Study of Chinese painting and practice from the earliest pictorial representation through the late twentieth century. Painting styles are analyzed, but themes such as landscape and narrative are considered with regard to larger social, cultural, and historical issues. The class will pay particular attention to the construction of the concepts of the "artist" and "art criticism" and their impact on the field into the present. Visits to study paintings at the University of Pennsylvania Museum and Philadelphia Museum of Art.

This course introduces Chinese history from ancient to modern times. In addition to the political, social, economic, and intellectual developments, this course will look at Chinese history from the perspective of women, the peripheries, environment, and oceanic trade networks. It challenges the notion of “civilization” and the imagination of history as singular and monolithic. The lectures and readings will include some of the most up-to-date scholarship in Chinese and East Asian history. The recitations and short paper assignments are designed for students to practice historical analysis of primary sources.

This course introduces Chinese history from ancient to modern times. In addition to the political, social, economic, and intellectual developments, this course will look at Chinese history from the perspective of women, the peripheries, environment, and oceanic trade networks. It challenges the notion of “civilization” and the imagination of history as singular and monolithic. The lectures and readings will include some of the most up-to-date scholarship in Chinese and East Asian history. The recitations and short paper assignments are designed for students to practice historical analysis of primary sources.

This course introduces Chinese history from ancient to modern times. In addition to the political, social, economic, and intellectual developments, this course will look at Chinese history from the perspective of women, the peripheries, environment, and oceanic trade networks. It challenges the notion of “civilization” and the imagination of history as singular and monolithic. The lectures and readings will include some of the most up-to-date scholarship in Chinese and East Asian history. The recitations and short paper assignments are designed for students to practice historical analysis of primary sources.

This course introduces Chinese history from ancient to modern times. In addition to the political, social, economic, and intellectual developments, this course will look at Chinese history from the perspective of women, the peripheries, environment, and oceanic trade networks. It challenges the notion of “civilization” and the imagination of history as singular and monolithic. The lectures and readings will include some of the most up-to-date scholarship in Chinese and East Asian history. The recitations and short paper assignments are designed for students to practice historical analysis of primary sources.

This course introduces Chinese history from ancient to modern times. In addition to the political, social, economic, and intellectual developments, this course will look at Chinese history from the perspective of women, the peripheries, environment, and oceanic trade networks. It challenges the notion of “civilization” and the imagination of history as singular and monolithic. The lectures and readings will include some of the most up-to-date scholarship in Chinese and East Asian history. The recitations and short paper assignments are designed for students to practice historical analysis of primary sources.

This course will introduce students to the diverse beliefs, ideas, and practices of East Asia's major religious traditions: Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, Shinto, Popular Religion, as well as Asian forms of Islam and Christianity. As religious identity in East Asia is often fluid and non-sectarian in nature, there religious traditions will not be investigated in isolation. Instead, the course will adopt a chronological and geographical approach, examining the spread of religious ideas and practices across East Asia and the ensuing results of these encounters. The course will be divided into three units. Unit one will cover the religions of China. We will begin by discussing early Chinese religion and its role in shaping the imperial state before turning to the arrival of Buddhism and its impact in the development of organized Daoism, as well as local religion. In the second unit, we will turn eastward into Korea and Japan. After examining the impact of Confucianism and Buddhism on the religious histories of these two regions, we will proceed to learn about the formation of new schools of Buddhism, as well as the rituals and beliefs associated with Japanese Shinto and Korean Shamanism. The third and final unit will focus on the modern and contemporary periods through an analysis of key themes such as religion and modernity, the global reception and interpretation of East Asian religions, andthe relationship between religion and popular culture. The class will be conducted mainly in the form of a lecture, but some sessions will be partially devoted to a discussion of primary sources in translation. The course assignments are designed to evaluate the development of both of these areas. No previous knowledge of East Asian languages is necessary, and all readings will be available in English on the Canvas site in PDF form.

This course will provide an overview of the major tropes, themes, and interpretations of contemporary Japanese science fiction and fantasy. As we establish a foundational knowledge of the history and structural formulations of genre fiction in Japan, we will cover topics such as folklore, high fantasy, apocalypse, dystopia, magical realism, posthumanism, video games, and transnational media franchises and cross-cultural marketing. By the end of the semester, students will possess a deeper understanding and appreciation of the role that science fiction and fantasy play in shaping contemporary media cultures in Japan and around the world.

This is a seminar about Tang China and Nara Japan, and Early Heian Japan, Unified Silla Korea, Northeast Asia under Parhae, and Uyghur Inner Asia through their cities, palaces, monasteries, Buddhist art, and painting. We begin by studying material remains of the two best-documented civilizations of East Asian in the seventh-ninth centuries. Using painting, sculpture, ceramics, and architecture of Tang China and Nara Japan, we investigate the validity of the frequent assessment of an international Tang through material remains in China and Japan. We then move to Korea, Mongolia, and Central Asia. Students will have a wide range of topics to work on. They will be encouraged to find comparative topics. This seminar is an opportunity for students to use Chinese, Japanese, or Korean in research papers. There are no exams. Readings will be assigned to the whole group and to individual students for short presentations every week. Undergraduates will write one short and write and present one long paper.

Films from socialist countries are often labeled and dismissed as "propaganda" in Western democratic societies. This course complicates this simplistic view, arguing for the value in understanding the ties between socialist governments, the cinematic arts, and everything in between. We will examine films from past and present socialist countries such as the Soviet Union, China, North Korea, and Cuba, as well as films made with socialist aspirations. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.