Chinese Department

中文系

Courses

CHIN 111 - Beginning Chinese I

A beginner's course in standard (Mandarin) modern spoken and written Chinese, aimed at building a solid foundation in all its aspects: pronunciation (especially the tones), syntax, and basic vocabulary. Attention is given to a balanced development of all the basic skills of the language: listening and reading comprehension, speaking, and writing. Pinyin is the romanization system used in this and all other Chinese language courses. Both the traditional and simplified characters are taught. Students are expected to read both and write one of the two versions.

Unit(s): 1
Group Distribution Requirement(s): Distribution Group I
Instructional Method: Lecture-conference
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Group Distribution Learning Outcome(s):

  • Understand how arguments can be made, visions presented, or feelings or ideas conveyed through language or other modes of expression (symbols, movement, images, sounds, etc.);

CHIN 112 - Beginning Chinese II

This course is designed to build the skills of students who have studied at least one year of Chinese (or equivalent) to achieve intermediate-level proficiency in the oral and written use of the language through speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Emphasis in the course will be placed on learning to recognize and reproduce the natural flow of the spoken language, expanding vocabulary, and learning to write short essays in Chinese.

Unit(s): 1
Group Distribution Requirement(s): Distribution Group I
Prerequisite(s): CHIN 111 or equivalent
Instructional Method: Lecture-conference
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Group Distribution Learning Outcome(s):

  • Understand how arguments can be made, visions presented, or feelings or ideas conveyed through language or other modes of expression (symbols, movement, images, sounds, etc.);

CHIN 211 - Intermediate Chinese I

his course is designed to build the skills of students who have studied at least one year of Chinese (or equivalent) to achieve intermediate-level proficiency in the oral and written use of the language through speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Emphasis in the course will be placed on learning to recognize and reproduce the natural flow of the spoken language, expanding vocabulary, and learning to write short essays in Chinese.

Unit(s): 1
Group Distribution Requirement(s): Distribution Group I
Prerequisite(s): CHIN 112 or equivalent
Instructional Method: Lecture-conference
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Group Distribution Learning Outcome(s):

  • Understand how arguments can be made, visions presented, or feelings or ideas conveyed through language or other modes of expression (symbols, movement, images, sounds, etc.);

CHIN 212 - Intermediate Chinese II

This course continues to build the skills of students who have studied at least one year of Chinese (or equivalent) to achieve intermediate-level proficiency in the oral and written use of the language through speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Emphasis in the course will be placed on learning to recognize and reproduce the natural flow of the spoken language, expanding vocabulary, and learning to write short essays in Chinese.

Unit(s): 1
Group Distribution Requirement(s): Distribution Group I
Prerequisite(s): CHIN 211 or equivalent
Instructional Method: Lecture-conference
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Group Distribution Learning Outcome(s):

  • Understand how arguments can be made, visions presented, or feelings or ideas conveyed through language or other modes of expression (symbols, movement, images, sounds, etc.);

CHIN 311 - Third-Year Chinese

This course is designed for students who have completed at least two years of Chinese language (or equivalent). The course will focus on student acquisition of near-native fluency in spoken Chinese, competence in reading a variety of contemporary texts (with a dictionary), and employment of different registers and genres of Chinese in students' writing.

Unit(s): 1
Group Distribution Requirement(s): Distribution Group I
Prerequisite(s): CHIN 212 or equivalent
Instructional Method: Conference
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Group Distribution Learning Outcome(s):

  • Understand how arguments can be made, visions presented, or feelings or ideas conveyed through language or other modes of expression (symbols, movement, images, sounds, etc.);
  • Analyze and interpret texts, whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts;
  • Evaluate arguments made in or about texts (whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts).

CHIN 312 - Advanced Chinese

Topics vary, selected from Chinese literature, journalistic writing, essays, or contemporary audiovisual material. Readings and instruction in Chinese.

Unit(s): 1
Group Distribution Requirement(s): Distribution Group I
Prerequisite(s): 300-level Chinese proficiency or equivalent
Instructional Method: Conference
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Group Distribution Learning Outcome(s):
  • Understand how arguments can be made, visions presented, or feelings or ideas conveyed through language or other modes of expression (symbols, movement, images, sounds, etc.).
  • Analyze and interpret texts, whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts.
  • Evaluate arguments made in or about texts (whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts).

CHIN 316 - Classical Chinese

Intensive introduction to the grammar of classical Chinese through the study of selections from ancient literary, historical, and philosophical texts. Readings include the Analects, Mencius, Zhuangzi, Shiji, and Tang-Song prose essays. Conducted in Chinese.

Unit(s): 1
Group Distribution Requirement(s): Distribution Group I
Prerequisite(s): CHIN 212 or equivalent
Instructional Method: Conference
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Group Distribution Learning Outcome(s):

  • Understand how arguments can be made, visions presented, or feelings or ideas conveyed through language or other modes of expression (symbols, movement, images, sounds, etc.);
  • Analyze and interpret texts, whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts;
  • Evaluate arguments made in or about texts (whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts).

CHIN 325 - Songs to Lost Music: Ci-Poetry

This course investigates the rise and the development of ci-poetry, a genre related closely to music. Its formal features and their emotional qualities, major modes of expression, and different stages of its development from the ninth to the thirteenth century are the foci in the close reading of selected poems.

Unit(s): 1
Group Distribution Requirement(s): Distribution Group I
Prerequisite(s): Sophomore standing. For Chinese credit, CHIN 212 or equivalent.
Instructional Method: Conference
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Cross-listing(s): LITC 325
Group Distribution Learning Outcome(s):

  • Understand how arguments can be made, visions presented, or feelings or ideas conveyed through language or other modes of expression (symbols, movement, images, sounds, etc.);
  • Analyze and interpret texts, whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts;
  • Evaluate arguments made in or about texts (whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts).

CHIN 327 - Chinese Inhumanities: Construction of the Other in Chinese Literature

This course explores the construction, preservation, and interrogation of class, race, and ethnicity within China's literary traditions. Through reading and analysis of narratives treating its alleged "others"-uncultured barbarians from the territories that surround the middle kingdom; the myriad undead who haunt the living; shape-shifting animals who beguile, seduce, and love hapless humans; or individuals who transcend humanity through alchemy, physical and mental inhumanity, monstrosity, or posthuman existence-who are used to define and exclude communities, to express or explore cultural fears, anxieties, or doubts, and to reinforce or undermine belief in China's cultural superiority. All readings in translation. Students taking the course for Chinese credit will meet for an additional hour of reading in the original language.

Unit(s): 1
Group Distribution Requirement(s): Distribution Group I
Prerequisite(s): Sophomore standing. For Chinese credit, CHIN 212 or equivalent.
Instructional Method: Conference
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Cross-listing(s): LITC 327 
Group Distribution Learning Outcome(s):
  • Understand how arguments can be made, visions presented, or feelings or ideas conveyed through language or other modes of expression (symbols, movement, images, sounds, etc.).
  • Analyze and interpret texts, whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts.
  • Evaluate arguments made in or about texts (whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts).

CHIN 330 - Chinese Ghost Stories and Supernatural Tales

Powerful spirits, vengeful ghosts, and monstrous creatures-stories of oddities abound in Chinese literature. In this class, students will explore mythologies, tales of the strange, novels of deities and demons in translation, and explore Chinese conceptions of the body and soul(s), the afterlife, and the relationship between the living and the dead. Materials will include original stories in translation, scholarly works, and modern reinterpretations of these tales in film and other media.

Unit(s): 1
Group Distribution Requirement(s): Distribution Group I
Prerequisite(s): Sophomore standing. For Chinese credit, CHIN 212 or equivalent.
Instructional Method: Conference
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Cross-listing(s): LITC 330 
Group Distribution Learning Outcome(s):
  • Understand how arguments can be made, visions presented, or feelings or ideas conveyed through language or other modes of expression (symbols, movement, images, sounds, etc.).
  • Analyze and interpret texts, whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts.
  • Evaluate arguments made in or about texts (whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts).

CHIN 334 - The Yijing: Text and Tradition of the Book of Changes

The Yijing, or Book of Changes, is a text of limitless possibilities. This course explores various strategies of reading the text and examines philosophical, religious, historical, and literary critical implications of the text and the tradition associated with it. The system and the language of the 64 hexagrams and various layers of attached verbalization are the focus of investigation. Readings are in English. Students who take the course for Chinese credit meet for additional tutoring to read parts of the text in the original.

Unit(s): 1
Group Distribution Requirement(s): Distribution Group I
Prerequisite(s): Sophomore standing. For Chinese credit, CHIN 212 or equivalent.
Instructional Method: Conference
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Cross-listing(s): LITC 334 
Group Distribution Learning Outcome(s):
  • Understand how arguments can be made, visions presented, or feelings or ideas conveyed through language or other modes of expression (symbols, movement, images, sounds, etc.).
  • Analyze and interpret texts, whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts.
  • Evaluate arguments made in or about texts (whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts).

CHIN 346 - From Allegories to Documentaries: Screening Postsocialist China

This course investigates interactions between literary production (focusing primarily on fiction) and filmmaking since the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976. Issues to be explored include the shared sociohistorical context that conditioned the production of these two cultural forms and the multivalent differences between them in terms of intended audience, narrative modes, and thematic concerns. Readings are in translation, and films selected are subtitled in English. Students who take the course for Chinese credit meet for additional instruction and readings in the original Chinese.

Unit(s): 1
Group Distribution Requirement(s): Distribution Group I
Prerequisite(s): Sophomore standing. For Chinese credit, CHIN 212 or equivalent.
Instructional Method: Conference
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Cross-listing(s): LITC 346
Group Distribution Learning Outcome(s):

  • Understand how arguments can be made, visions presented, or feelings or ideas conveyed through language or other modes of expression (symbols, movement, images, sounds, etc.);
  • Analyze and interpret texts, whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts;
  • Evaluate arguments made in or about texts (whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts).

CHIN 355 - Early Chinese Philosophical Texts

This course examines various philosophical discourses in the early period leading to the unification in 221 BCE. It is a selective discussion of a few major philosophical texts and schools of thought. We investigate the predominant interest in human nature and cultivation, the epistemological models for understanding such emphases, and the implications of Chinese epistemology. Readings in translation. Students taking the course for Chinese credit will meet for additional hours for the guided reading of selected texts in the original Chinese.

Unit(s): 1
Group Distribution Requirement(s): Distribution Group I
Prerequisite(s): For Chinese credit, CHIN 212 or equivalent.
Instructional Method: Conference
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Cross-listing(s): LITC 355 
Group Distribution Learning Outcome(s):
  • Understand how arguments can be made, visions presented, or feelings or ideas conveyed through language or other modes of expression (symbols, movement, images, sounds, etc.).
  • Analyze and interpret texts, whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts.
  • Evaluate arguments made in or about texts (whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts).

CHIN 366 - Masters and Miracles: Chinese Buddhist Literature and Culture

This course examines the intricate relationship between Buddhism and Chinese literature from the medieval period to contemporary times. By analyzing and discussing literary portrayals in various genres, such as Buddhist scriptures, Chan poetry, travelogues, transformation texts, precious scrolls, Gong'an stories, and Buddhist-themed fiction, students will gain a deeper understanding of the literary activities of Buddhist masters and lay authors who have integrated Buddhist concepts and themes into their works. Additionally, sources in various media, including paintings, calligraphy, and films, will be utilized to provide visual and literary perspectives. The course also addresses how Buddhism interacted with other religions in China, and its influence on the development of Chinese literature. By the end of the course, students will have a comprehensive understanding of the historical, cultural, and literary significance of Chinese Buddhist literature, and develop critical thinking and analytical skills.

Unit(s): 1
Group Distribution Requirement(s): Distribution Group I
Instructional Method: Lecture-conference
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Cross-listing(s): LITC 366
Group Distribution Learning Outcome(s):

  • Understand how arguments can be made, visions presented, or feelings or ideas conveyed through language or other modes of expression (symbols, movement, images, sounds, etc.);
  • Analyze and interpret texts, whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts;
  • Evaluate arguments made in or about texts (whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts).

CHIN 367 - Love in Late Imperial China

This course will examine representations of love and lovers in the literary and historical discourses of the fourteenth through nineteenth centuries. Approaching "love" (qing 情) through key words, conceptions, ideals, and acts with which it was associated, we will explore a number of questions, including: What kinds of behaviors or speech were coded as "romantic?" Were representations of "love" consistent across different discursive contexts (fictional, dramatic, poetic, historical)? Were literary representations of love seen as promoting positive ideals of romance and marriage or encouraging socially deviant and dangerous behaviors? We will also explore the discursive boundaries of love, places where words and deeds shift from love to desire, lust, madness, and obsession. Within what contexts were otherwise romantic words and deeds suddenly viewed as transgressive or disturbing? How did different forms of discourse (medical, legal) identify pathologies of love and/or propose to treat them? All readings in translation. An additional hour session of guided readings in the original will be offered for students taking the course for Chinese credit.

Unit(s): 1
Group Distribution Requirement(s): Distribution Group I
Prerequisite(s): Sophomore standing. For Chinese credit, CHIN 212 or equivalent.
Instructional Method: Conference
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Cross-listing(s): LITC 367 
Group Distribution Learning Outcome(s):
  • Understand how arguments can be made, visions presented, or feelings or ideas conveyed through language or other modes of expression (symbols, movement, images, sounds, etc.).
  • Analyze and interpret texts, whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts.
  • Evaluate arguments made in or about texts (whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts).

CHIN 374 - Reading Early Chinese Novels: The Four Masterworks

This course explores the development of the novel as an artistic literary form in late imperial China by introducing students to representative novels from the Ming dynasty (fourteenth through seventeenth century), particularly the "four masterworks" (四大奇書) including Romance of the Three Kingdoms (三國志通俗演義), Outlaws of the Marsh (水滸傳), Journey to the West (西遊記), and Jin Ping Mei (金瓶梅). Through closely reading select chapters of these four novels, we will explore the relationship between the Ming masterworks and a number of other factors, ranging from history (the long tradition of historiography in China as well as changes in intellectual history during Ming), the rise of material culture, shifting societal norms, and the growing focus on the individual, to more literary concerns with authorship, genre, intertextuality, and reception history. Close textual analyses of the primary sources will be supplemented by critical and theoretical readings that will introduce us to current scholarly approaches to the study of early modern Chinese fiction and help us dialogue with specialists in the field with our own interests and interpretations. We will also examine adaptations of these monumental novels in a variety of other popular media to appreciate their long-lasting cultural influences across (and beyond?) East Asia. All readings are available in translation. Students taking the course for Chinese credit will meet for an additional hour of reading in the original language.

Unit(s): 1
Group Distribution Requirement(s): Distribution Group I
Prerequisite(s): Sophomore standing. For Chinese credit, CHIN 212 or equivalent.
Instructional Method: Conference
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Cross-listing(s): LITC 374 
Group Distribution Learning Outcome(s):
  • Understand how arguments can be made, visions presented, or feelings or ideas conveyed through language or other modes of expression (symbols, movement, images, sounds, etc.).
  • Analyze and interpret texts, whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts.
  • Evaluate arguments made in or about texts (whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts).

CHIN 390 - Realism and Its Discontents in Contemporary Chinese Visual Media

With the opening up and economic reforms beginning in the late 1970s in China, a new aesthetic question confronted literature and the arts: what constitutes the real and what counts now as legitimate modes/means of its representation? While socialist realism was on the wane, realism continued to condition various forms of cultural production and took myriad guises-from an attempt at complete objectivity devoid of emotion to a complete dependence on subjectivity and affect for delivering a sense of the real; from drawing on the experiences of everyday life of individuals to the legendary feats of martial artists and utopian ideals of science fiction. This course grapples with these various interpretations of realism in modern and contemporary Chinese media, while reaching back in time to trace the precedents of these new forms that negotiate the blurry lines between truth and fiction, the objective and the subjective, the real and the fantastical.

Unit(s): 1
Group Distribution Requirement(s): Distribution Group I
Prerequisite(s): Sophomore standing
Instructional Method: Conference
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Cross-listing(s): ART 390, LITC 390 
Group Distribution Learning Outcome(s):
  • Understand how arguments can be made, visions presented, or feelings or ideas conveyed through language or other modes of expression (symbols, movement, images, sounds, etc.).
  • Analyze and interpret texts, whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts.
  • Evaluate arguments made in or about texts (whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts).

CHIN 412 - Selected Topics in Chinese Literature

Topics vary, selected from Chinese literature. Readings and instruction in Chinese.

Unit(s): 1
Group Distribution Requirement(s): Distribution Group I
Prerequisite(s): 300-level Chinese proficiency or equivalent
Instructional Method: Conference
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Repeatable for Credit: May be taken 2 times for credit
Group Distribution Learning Outcome(s):

  • Understand how arguments can be made, visions presented, or feelings or ideas conveyed through language or other modes of expression (symbols, movement, images, sounds, etc.);
  • Analyze and interpret texts, whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts;
  • Evaluate arguments made in or about texts (whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts).

CHIN 470 - Thesis

Unit(s): 2
Instructional Method: Independent Study
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Notes: Yearlong course, 1 unit per semester.

CHIN 481 - Independent Study

Unit(s): Variable: 0.5 - 1
Prerequisite(s): Instructor and division approval.
Instructional Method: Independent Study
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Repeatable for Credit: May be taken 4 times for credit