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Courses

Courses with no explicit focus on East Asia may also apply to the major if the final paper in the course is on East Asia.  Permission of the DUS is required before the course can be applied. Please contact the DUS or Registrar if you have any questions.

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Archaeology of East Asia
ANTH 3297, ARCG 3297

East and Southeast Asia have increasingly emerged as hotspots for global political, economic, and cultural interactions. What were the roots and social processes that gave rise to such systems? In this seminar, we explore archaeological evidence for the development of social and political organization and religious practices, using selected examples from East and Southeast Asia spanning approximately 5000 BCE to 1500 CE. We examine four key themes: (1) the origins and timing of plant and animal domestication, (2) the emergence and impact of early metallurgy, (3) patterns of interregional interaction, and (4) the rise of sociopolitical complexity. Using a comparative archaeological perspective—focusing on settlement patterns, urbanism, craft production, monumentality, and diverse material culture—we examine how both local factors and long-distance connections shaped these trajectories. We conclude the course with a reflection on the role of archaeology in contemporary society, particularly in countries where the past is actively curated, celebrated, and contested. 

No background in archaeology or East/Southeast Asian studies is required.
Seminar
Fall 2025
T 9:25 AM - 11:15 AM
Contemporary China through Ethnography and Film
ANTH 3820

This course introduces students to contemporary China through ethnography and film. Global political economic forces are dramatically reshaping the Chinese landscape—by the end of next decade more than half of its 1.3 billion people will live in cities. The China of today is unfolding within these cities, where generational change and social disparities are sharpened, new consumption patterns and identities take shape, and conflicts among the city-dwellers, nouveau riche, and labor migrants play out. The ethnographic texts and films in this course capture how these changes are experienced in everyday life. We examine the lure and disillusionment of “modern life,” a buzzword in today’s China, and how the major socio-economic and cultural transformations of the present relate to the past.

Instructor permission required.
Seminar
Spring 2026
M 9:25 AM - 11:15 AM
Politics of Memory
ANTH 4824, EAST 3122

This course explores the role of memory as a social, cultural, and political force in contemporary society. How societies remember difficult pasts has become a contested site for negotiating the present. Through the lens of memory, we examine complex roles that our relationships to difficult pasts play in navigating issues we face today. This course explores this politics of memory that takes place in the realm of popular culture and public space. The class asks such questions as: How do you represent difficult and contested pasts? What does it mean to enable long-silenced victims’ voices to be heard? What are the consequences of re-narrating the past by highlighting past injuries and trauma? Does memory work heal or open wounds of a society and a nation? Through examples drawn from the Holocaust, the atomic bombing in Hiroshima, the Vietnam War, genocide in Indonesia and massacres in Lebanon, to debates on confederacy statues, slavery, and lynching in the US, this course approaches these questions through an anthropological exploration of concepts such as memory, trauma, mourning, silence, voice, testimony, and victimhood.

Instructor permission required.
Seminar
Fall 2024
M 9:25 AM - 11:15 AM
Politics of Memory
ANTH 5824

This course explores the role of memory as a social, cultural, and political force in contemporary society. How societies remember difficult pasts has become a contested site for negotiating the present. Through the lens of memory, we examine complex roles that our relationships to difficult pasts play in navigating issues we face today. The course explores the politics of memory that takes place in the realm of popular culture and public space. It asks such questions as: How do you represent difficult and contested pasts? What does it mean to enable long-silenced victims’ voices to be heard? What are the consequences of re-narrating the past by highlighting past injuries and trauma? Does memory work heal or open wounds of a society and a nation? Through examples drawn from the Holocaust, the atomic bombing in Hiroshima, the Vietnam War, genocide in Indonesia, and massacres in Lebanon, to debates on confederacy statues, slavery, and lynching in the United States, the course approaches these questions through an anthropological exploration of concepts such as memory, trauma, mourning, silence, voice, testimony, and victimhood.

Instructor permission required.
Seminar
Fall 2025
M 9:25 AM - 11:15 AM
Social Complexity in Ancient China
ANTH 7259, ARCG 7259

This seminar explores the variety of archaeological methods and theoretical approaches that have been employed to investigate the development and nature of social complexity in ancient China. The session meetings focus on the later prehistoric and early historic periods, and several geographic regions are included. They also consider how developments in ancient China compare to other areas of the world. Most of the readings emphasize archaeological remains, although relevant information from early historical texts is considered.

Seminar
Spring 2026
W 9:25 AM - 11:15 AM
Archaeology of East Asia
ANTH 7297, ARCG 7297

East and Southeast Asia have increasingly emerged as hotspots for global political, economic, and cultural interactions. What were the roots and social processes that gave rise to such systems? In this seminar, we explore archaeological evidence for the development of social and political organization and religious practices, using selected examples from East and Southeast Asia spanning approximately 5000 BCE to 1500 CE. We examine four key themes: (1) the origins and timing of plant and animal domestication, (2) the emergence and impact of early metallurgy, (3) patterns of interregional interaction, and (4) the rise of sociopolitical complexity. Using a comparative archaeological perspective—focusing on settlement patterns, urbanism, craft production, monumentality, and diverse material culture—we examine how both local factors and long-distance connections shaped these trajectories. We conclude the course with a reflection on the role of archaeology in contemporary society, particularly in countries where the past is actively curated, celebrated, and contested. No background in archaeology or East/Southeast Asian studies is required. Through short lectures, weekly discussions, student presentations, and a final research paper on selected case studies, students learn how archaeological research is conducted and interpreted. By the end of the term, students are able to outline the broad historical sequence of the region from the earliest food production through the mid-second millennium CE; identify major archaeological sites and their contributions to our understanding of domestication, metallurgy, and early urbanism; and compare the historical trajectories of East and Southeast Asian societies. The course also emphasizes critical thinking and analytical reasoning, encouraging students to evaluate evidence, interrogate interpretive frameworks, and formulate informed perspectives on the region’s past.

All core readings are in English, but students with proficiency in East Asian languages are provided with relevant resources.
Seminar
Fall 2025
T 9:25 AM - 11:15 AM
Destruction, Continuation and Creation: Architecture & Urbanism of Modern Japan
ARCH 7126

This course examines how design philosophies and methodologies were developed in Japanese architecture during the 150 years from the Meiji Restoration until the post-modern era. Special attention is paid to how the country’s cultural identity has been continuously relevant to modern society by evolving itself through natural disasters such as earthquakes, and political destruction such as wars. The methodologies and technologies for architecture and cities supported and were influenced by this constantly transforming, yet unchanging, Japanese culture. The course also compares the architecture of two International Expos in Osaka, one in 1970, signifying the end of metabolism, and another in 2025. Highlighted architects include Chuta Ito, Goichi Takeda, Frank Lloyd Wright, Kameki Tsuchiura, Sutemi Horiuchi, Kunio Maekawa, Kenzo Tange, Arata Isozaki, Fumihiko Maki, Kisho Kurokawa, Kazuo Shinohara, Tadao Ando, and Sou Fujimoto. Students are required to make in-class presentations and write a final paper.

Seminar
Fall 2025
W 2:00 PM - 3:50 PM
Elementary Modern Chinese I
CHNS 1100

Intended for students with no background in Chinese. An intensive course with emphasis on spoken language and drills. Pronunciation, grammatical analysis, conversation practice, and introduction to reading and writing Chinese characters.

This course meets during reading period.
Lecture
Fall 2025
M,T,W,Th,F 9:25 AM - 10:15 AM, 10:30 AM - 11:20 AM, 11:35 AM - 12:25 PM, 2:30 PM - 3:20 PM
Elementary Modern Chinese for Heritage Speakers
CHNS 1120

First level of the advanced learner sequence. Intended for students with some aural proficiency but very limited ability in reading and writing Chinese. Training in listening and speaking, with emphasis on reading and writing.

Placement confirmed by placement test and by instructor.
Lecture
Fall 2025
M,T,W,Th,F 9:25 AM - 10:15 AM, 10:30 AM - 11:20 AM
Intermediate Modern Chinese I
CHNS 1300

An intermediate course that continues intensive training in listening, speaking, reading, and writing and consolidates achievements from the first year of study. Students improve oral fluency, study more complex grammatical structures, and enlarge both reading and writing vocabulary.

After CHNS 1200 or equivalent.
Lecture
Fall 2025
M,T,W,Th,F 9:25 AM - 10:15 AM, 10:30 AM - 11:20 AM, 11:35 AM - 12:25 PM
Intermediate Modern Chinese for Heritage Speakers
CHNS 1320

The second level of the advanced learner sequence. Intended for students with intermediate oral proficiency and elementary reading and writing proficiency. Students receive intensive training in listening, speaking, reading, and writing, supplemented by audio and video materials. The objective of the course is to balance these four skills and work toward attaining an advanced level in all of them.

After CHNS 1220 or equivalent. This course meets during reading period.
Lecture
Fall 2025
M,T,W,Th,F 9:25 AM - 10:15 AM, 10:30 AM - 11:20 AM, 11:35 AM - 12:25 PM
Advanced Modern Chinese I
CHNS 1500

Third level of the standard foundational sequence of modern Chinese, with study in speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Use of audiovisual materials, oral presentations, skits, and longer and more frequent writing assignments to assimilate more sophisticated grammatical structures. Further introduction to a wide variety of written forms and styles. Use of both traditional and simplified forms of Chinese characters.

After CHNS 1400 or equivalent.
Lecture
Fall 2025
M,W,F 9:25 AM - 10:15 AM, 10:30 AM - 11:20 AM, 11:35 AM - 12:25 PM