Asian Studies 101 (GE Foundations)*
P. 87 of the SDSU General Catalogue 2006-2007 classifies this class under...
area "C" Humanities... in section 2. Art, Classics, Dance, Drama, Humanities, and Music
Asian Thought and Cultures
Fall 2006 - 0930 – 1045, TTH, SH145 - Lecturer: Miguel Llora, MA
Course Objective: This course will explore the social, religious, political, economic, and legal foundations of East
and Southeast Asia. The course content is designed to give the student a background to understand the traditions, the
values and thus the societies in East and Southeast Asia. In this course we will focus on East and Southeast Asia.
Textbooks required for the class: None. All required readings will be available online on ECR or hardcopy at the
SDSU Reserve Book Room. Readings are taken from the following books:
Chua, Amy. World on Fire. New York: Doubleday, 2003
Heinz, Carolyn Brown. Asian Cultural Traditions. Waveland Press, Inc.: Prospect Heights, 1999.
Heidhues, Mary Somers. Southeast Asia - A Concise History. Thames and Hudson: London, 2000.
Lowenstein, Tom. The Vision of the Buddha: Buddhism - The Path to Spiritual Enlightenment. Duncan Baird
Publishers: London, 1996.
Nelson, Lynn H. and Peebles, Patrick. eds. Classics of Eastern Thought. Harcourt Brace College Publishers: Fort
Worth, 1991.
Owen, Norman. ed. The Emergence of Modern Southeast Asia - A New History. University of Hawaii Press:
Honolulu, 2005.
Go, Julian and Foster, Anne L. eds. The American Colonial State in the Philippines: Global Perspectives. Duke
University Press: Durham, 2003.
McKenna, Thomas M. Muslim Rulers and Rebels: Everyday Politics and Armed Separatism in the Southern
Philippines. University of California Press: Berkeley, 1998.
Handbook of Korea. The Korean Overseas Information Service: Seoul, 2003.
Please note:
(1) The tests should be taken on the assigned date and there are no make up tests without a doctor's note.
(2) Attendance is mandatory.
(3) The videos shown in class should be watched carefully as there will be questions from them on the tests. Same
goes for speakers/invited guests.
(4) There will be no midterm or final exam so each test is of equal importance.
(5) All assignments should be handed to me personally and on time. Please do not leave assignments in my (or the
department's) mail box.
Evaluations:
1. Four Quizzes
2. Video Critical Review:
2.1 Midterm outline and list of references
2.2 Final Paper (see instructions)
Total
15% each
60%
15%
25%
15%
25%
100%
Extra Credit:
Students may accumulate additional points toward their class total by submitting a book report: a two page reflection.
The book choices are:
(1) Dusk: A Novel by F. Sionil Jose. ISBN# 0375751440 or
(2) To Live: A Novel by Yu Hua. ISBN# 1400031869 or
(3) The Last Time I Saw Mother: A Novel by Arlene Chai. ISBN# 0449912345 or
(4) Geisha: A Life: The Story of Mineko Iwasaki. ISBN# 0743444299 or
(5) Memoirs of a Geisha: A Novel by Arthur Golden. ISBN# 0679781587
(6) Seven years in Tibet: An account of an Austrian mountain climber Heinrich Harrer's escape from a British
internment camp in India during World War II and his twenty-one-month journey through the Himalayas to safety in
the Forbidden City of Lhasa in Tibet.
Kindly see me if you are planning to do this.
Page 1 of 5
Week 1 - Aug. 29 - 31: Introduction to Asia – Geography
*by the end of the week, make sure the requirements are clear.
Aug. 29 - Asia as a Cultured Space
Aug. 31 - Introduction to Southeast Asia
Heinz: Chapter 1 (3-9)
Heidhues: Introduction (7-15)
Week 2 - Sept. 5 - 7: Confucian and Taoist China
Sept. 5 – Confucianism
Sept. 7 – Taoism
An Introduction to Confucianism An Introduction to Taoism http://www.ubfellowship.org/archive/readers/601_c http://www.ubfellowship.org/archive/readers/601_taoism.ht
onfucianism.htm
m
Nelson - The Analects (50-56)
Nelson – Tao Te Ching (58-66)
Documentary
VTC 2498 - Eastern Philosophy: Part 1 (Confucius and Mencius)
The Pacific Century: Big Business And The Ghost Of Confucius (21822) 1992 VH TV7050V
Full Length Feature
Week 3 - Sept 12 - 14: Buddhist China (Hinduism and Buddhism)
Sept. 12 - India (Hinduism and Buddhism) Sept. 14 - Buddhism in China
Lowenstein (8-33)
An Introduction to Buddhism
Nelson - Sermon at the Deer Park (30-37)
http://www.ubfellowship.org/archive/readers/601_buddhism.htm
Documentary
VTC 2292 – Religions of the World: Hinduism
VTC 2291 - Religions of the World: Buddhism
Full Length Feature
VTC 400 – Gandhi
DVD 1800 - The Making of the Mahatma
DVD 1689 - Asoka
DVD 584 - Lagaan
DVD 1510 – Bombay
VTC 1296 - Little Buddha
Week 4 - Sept. 19 - 21: Confucianism and the Tao in Cinema
Sept. 19 – China
Sept. 21 - Quiz 1 - China (Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism)
Heinz - Chapter 7 (246-279)
Exam Review Questions - All Answers Found in PowerPoints
Documentary
VTC 456 - Time Life's Lost Civilizations: China
VTC 226 - Paradise of Adventure (Tape 1)
VTC 226 - Change in Heaven (Tape 2)
VTC 226 - Roads to Freedom (Tape 3)
VTC 2785 - People's Century: Great Leap
Cassette - China Through The Ages Tape 1
(Lecturer's Collection)
Cassette - China Through The Ages Tape 2
(Lecturer's Collection)
Cassette - China Through The Ages Tape 3
(Lecturer's Collection)
Cassette - China Through The Ages Tape 4
(Lecturer's Collection)
Full Length Feature
VTC 1292 - To Live
DVD 1756 - Chinese Box
DVD 1754 - The Soong Sisters
VTC 1754 - King of Masks
Twin Warrior (Lecturer's Collection)
Once Upon a Time in China (Lecturer's Collection)
Shanghai Triad (Lecturer's Collection)
A World Without Thieves (Lecturer's Collection)
20, 30, 40 (Lecturer's Collection)
Page 2 of 5
Week 5 - Sept. 26 - 28: Mongolia
Sept. 26 - The Mongol Century (Part 1)
Sept. 28 - The Mongol Century (Part 2)
The Mongol Century (1-6)
The Mongol Century (7-12)
http://www.geocities.com/mllora3/mongolia.htm
http://www.geocities.com/mllora3/mongolia.htm
Documentary
Mongols: Storm From The East - Birth Of An Empire (23332) 1993 VH TV8302V
Mongols: Storm From The East - Tartar Crusaders (23334) 1993 VH TV8304V
Mongols: Storm From The East - The Last Khan Of Khans (23335) 1993 VH TV8305V
Mongols: Storm From The East - World Conquerors (23333) 1993 VH TV8303V
The World - A Television History: The Mongol Onslaught (14232) V TV3386V
Full Length Feature
DVD 1572 - The Story of the
Weeping Camel
VTC 2603 - Urga (Close to Eden)
Week 6 - Oct. 3 - 5: Tibet
Oct. 3 - Everything to do with Tibet and nothing to do with
Oct. 5 - Tibet Today: Demystifying Tibet and the Cry of the
Tibet: An Examination of Ang Lee's "Chosen."
Snow Lion
Tibetan Buddhism (An Introduction) Bonpo, Nyingma,
Tibetan Buddhism (An Introduction) Bonpo, Nyingma,
Kahdam, Kagyu, Sakya, Gelug, Geshe Degree
Kahdam, Kagyu, Sakya, Gelug, Geshe Degree
Documentary
VTC 456 - Tibet: The End of Time
VTC 3017 - Requiem for a Faith
DVD 438 - Robert A.F. Thurman on Buddhism
Oct. 10 - Introduction to Tokugawa Japan: The
Seeds of "Japanese" Identity
Tokugawa Japan: The Social and Economic
Antecedents of Modern Japan (11-36)
Full Length Feature
VTC 1443 – Kundun
DVD 1775 - Lost Horizon
Phorpa [The Cup] (Lecturer's Collection)
Tibet - Cry of the Snow Lion (Lecturer's Collection)
Week 7 - Oct. 10 - 12: Japan
Oct. 12 - Introduction to Meiji Japan through an examination of the The Last
Samurai... Please make sure to watch the movie prior to coming to class as I
will not summarize it... The movie is on reserve for the class and the code is:
DVD 713 ... and Shinto and Buddhism in Japan
An Introduction to Shinto: Heinz - Chapter 8 (311-327)
http://www.ubfellowship.org/archive/readers/601_shinto.htm
Documentary
DVD 1457 - Japan: Memoirs of a Secret Empire
VTC 2498 - Eastern Philosophy: Part 1 (Shinto) 30 min in.
VTC 1932 - No
VTC 1816 - Bunraku
VTC 1933 – Gagaku
Japan (Lecturer’s Collection)
Full Length Feature
VTC 1968 – The Tale of Genji
VTC 2722 - Black Rain
VTC 2592 - Sisters of Gion
VTC 2459 – Akira
Akira (Lecturer’s Collection)
VTC 2068 - Madame Butterfly
DVD 422 - Princess Mononoke
DVD 713 - The Last Samurai
DVD 554 - Throne of Blood
DVD 462 - The 47 Ronin
DVD 413 - Wandafuru raifu
DVD 82 - Ran
DVD 854 - Seven Samurai
DVD 440 - Grave of the Fireflies
Week 8 - Oct. 17 - 19: Korea
Oct. 17 - Modern History
Oct. 19 - Quiz 2 - East Asia: Mongolia, Tibet, Japan, Korea
Handbook of Korea (91-115), Handbook of Korea (424-443) Exam Review Questions - All Answers Found in PowerPoints
Documentary
VTC 279 - Korea: The Land of Harmony
VTC 1700 - Pulguksa, Sokkurum
VTC 2111 - The Clothes of Nature
VTC 280 - Korea's Culture
Full Length Feature
DVD 1653 - Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring
DVD 1760 - Joint Security Area
Untold Scandal (Lecturer's Collection)
***** Video Critical Review: Outline due Oct. 19, 2006 *****
Page 3 of 5
Week 9 - Oct. 24 - 26: An Introduction to the Mainland Southeast Asian Region of
Burma/Cambodia/Thailand/Vietnam/Laos
Oct. 24 - Southeast Asia: The Big Picture
Oct. 26 - Spread of Buddhism (Theravada) and the
Heidhues - 68-75
Indian Legacy
Chua 23-48
Mùi du du xanh - L'odeur de la papaye verte or
The Scent of Green Papaya: An Hung Tran film
Week 10 - Oct. 31 - Nov. 2: Vietnam and Cambodia
Oct. 31 - Vietnam
Nov. 2 - Cambodia
Vietnam, 1700-1885: Disunity, Unity, and French
Cambodia, 1796-1885:Politics in a Tributary Kingdom
Conquest in Modern Southeast Asia (106-116)
in Modern Southeast Asia (117-122)
Documentary
VTC 2391 - Raise the Bamboo Curtain (Vietnam) 49 min in.
DVD 1450 - My Hanoi
Lost Civilizations - In the Shadow of Angkor Wat (Lecturer's Collection)
VTC 2391 - Raise the Bamboo Curtain (Cambodia) 29 min in.
Full Length Feature
DVD 212 - Vertical Ray of the Sun
DVD 1954 - Cyclo
LD 11 – Indochine
The Scent of Green Papaya
(Lecturer's Collection)
VTC 725 - The Killing Fields
Week 11 - Nov. 7 - 9: Burma and Thailand
Nov. 7 – Burma
Nov. 9 - Thailand
Myanmar Becomes British Burma in Modern Southeast
Siam: From Ayutthaya to Bangkok in Modern Southeast
Asia (83-92)
Asia (93-105)
Documentary
VTC 2391 - Raise the Bamboo Curtain (Burma)
DVD 1755 - Exploring Thailand and Cambodia
Nov. 14 – Laos
Laos to 1975 in Modern Southeast Asia
(371-375)
Full Length Feature
VTC 3574 Beyond Rangoon
Anna and the King (Lecturer's Collection)
Week 12 - Nov. 14 - 16: Laos
Nov. 16 - Quiz 3 - Vietnam/ Cambodia/ Burma/ Thailand/ Laos
Exam Review Questions - All Answers Found in PowerPoints
Page 4 of 5
Week 13 - Nov. 21 - 23: The Maritime Region:
Indonesia/Malaysia/Philippines/Singapore/Brunei
The juxtaposition of Christianity and Islam in Southeast Asia
Nov. 21 - The Maritime Region
Nov. 23 - Philippines
Islam and Christianity: Heidhues - 77-84
Islam in a Christian State
Muslim Separatism and the Bangsamoro Rebellion in
Muslim Rulers and Rebels (138-169)
Inheriting the "Moro Problem": Muslim Authority and
Colonial Rule in British Malaya and the Philippines in
The American Colonial State in the Philippines (118147)
Documentary
Views Of Asia: The Philippines - The Furthest Cross
(22948) 1979 VH - TV7935V
Full Length Feature
DVD 652 - Dekada '70
Jose Rizal (Lecturer's Collection)
Week 14 - Nov. 28 - 30: Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei
Nov. 28 – Malaysia
Nov. 30 - Singapore/Brunei
The Malay Negeri of the Peninsula and Borneo in
Singapore and Brunei in Modern Southeast Asia (422Modern Southeast Asia (137-146)
430)
Culture Is Destiny - A Conversation with Lee Kuan Yew
Is Culture Destiny? The Myth of Asia's Anti-Democratic
Values - Kim Dae Jung
Documentary
Views Of Asia: Malaysia (22968) 1976 VH - TV7937V
Views Of Asia: Hong Kong/Singapore - Fragrant
Harbour, Lion City (22969) 1976 VH - TV7938V
Full Length Feature
Week 15 - Dec. 5 - 7: Indonesia
Dec. 5 – Indonesia
Dec. 7 - Quiz 4 Becoming Indonesia, 1900-1959 in Modern Southeast
Philippines/Malaysia/Singapore/Brunei
Asia (296-311)
Darussalam/Indonesia
Exam Review Questions - All Answers Found in this
Reviewer
Documentary
Views Of Asia: Indonesia (14130) VH - TV659V
Full Length Feature
DVD 1125 - The Year of Living Dangerously
***** Video Critical Review: Final paper due Dec. 7, 2006 *****
Finals Week - December 9 - 16
Page 5 of 5