, I expect your work to be your own and not to be work submitted
for any other course. If you are found guilty of a violation of academic honesty, your
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penalty will be at a minimum a zero on the relevant assignment and quite possibly an F
for the course. In a very serious case I may recommend even stiffer penalties to the
Dean. All cases in which a penalty is assessed for academic dishonesty must be
reported to the Chair of the Department and to the Dean, who will put a record of the
offense and penalty into the student’s permanent academic file.
Tentative Weekly Schedule
Date
Topic
Reading Assignment and Due Date
Introduction
08/22 (W) Introduction to Course/Syllabus
Handout
Questioning and thinking
I. The Construction of Self in East Asian thoughts
08/24 (F)
The concept of Self in East Asian culture Handouts from Self as Person
in Asian Theory and Practice, Ames, Roger (ed.)
08/27 (M) Discussion on Ames
08/29 (W) “Self” in eastern culture and Buddhist “no-Self”
08/31 (F)
Movie Discussion: Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence
09/03 (M) Labor Day, No class
II. The Eastern Wisdom—The Way of Living This Life
(China and other countries)
09/05 (W)
“Forgetting self” in Daoism
09/07 (F)
“Exemplary Person” in Confucianism
Film: Shower (China)
Discussion on the film: Shower
09/10 (M)
P. J. Ivanhoe’s Confucian
Moral Self Cultivation
“The Art of Living”
Zhuang Zi’s wuwei: Inner Chapters, 1&2
Lin Yutang’s
of Living
Importance
Graham’s Inner Chapters
09/12 (W)
Discussion on Daoist wisdom:
Inner Chapters, 3 & 4
Chinese poetry and Daoist influences
Film: Spring
09/14 (F)
The instructor will invite the Chinese contemporary writer, Luye to join us
for a discussion our discussion on Daosim and Aesthetics in Daoist
literatures
09/17 (M)
Discussion on Confucius’ Analects
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Ivanhoe
09/19 (W)
09/21 (F)
Confucian way of being an exemplary person
Neo Confucianism: The idealistic way of Confucianism
and its impact on East Asian culture
Discussion the film, To Live
09/24 (M)
Short Essay (1) Due
Family Morality and Individualism
Discussion the film, To Live
Ivanhoe
09/26 (W)
09/28 (F)
Revolutionary Writers
Discussion on Lu Xun’s stories
Lu, Xun’s Diary of a Madman and
Other Stories, University
10/01 (M ) The role of Chinese women in China
Discussion on the film, Ju Dou
The instructor will invite a Chinese woman to join our discussion on
Women’s positions represented in the world literature and
the film Ju Dou
10/03 (W) Discussion on Chinese Students’ movement
Handouts
and the failure of Communism in China
10/05 (F)
How the traditional moral value
works in China today
Discussion on the film,
1998 Tiananmen Movement
10/08 (M)
Discussion with Chinese Writers
The instructor will invite a few Chinese writers from China and/or other
Asian countries to join our discussion on Cultural Revolution, Re-educated
youth, Confusianist business-men and the economical development after
1998 Student movement.
10/10 (W) First Exam
10/12 (F)
III. Indian Culture and Non-violence Movement
(India and other countries)
10/13-10/21 Fall Break, No Class
10/22 (M)
“Live Simple that Others May Simply Live”
10/24 (W)
Discussion on Koller’s Asian Philosophies
Discussion on Koller’s Asian Philosophies
Film: Himalayas
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Gandhi’s The Bhagavad
Gita According to Gandhi
Koller
Koller
Summary 1 and 2 Due
10/26 (F)
10/29 (M)
Discussion on the film, Himalayas
Koller
Non-violence Movement
Handouts
Discussion on Aung San Suu Kyi’s “The Voice of Hope”
10/31 (W) Life in Indian and the deep philosophical roots in people’s daily life
Film: Satyajit Ray’s classical work,
Koller
11/02 (F)
Discussion on Satyajit Ray’s film
11/05 (M) The problems in India Tradition
Film: Water
11/07 (W) Discussion on Water
11/09 (F)
“The light of hope”
Rabindranath Tagore’s Gitanjali
11/12 (M) Discussion on Tagore’s work
and its philosophical insight
Handout
11/14 (W) Film, continue and discussion
The First Draft of Your Final Paper Due
IV. Morality and Aesthetical Goal of Life
(Japan)
11/16 (F)
How to find the pure beauty in the real life
Summary 3 Due
Kawabata’s The Dancing
Girl of Izu and Other Stories,
11/19 (M) Discussion on the film, Snow Country
and Kawabata’s novels
11/21 (W)
Japanese culture and society
Discussion on the spirit of Bushido
Handouts
The Early Final Paper
Due
(No comments will be
given for the final papers
that are submitted later
than Dec. 8)
11/22-11/25 Thanksgiving-no class
11/26 (M)
11/28 (W)
Mishma film
Mishima’s life and the conflict between Japanese
tradition and Western value
11/20 (F)
12/03 (M)
Zen Buddhism
Zen Buddhism
Koller and handouts
Koller and handouts
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12/05 (W)
12/07 (F)
Create your own Zen Arts
Review
Final Semester Examinations
For 9:30 class, test time: 10:00-11:40am, Dec 10 (M), 2012
The Late Final Paper Due: Dec. 12
(The penalty for the papers submitted later than Dec. 12 is –2% in your total grade and
no comments will be given for the late final paper.)
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