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Course Criteria
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4.00 Credits
Essential aspects of Asian culture-Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and Shintoism-studied through careful reading of major works of philosophy and literature. A roughly equal division between Chinese and Japanese works is meant to give a basic understanding of the broad similarities and the less obvious, but all-important, differences among the cultures of Confucian Asia. One reading is a Vietnamese adaptation of a Chinese legend. The last two readings, modern novellas from Japan and China, show the reaction of the traditional cultures to the Western invasions.
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4.00 Credits
A consideration of the prehistory to Japan's modernist transformation through an analysis of key literary, religious, and artistic texts. Concentrates on the historical experiences that produced elements of a national culture before there was a nation and on the consciousness of being Japanese before there was a "Japan." Examines how key cultural elements were used to make a modern nation-state.
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4.00 Credits
The Pacific Island region sweeps from Easter Island in the East to Papua New Guinea in the West, a vast "sea of islands" that has been a crucial space of exchange: of perspectives, materials, people, and ideas. What can we learn from the study of this region, a set of islands with both commonalities and differences that is often imagined as one "place"? We examine the cultures of the Pacific Islands, moving from the first migrations of indigenous navigators through the age of European exploration and colonialism, to the local experience of World War II and contemporary engagements with globalization. We also study the area's unique cultural configurations of ritual practice, cosmology, and society. Along the way, we engage directly with the voices of Pacific islanders, from those who participated in the voyages of Captain Cook, to indigenous artists who reflect on these complex and entangled histories. Other primary sources include museum collections, film, painting, and other visual representations. This comparative approach enables us to understand debates about colonial encounter, primitivism, cannibalism, cargo cults, nuclear testing, resource extraction, and the morality of diet, from a Pacific perspective.
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4.00 Credits
No course description available.
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4.00 Credits
The popular American picture of the Middle East as a place of violence, veiled women, and oil wealth portrays none of the richness or complexity of most people's lives in the region. How can we make sense of these seemingly unfamiliar societies and think critically about Western images of the unfamiliar? Questions examined in depth include the following: What variety of sources do people in the Middle East draw on to define their sense of who they are-as members of particular households, regions, nations, or religious communities? How do women and men construct their gender identity? In what ways are village, town, and city lives being transformed? Do people of the Middle East experience their region's politics the way it is portrayed in the West? What are some of the causes of political repression, armed struggle, or terror? How did European colonialism reshape the lives of people in the region, and how do they today encounter the cultural and economic power of the United States and Europe? Readings are drawn from history, anthropology, political economy, and the contemporary literature of the region.
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4.00 Credits
Fundamental concepts and practices of Chinese society and culture, examined using primary sources in translation whenever possible. By studying the social, political, religious, ideological, ritual, economic, and cultural life of the Chinese, students gain a sense of the core values and issues of Chinese civilization and how these have affected and continue to have an impact on the way people think and live.
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4.00 Credits
The culture of the ancient Israelite societies of biblical times, covering the period from about 1200 B.C.E. to the conquests of Alexander the Great, in the fourth century B.C.E. Topics include the achievements of these societies in the areas of law and social organization, prophetic movements, Israelite religion, and ancient Hebrew literature. The Hebrew Bible preserves much of the creativity of the ancient Israelites, but archaeological excavations in Israel and neighboring Foundations of Contemporary Culture lands, as well as the discovery of ancient writings in Hebrew and related languages, have added greatly to our knowledge of life as it was lived in biblical times. The civilizations of Egypt and Syria-Mesopotamia also shed light on Israelite culture. Of particular interest is the early development of Israelite monotheism, which, in time, emerged as ancient Judaism, the mother religion of Christianity and Islam.
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4.00 Credits
Offered every other year.
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4.00 Credits
Considers the paradoxes of modern India: ancient religious ideas coexisting with material progress, hierarchical caste society with parliamentary democracy, and urban shantytowns with palatial high-rises. Integrates research on India's cultural values with social-scientific perspectives on their contemporary relevance. Examines problems such as protective discrimination for lower castes and cultural nationalism. Shows how democracy involves difficult choices among competing, often opposed, ancient and modern cultural values.
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4.00 Credits
Examines the growth and development of "Latino" as a distinct category of identity out of the highly diverse populations of Latin American background in the United States, paying particular attention to the social processes shaping its emergence. Provides a detailed examination of the processes of cultural creation behind the rising growth of transnational cultures and identities worldwide, and of the forces that are fueling their development. Begins by exploring the immigration of Latin American peoples to U.S. cities, then turns to three case studies of emerging Latino communities, and ends by examining contemporary issues involving Latinos in urban centers such as New York.
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