Chinese Courses Spring 2008

CHN 102: Elementary Chinese II
Section 000 Ta MW 9:35-10:25 and TT 10:00-11:15 Limit 15
Section 001 Ho MW 11:45-12:35 and TT 1:00-2:15 Limit 15
Section 002 Y. Li MW 2:00-2:50 and TT 2:30-3:45 Limit 10
Section 003 Ho MW 10:40-11:30 and TT 11:30-12:45 Limit 15
Section 004 Y. Li MW 8:30-9:20 and TT 11:30-12:45 Limit 15

(Section 002 is a distance-learning course with Oxford campus.)

Content: This course is the second semester of the two-semester Elementary Chinese course. It is designed for those who have taken CHN101. The course aims at further developing fundamental language skills. All four skills (speaking, reading, listening and writing) will be emphasized and learned in communicative context. Students are expected to actively participate in class by engaging in interactive activities and reading and writing practices. Many aspects of everyday Chinese culture will be introduced through these activities.

Required Texts: Tao-chung Yao and Yue-hua Liu, Integrated Chinese Textbook Level I Part II; Tao-chung Yao and Yue-hua Liu, Integrated Chinese Workbook Level I Part II; Tao-chung Yao and Yue-hua Liu, Integrated Chinese Character Workbook Level I Part II

Particulars: Prerequisites: CHN 101 or consent of instructor. Grading is based on active class participation, written and oral assignment, regular quizzes, lesson tests, and final examination.

CHN 190: Freshman Seminar: Chinese Buddhism
Section 000 Reinders MWF 12:50-1:40 Limit 8
Same as REL 190 Limit 10

Content: This course introduces the long history, varied culture, and spiritual richness of Buddhism in China. Starting with a brief historical overview from the first century CE to the present, we will outline Chinese adaptations of Indian Buddhism, noting nativizing schools such as Tiantai, the relations of Buddhism and the Chinses political order, the relations of Buddhism with Confucianism and Taoism, and the lives of monks and nuns. We will examine Mahayana Buddhism in general, especially Pure Land Buddhism and Chan (better known in its Japanese pronunciation, Zen). As part of a study of monasteries, sacred space, and sacred mountains, we will also explore the iconography and popular lore of the pantheon of buddhas, bodhisattvas, and deities represented in Chinese temples.

Required Texts:
Xu Yun. Empty Cloud: The Autobiography of the Chinese Zen Master
Beata Grant. Daughters of Emptiness: Poems of Chinese Buddhist Nuns
John Kieschnick . The Eminent Monk: Buddhist Ideals in Medieval Chinese Hagiography
A selection of articles and excerpts

CHN 202: Intermediate Chinese II
Section 000 Ta MW 10:40-11:30 and TT 11:30-12:45 Limit 15
Section 001 Zhang MW 11:45-12:35 and TT 10:00-11:15 Limit 15
Section 002 Zhang MW 12:50-1:40 and TT 1:00-2:15 Limit 15

Content: This course provides intermediate-level training in spoken and written Chinese in cultural context, based on language skills developed in CHN 201. Particular attention is given to complex grammatical patterns, discourse characteristics, and discussions of cultural topics

Required Texts: Tao-chung Yao and Yue-hua Liu, Integrated Chinese Textbook Level 2;
Tao-chung Yao and Yue-hua Liu, Integrated Chinese Workbook Level 2

Particulars: Prerequisites: CHN 201 or consent of the instructor.

CHN 203: Chinese for Heritage Speakers II
Section 000 Y. Li MW 9:35-10:25 and TT 10:00-11:15 Limit 15

Content: This course is designed for heritage speakers of Mandarin Chinese and is a continuation of CHN 103. The emphasis is on improving students' reading and writing skills. It prepares students for further study at the advanced level

Required Texts: TBA

Particulars: Prerequisites: CHN 103 or consent of the instructor.

CHN 271WR: Modern China in Film and Fiction

Section 000 Cai MWF 2:00-2:50 Limit 10
Same as ASIA 271WR Limit 5
4 credits

Content: This course is an examination of twenieth-century Chinese society through cinematic productions and a critical reading of the writings of major Chinese writers in translation. Emphasis on self and society in a changing culture and the nature and function of literature in the modern nation-building. Satisfies G.E.R. post-freshman writing requirement and G.E.R. area V.C.

Texts: TBA

Particulars: All readings are in translation. Knowledge of Chinese language not required. Course requirements include three short written assignments, a term paper, persentation, and active class participation.

CHN 302WR: Advanced Chinese II
Section 000 Zhou MWF 10:40-11:30 Limit 15
Section 001 Zhou MWF 2:00-2:50 Limit 15

Content: This is the second semester of Advanced Chinese. The course places emphasis on the communicative function of the language where advanced reading grammar and conversation are stressed. Periodic translation exercises will provide students the opportunity to gauge how well they understand nuances in the language. The content of the textbook focuses on the rapidly changing attitudes and values of modern China. Authentic reading materials are included in each lesson, such as newspaper articles, television, news broadcasts, short works of fiction, and some film. Students will be expected to read complex and simplified characters. Satisfies G.E.R. post-freshman writing.

Required Texts: China Scene: An Advanced Chinese Multimedia Course

Particulars: Prerequisites: CHN 301 or consent of the instructor.

CHN 351: Business Chinese
Section 000 H. Li TT 1:00-2:15 Limit 15

Content: Business Chinese is designed as a one-semester course to introduce the language of business communication. In this course students will study texts that each address a business-related theme such as trade, sales, advertisements, banking, etc. The course uses a variety of authentic materials including government documents, newspaper articles, commercial advertisements, company brochures, and business contracts. Cultural attitudes towards business will also be addressed.

Texts: TBA

Particulars: quizzes, assignments, creative projects, lesson tests, and final exam

Prerequisites: CHN 301 or consent of instructor.

CHN 373SWR: Confucian Classics
Section 000 Magone TT 1:00-2:15 Limit 7
Same as ASIA 375SWR Limit 5
Same as REL 374SWR Limit 3

Content: For more than two thousand years, a small set of texts associated with Confucius (551-479 BC) and his disciples formed the core of the Chinese educational curriculum. As a store of knowledge shared by all educated men and women, the Confucian Classics shaped Chinese literati culture from late antiquity to the early 20th century. The goal of this survey course is to illustrate the diversity of the literary and cultural practices that evolved around this unique body of writings. The course is roughly divided into two parts. First, we will attempt to establish a framework for understanding the textual history and changing significance of the Classics throughout Chinese history. Drawing on a broad selection of primary sources (to be read in English translation), we will then examine how the canonized ideas were refracted in literary, philosophical, religious and political discourse. Satisfies G.E.R. post-freshman writing requirement and G.E.R. area IV.A (Humanities, textual).

Required Texts: TBA

Particulars: Knowledge of Chinese is NOT required. Grading: class participation, written assignments, exams, paper.

CHN 375R: Special Topics in Chinese Studies: Goa and Globalization, 1500-1800
Section 000 Magone TT 2:30-3:45 Limit 7
Same as EAS 385R Limit 5
Same as HIST 385 Limit 3

Content: Located on the west coast of India, in the region known as the Konkan, Goa became forcefully part of the Portuguese seaborne empire in 1510. Through its strategic position along the maritime routes connecting Lisbon to the African and Asian continents, Goa was in fact the main logistical center of world globalization in its first two hundred years, serving as a relay between Europe and China in the age of colonialism. The main goal of the course is to look at the Portuguese world empire through its most important location in order to sketch out a complex and multi-layered picture of globalization in its beginnings. Topics include the politics of European expansionism, the technology of maritime navigation, the logistics of early modern colonial empires, the silver/silk trade between China and Japan, the China and Japan missions, and Goa's competition with Batavia and Manila.

Required Texts:
J.R. Russell Wood. The Portuguese Empire, 1415-1808: A World on the Move. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1998
Jonathan D. Spence. The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci. New York: Penguin, 1985.

Particulars: Knowledge of Chinese or any other foreign language is NOT required. Evaluation is based on class participation, written assignments, exams, research paper.

CHN 397R: Directed Reading
Section 00P (Permission only)
VC

CHN 402WR: Advanced Reading in Modern Chinese II
Section 000 H. Li TT 11:30-12:45 Limit 15

Content: This course is the continuation of Chinese 401. It aims at further developing students' ability to use the Chinese language at a more advanced level and deepening students understand of Chinese culture and society. Students are expected to prepare in advance, then read and discuss the material in Chinese. The emphasis of the course is placed on accurate reading comprehension and expansion of vocabulary and grammatical knowledge for expressing sophisticated ideas. Satisfies G.E.R. post-freshman writing requirement.

Texts: TBA

Particulars: Prerequisite: CHN 401 or consent of instructor.

CHN 495BWR: Chinese Honors II
Section 00P (Permission only)
VC

CHN 496R: Chinese Language Internship
Section 00P (Permission only)
VC

CHN 797R: Directed Studies in Chinese Language or Culture
Section 00P (Permission only)
VC

This page last updated November 27, 2007