CN/PA101/CN/PA250- Elementary Chinese and Chinese
Language and Cultures
JA/PA130/JA/PA250- Japanese Culture and Topics in Asian Studies
Block I: Hong Jiang, CN101/PA101 Elementary Chinese
Meets one unit of CC language requirement
Block II: Hong Jiang, CN250/PA250 Chinese Language and Culture
Meets one unit of Critical Perspectives: Diverse Cultures and Critiques.
Language opens the door to culture. This course will then pay attention to the
relationship between Chinese language and culture; or in other words, the relationship
between word and image, poetry and painting. The course begins with the study
of Chinese language with emphasis on basic grammar, speaking, and listening
comprehension as well as mastery of some 280 Chinese characters for reading
and writing (mainly in Block I). Students can continue their language study
in Block IV to fulfill the college's language requirement. The second block
introduces students to the Chinese concept of Family, Nature, and Self, and
how Chinese language and philosophical thinking (Confucianism, Buddhism and
Taoism) transformed ways of life for the East. This is an introductory course,
which attempts to lead students to study Chinese language and culture in a broader
historical, philosophical, and social context.
A set of linked one-block courses that must be taken together, with a single
instructor; separate grades will be given for each block.
Block I: Joan Ericson, JA/PA130, Japanese Culture
Meets one unit of Critical Perspectives: Diverse Cultures and Critiques.
Block II: Joan Ericson, JA/PA250, Topics in Asian Studies: Contemporary
Asian Cultures
Meets one unit of Critical Perspectives: Diverse Cultures and Critiques.
This set of combined courses explores the invention of tradition and contemporary innovations in Asian cultures.
The first block, "Japanese Culture," presents a critical appreciation of popular Japanese icons (Shintoism, Buddhism, samurai, martial arts, haiku poetry, tea ceremony, kabuki theatre, and rice) that scrutinizes how cultural practices and institutions have evolved and been adapted to symbolize Japan, both by Japanese and foreign observers. Through an in-depth examination of innovation in classical and modern cultural dynamics, students acquire the tools to appreciate and appraise how traditions come to be formed in such fields as literary aesthetics (from classical poetry and drama to manga) and artistic artifacts (from calligraphy and gardens to anime).
The second block, "Contemporary Asian Cultures," focuses on the intersection of classical and popular cultural forms with global cultural dynamics that has recast what it means to be Asian. Strategies for interpreting culture that emerged in the American academy (Geertz, Benedict), as well as their post-modern critiques, will be put to the test in examining everyday cultural phenomenon, such as McDonalds in China, Disneyland in Tokyo, MTV in India. We will also study intra-Asian cultural influences (the spread of manga and forms of pop music) as well as the political ramifications of the claims for Asian values and Asian identities.
You will have many hands-on opportunities: calligraphy sessions; cooking Japanese, Chinese, and Indian meals; analyzing aesthetics of gardens across Asia; and evaluating cultural artifacts from Asia at the Denver Art Museum.
A set of linked one-block courses that must be taken together, with a single instructor; separate grades will be given for each block.