Faculty of Arts & Science 2015-2016 Calendar

East Asian Studies

• East Asian Studies Specialist | East Asian Studies Major | East Asian Studies Minor
• East Asian Studies Courses

Faculty

The Department of East Asian Studies offers students the opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of the history, cultures, and languages of premodern, modern, and contemporary East Asia. The department’s course offerings engage the diversity of East Asian cultures, from contemporary film and politics to ancient philosophy, and they critically examine the structures that define the area and render it an object of study. We offer a full range of courses on East Asian literature, history, thought, religion, and society, as well as Chinese, Japanese, and Korean language courses from beginning to advanced levels. In a time of globalization, a degree in East Asian Studies can be an excellent springboard from which to launch a career in fields where bilingualism, critical analytical skills, and in-depth knowledge of the socio-historical and cultural contexts of East Asian texts and ideas are essential. Our Major and Specialist programs build the foundation for careers in teaching and research, international business and law, foreign service, and cultural institutions.

Students seeking counseling should contact the Undergraduate Coordinator, but all members of the Department will be happy to provide advice and information about their course offerings. In conjunction with Woodsworth College, the Department offers courses during June and July at the University of Hong Kong, and through the Centre for International Experience, participates in exchange programs with universities in China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Singapore.

General Enquiries:
 Robarts Library, 14th Floor, (416)946-3625, www.eas.utoronto.ca

East Asian Studies Programs

The Department of East Asian Studies offers three undergraduate Programs of Study. The Specialist is the most intensive and comprehensive program, requiring a minimum of 10 full-course equivalents (FCEs) in a 20-FCE degree. The Major requires 7.0 FCEs while the Minor requires 4.0 FCEs.

Language Requirement: Both the Major and Specialist programs require a level of proficiency in an East Asian language: second year (EAS200Y1/EAS201H1/EAS210Y1/EAS211Y1/EAS212H1/EAS220Y1) for Majors and third year (EAS300Y1/EAS310Y1/EAS320Y1) for Specialists. Students’ language abilities will be assessed by the department prior to enrolling in the language courses. The department reserves the right to place students in language courses appropriate to their language abilities. 

Completion of the program requires 10.0 FCEs, meeting the following requirements:

1. EAS103H1 and EAS105H1, normally taken in the first year;
2. EAS209H1, normally taken in the second year;
3. At least third-year proficiency in Chinese, Korean or Japanese, either by completing an appropriate language course (e.g., EAS300Y1/EAS310Y1/EAS320Y1 or a 400-level language course) or by demonstrating the required proficiency in the initial placement. Students without sufficient background may need to start in a lower-level language course, normally in their first year. Students whose placement assessment exempts them from the requirement must substitute Society-Culture courses;
4. A minimum of 5.0 Society-Culture FCEs, with at least 4.0 FCEs at the 300-level or above, of which at least 1.0 FCE must be at the 400 level;
5. Additional EAS courses to a total of 10.0 FCEs; and
6. 2.0 FCEs may be courses on East Asia taught by other departments.

Completion of the program requires 7.0 FCEs, meeting the following requirements:

1. EAS103H1 and EAS105H1, normally taken in the first year;
2. EAS209H1, normally taken in the second year;
3. At least second-year proficiency in Chinese, Korean or Japanese, either by completing an appropriate language course (e.g., EAS201H1/EAS200Y1/EAS210Y1/EAS220Y1 or a higher level language course) or by demonstrating the required proficiency in the initial placement. Students without sufficient background may need to start in a lower-level language course, normally in their first year. Students whose placement assessment exempts them from the requirement must substitute Society-Culture courses;
4. A minimum of 3.0 Society-Culture FCEs, with at least 2.0 FCEs at the 300-level or above, of which at least 0.5 FCE must be at the 400 level;
5. Additional EAS courses to a total of 7.0 FCEs; and
6. 1.0 FCE may be courses on East Asia taught by other departments.

1. EAS103H1 and EAS105H1; 
2. 3.0 Society-Culture FCEs, one of which must be 300/400-level; and
3. 1.0 FCE may be courses on East Asia taught by other departments.

Language courses cannot be used to fulfil the requirements of the Minor program.

Core Courses
EAS103H1, EAS105H1, EAS209H1

Society-Culture Courses
EAS214H1, EAS215H1, EAS219H1, EAS230H1, EAS235H1, EAS241H1, EAS242H1, EAS243H1, EAS245H1, EAS246H1, EAS247H1, EAS251H1, EAS256H1, EAS257H1, EAS271H1, EAS272H1, EAS273H1, EAS284H1/EAS284Y1, EAS289Y1, EAS295Y0, EAS297H1, EAS299Y1, JMC301Y1, EAS307H1, EAS309H1, EAS311H1, EAS314H1, EAS315H1, EAS327H1, EAS330H1, EAS333H1, EAS334H1/EAS334Y1, EAS338H1, EAS340Y1, EAS344H1, EAS345Y1, EAS346H1, EAS347H1, EAS348H1, EAS349H1, EAS357H1, EAS358Y1, EAS361H1, EAS364H1, EAS366H1, EAS372H1/EAS372Y1, EAS374H1, EAS375H1, EAS378H1, EAS384H1, EAS386Y1, EAS388H1, EAS393H1/EAS393Y1, EAS394H1, EAS395Y0, EAS397H1, EAS398H0, EAS399Y0, EAS406Y1, EAS407H1, EAS408H1, EAS409H1, EAS411H1, EAS412H1, EAS413H1, EAS414H1, EAS418H1, EAS419H1, EAS420H1, EAS431H1, EAS432H1, EAS434H1, EAS435H1, EAS436Y1, EAS438H1, EAS439H1, EAS444H1, EAS447H1, EAS448H1, EAS449H1, EAS454H1, EAS455H1, EAS456H1, EAS457H1, EAS458H1, EAS459Y1, EAS462H1, EAS464H1, EAS465H1, EAS466H1, EAS467H1, EAS471Y1, EAS473H1, EAS474H1, EAS475Y1, EAS478Y1, EAS484Y1, EAS495Y1, EAS496H1, EAS497H1

Language Courses
EAS100Y1, EAS101Y1, EAS110Y1, EAS120Y1, EAS121H1, EAS122Y0, EAS200Y1, EAS201H1, EAS210Y1, EAS211Y1, EAS212H1, EAS220Y1, EAS222Y0, EAS223Y0, EAS300Y1, EAS310Y1, EAS320Y1, EAS321Y0, EAS322Y0,  EAS401H1, EAS402H1, EAS410Y1, EAS416Y1, EAS460H1, EAS461H1, EAS462Y0, EAS463Y0, EAS464Y0 

Society-Culture Courses on East Asia Offered by Other Departments
A number of courses that focus on East Asia offered by other departments can be counted as Society-Culture courses.
ANT341H1, ANT472H1, ANT477H1, CAS310H1, CAS320H1, CAS350H1, CAS360H1, CAS390H1, FAH260H1, FAH262H1, FAH360H1, FAH363H1, FAH368H1, FAH461H1, FAH462H1, FAH463H1, FAH464H1, GGR343H1, HIS280Y1, HIS281Y1, HIS326H1, HIS328H1, HIS380H1, HIS385H1, HIS385Y0, HIS448H1, HIS485H1, JHA384H1, JHA394H1, JPA331Y1, JPA410H1, JPA411H1, MUS215H1, PHL237H1, PHL337H1, POL215Y1, POL431Y1, RLG206Y1, RLG207Y1, RLG245H1, RLG371H1, RLG379H1, RLG466H1
Please see the EAS website (www.eas.utoronto.ca) for updates. 

The Department of East Asian Studies participates in the Faculty of Arts and Science’s Language Citation initiative for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. The study of any of these languages is a challenging and time consuming endeavour, which offers rich rewards for students interested in the cultures, societies, and economies of East Asia. 

The Language Citation recognizes a significant level of achievement in language study with a high level of academic success. The Language Citation is available to students who achieve a B- or above in 2.0 FCEs beyond the first-year course in a language. The following courses count towards a Language Citation:
Chinese – EAS200Y1, EAS201H1, EAS300Y1, EAS401H1, EAS402H1
Japanese – EAS220Y1, EAS320Y1, EAS460H1, EAS461H1
Korean – EAS210Y1, half a credit of EAS211Y1, EAS212H1, EAS310Y1, EAS410Y1, and EAS416Y1

Students should note that the Language Citation is not equivalent to an academic program and that enrolment in a program is not necessary in order to earn the recognition bestowed by the Citation. Students interested in the Citation should apply to the EAS office.

East Asian Studies Courses

The 199Y1 and 199H1 seminars are designed to provide the opportunity to work closely with an instructor in a class of no more than twenty-four students. These interactive seminars are intended to stimulate the students’ curiosity and provide an opportunity to get to know a member of the professorial staff in a seminar environment during the first year of study. Details can be found at www.artsci.utoronto.ca/current/course/fyh-1/.

All Society-Culture courses are instructed in English. Readings are available in English translation unless otherwise indicated. 

Examines how various histories of East Asia can be written by examining specific themes in the histories of China, Japan, and Korea to roughly 1600. Required of EAS specialists, majors, and minors.

Examines how various histories of East Asia can be written by examining specific themes in the histories of China, Japan, and Korea from roughly 1600 to the Cold War. Required of EAS specialists, majors, and minors. 

Prerequisite: EAS103H1
Exclusion: EAS102Y1
Distribution Requirement Status: This is a Humanities course
Breadth Requirement: Society and its Institutions (3)


200-series courses
EAS209H1    Approaches to East Asia (formerly EAS209Y1)[24L/12T]

Required of EAS specialists and majors, this course introduces various approaches, theories, and methodologies for the study of East Asian society and culture. As the course serves as a foundation for upper-level EAS courses, it should be taken as early as possible, preferably in the second year.

EAS214H1    Chinese Cultural History - Beginnings to Tang[24L]

This course examines the cultural history of China from the earliest times to the 9th century, through political, religious, philosophical, literary, and artistic developments. Emphasis will be on the reading and interpretation of primary source texts. 

This course examines the vibrant middle period of Chinese history, a period of profound transformation in which some of the most distinctively traditional forms of thought, religious belief, artistic and literary expression, and scholarly practices emerged and developed in China. Topics include: the establishment of empire as a norm in China (and its implications); the rise of the literati and literati culture; the examination system; Neo-Confucian philosophy; visual culture; sciences of the body; and popular and print culture.

This course introduces historical, literary, and anthropological issues related to the consumption of food in East Asia. Through a wide variety of reading material, it focuses on the relationship between various foodways and trade, ritual, religion, medicine, and cultural identity.

Examines key questions in Chinese literature from the earliest times to 1800. Texts will include poetry and narratives in English translation. The course introduces important themes, approaches, and theories to help students understand the "how" and "why" of writing and literary form in China.

Lectures on Japanese literary negotiations with China, the Chinese and Chineseness, ranging from celebration of shared cultural practices to nativist resistance to China the hegemonic to aestheticization of China as the exotic/erotic. Required readings are available in English translation, and include Tale of Genji, Tale of Middle-Councillor Hamamatsu (medieval romance); Haku Rakuten (No Play); Battles of Coxinga (Kabuki play); Three-Cornered World (by Soseki); Wild Goose (by Ogai).

The course introduces the major philosophical traditions in China, such as Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism, and their historical development from ancient to modern times in four periods: the emergence of Confucianism, Daoism, and other minor schools; the introduction of Buddhism and the development of various sects of Chinese Mahayana Buddhism; the unfolding of neo-Confucianism; the development of modern Chinese philosophy. 

This course investigates how film aesthetics relate to the most profound socio-historical problems of Japanese modernity. It also considers the ways various filmmakers employ cinematic form to engage the social problems of their moment. Part I focuses on the 1890s - 1950s. 

This course investigates how film aesthetics relate to the most profound socio-historical problems of Japanese modernity. It also considers how various film makers employ cinematic form to engage the social problems of their moment. Part II focuses on the 1960s - present. 

A survey of the history of premodern Japan from earliest recorded histories to the establishment of the Tokugawa regime in the seventeenth century. Uses a wide range of translated primary Japanese texts to illuminate the emergence of cultural forms and their conjunction with social, economic, religious, and political trends.

A survey of the history of Japan from about 1600 until the disintegration of the Tokugawa regime in the mid-19th century. Uses a wide range of translated primary Japanese texts to illuminate the emergence of cultural forms and their conjunction with social, economic, religious, and political trends.

This course provides a historical narrative of the development of the capitalist mode of production in Japan, from the mid-19th century to the present day. Readings will include texts from various disciplines: economics, philosophy, social and labour history, and literature.

This lecture course examines key questions and texts in the history of literature from the Korean peninsula during the twentieth century, exploring how aesthetic form has refracted the experiences of colonialism, division, and the formation of opposing nation-states.

A survey of major works in premodern Chinese literature, including poetry, essays, and short narratives from the pre-Qin through Tang eras (11th century BCE - 10th century CE). Readings are available in English translation.

A survey of major works in premodern Chinese literature, including poetry, essays, short narratives and drama from the Song through Qing dynasties (10th - 19th centuries CE). Readings are available in English translation. 

A survey of the history of Korea from the Tonghak uprising and Sino-Japanese war of 1894-1895, through the colonial period, division, and civil war, to the democratization movement.

This course offers a critical analysis of South Korean film and literature as a way of understanding the political and cultural contexts of post-Korean War South Korean society and culture. The class is devoted to developing critical perspectives on the historical context and cultural representation of Korea. In particular, it introduces students to the ongoing construction of identities about marginalized Koreans through major political incidents, including the Kwangju uprising.

This course offers a critical review of the history and historiography of modern Chinese cities. Focusing on the development of specific Chinese cities, the course emphasises understanding the socio-cultural production of space as well as analytical reading of landscape, urban imagery, and urban writings. 

This course offers a critical examination of twentieth-century Chinese literature. It aims to explore the various ways of being modern as well as different meanings of writing Chinese literature. We focus on the important developments of literary writing over time, from the inception of New Literature in the 1910s, the development of realism and modernism of the 1930s, to the emergency of post-revolution and postmodernist writings of the 1990s. Emphasis is placed on generating a dialogue on interpretations of key works. In doing so, students exercise the skill of reading literary works in terms of aesthetic choices and strategies of cultural politics.

This course offers a critical examination of twentieth-century Chinese literature. It aims to explore the various ways of being modern as well as different meanings of writing Chinese literature. We focus on the important developments of literary writing over time, from the inception of New Literature in the 1910s, the development of realism and modernism of the 1930s, to the emergency of post-revolution and postmodernist writings of the 1990s. Emphasis is placed on generating a dialogue on interpretations of key works. In doing so, students exercise the skill of reading literary works in terms of aesthetic choices and strategies of cultural politics.

This course explores the environmental crisis, with a special focus on its representations in the media, film, and writing about East Asia.

Distribution Requirement Status: This is a Humanities course
Breadth Requirement: Creative and Cultural Representations (1) + Society and its Institutions (3)

EAS295Y0    Selected Topics in East Asian Studies, 200-level[TBA]

This course allows students to pursue the specialized study of specific topics tailored to the research and study opportunities available in Hong Kong and the expertise and interests of the instructor. Available only in the Woodsworth College Hong Kong Summer Program.

Distribution Requirement Status: This is a Humanities course
Breadth Requirement: None

EAS296H1    Topics in East Asian Studies [24L]

An in-depth study of Chinese, Japanese or Korean culture, history and/or literature. Content depends on the instructor. See EAS website for details. When offered, the course will have a subtitle that describes its content.

EAS297H1    Texts, Images and Objects in East Asia [24P]

This course seeks to understand East Asian civilizations through texts, images, and objects exhibited at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). Students study various texts, paintings, bronzes, architecture, sculptures, porcelains, and other objects, and explore their historical, aesthetic, and critical meanings.

Credit course for supervised participation in faculty research project. Details at http://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/current/course/rop. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

The course analyses the development of Chinese political philosophy from ancient times to the present day, focusing on Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism and their relation to issues in political philosophy today.

A survey of representative works of prose written by twentieth-century Chinese writers. This course focuses on reading texts, as well as analyzing their textual structures, aesthetic values, and historical contexts.

This course examines the historical development of Japanese monsters, from roughly the 7-8th centuries to modern times. We focus on how the changing understanding of monsters in society has embodied certain fissures in Japanese culture, especially with regard to gender and class.

Exploration of literature, film, and other cultural production related to the atomic bombing and other nuclear catastrophes from transnational, inter-Asia, and transpacific perspectives. Primarily focuses on, but not necessarily limited to, the cultural texts, intellectual concepts, and social thoughts generated out of the history of Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic destruction.

Beginning with the Chinese Exclusion Acts, the Asian presence in North America has often been considered a serious social menace. This course explores the Asian/North American response to the past and present "Yellow Peril" constituted as a gendered, sexualized, classed, and racialized epistemological and affective structure of knowledge.

The focus is on modern Japanese literature, with special attention given to literature's relation to the nation. Students explore how literature transforms throughout Japanese modernity and how its meaning and effects function to simultaneously tie together and pull apart national identity.

Discussion of narratives by Natsume Soseki, Mori Ogai, Tanizaki Junichiro, and Ibuse Masuji, with attention to issues in narratology and contemporary narrative studies such as: the voice and perspective; the gender and power relationships of the narrator-narratee-narrated; the act of narrating, writing, listening and reading; and metafictional paradox. Readings are assigned from secondary and theoretical materials. All readings are available in English.

This course considers the problem of colonial modernism through a close reading of literary and other cultural texts from early 20th century Korea. It asks what it means to enter modernity under colonial rule, and questions the relationship between imperialism, writing, and subjectivity in particular. Topics covered include the role of literature in elaborating new concepts of subjectivity, literature and the fine arts as assimilatory practices, the emergence of urban space and consequent reconfiguration of notions of the rural, and changing notions of time and space in the cultural products of nativism. Readings of literary works will be accompanied by showings of paintings and photographs from the period, as well as discussion of theoretical essays on modernism.

This course explores the development of Chinese fiction from earliest times with emphasis on the twentieth century.

This course explores the development of Chinese fiction from earliest times with emphasis on the twentieth century.

This course examines major issues of classical Daoist thought, such as Dao and cosmos, body and self, human nature, language and knowledge, political visions, etc. Based on both textual and ideological analysis of Daoist works such as the Laozi, the Zhuangzi, and Huanglao Daoist texts, to be updated with recently unearthed texts in silk and bamboo slips.

The course explores issues of identity, self, and community in a broad exploration of cultural transformation in China.

This course is an introduction to the major literary and cultural theories from the 20th century to the present, with an eye to the dissemination of these theories in China that sustains their universality as such. Readings include narrative theory, structural linguistics, post-structuralism, psychoanalysis, critical translation theory, postmodernism, and postcolonial scholarship.

This course looks at China in regional perspective, including issues of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Peoples Republic of China's economic integration. The role of Chinese communities globally and in Southeast Asia also receives attention. 

This course explores the diverse and intriguing ways in which subjectivity was conceived in premodern China (up to the 12th century) by way of the various images thinkers invoked to make sense of it. Works studied include: Warring States philosophical treatises; Buddhist and religious Daoist texts on meditation and self-cultivation; literary theory and poetry; philosophical prose essays by literati; and painting.

The history of modern Japan as revealed by the problem of everyday life and its relationship to capitalism. Using a range of literary, philosophical, economic, and ethnographic materials that deal with the development of capitalism in Japan, Japanese colonialism, imperialism, and fascism, the course explores ways to specify and critique what is called everyday life.

This course critically re-evaluates the history and historiography of Japanese capitalism, imperialism/colonialism, and world-empire through the lens of three, distinct “modes of exchange”: gift, plunder, and commodity exchange. How do gifting, plunder, and commodity exchange differ from one another, and how have they persisted throughout world history? How are these modes of exchange expressions of Nation, State, and Capital, respectively, and how do they come into being in relation to each other? What are the salient forms of power and domination that attend to each of these modes of exchange, and how do they become interlinked into a Borromean Ring of Capital-Nation-State? Inspired by Kojin Karatani’s The Structure of World History: From Modes of Production to Modes of Exchange (2014), this course explores the emancipatory politics inherent in the critical analysis of modes of exchange, and takes up historical cases from Japan, Hokkaido, Okinawa, Taiwan, Korea, China, and the “Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere.” 

This is an introductory course to sound studies through the case of modern China. The class surveys basic theories of sound studies. It investigates the technological, cultural, and social production of soundscapes in modern China. We examine the invention of national language(s), the introduction of gramophone, radio, and sound cinema, and the relationship between sound, aesthetics, and power.

This course introduces major issues and events in contemporary Chinese history from the success of the Communist revolution in 1949 to China's postsocialist transitions in the 1980s and early 1990s. Topics include the development and victory of the Chinese Communist revolution; the rule and legacy of Mao Zedong (particularly the Hundred Flowers movement, the Great Leap Forward, and the Cultural Revolution); economic reform and political repression in the era of Deng Xiaoping. Readings are assigned from both secondary literature and English translations of primary materials.

An introduction to the Classical Chinese language with emphasis on grammatical analysis and translation into English. Open only to EAS majors and specialists. 

This course serves as an introduction to the Zen Buddhist traditions of China, Korea, and Japan. Emphasis is placed on the radical views of history, language, ritual, self, and enlightenment espoused by these traditions. The course also examines issues related to Zen monasticism, the development of koans, and the definition of orthodoxy in both premodern and modern Zen. Students will be asked to explore these and other topics by paying close attention to the historical, doctrinal, and institutional contexts from which they arose. Readings include both primary material in translation and secondary scholarship.

No understanding of contemporary China is possible without understanding the ramifications of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). This course seeks to consider this tumultuous episode as a field of historical research and conceptual inquiry: What was the meaning of culture in the Cultural Revolution? To what extent was it revolutionary? What did really it mean to talk about class and class struggle during the movement? How is the Cultural Revolution remembered and represented? And, how do we understand China's globalizing present in the historical context of the Cultural Revolution? This course invites students to explore such questions by critically examining a wide variety of sources, including scholarly accounts, official documents, personal memoirs, oral histories, and literary works.

A thematic introduction to some of China's major literary texts by taking as our guide the lover and the madman as both writer and subject. We use the idea of lover and madman to explore issues such as social and behavioral boundaries, desire, violence, narrative compulsion, and the re-imagination of tradition.

This research-oriented course examines the divided history of the Korean peninsula since 1945 in the context of the global war. Beginning with the Korean war and ending with the contemporary culture of division, the course examines key debates in the history of contemporary Korea.

This research-oriented course examines the divided history of the Korean peninsula since 1945 in the context of the global war. Beginning with the Korean war and ending with the contemporary culture of division, the course examines key debates in the history of contemporary Korea.

This course interrogates the history of modern Japan from the perspective of Japan's colonial exploits in East Asia. The course also addresses the political economy and culture of the military occupation of Japan by the Supreme Command of the Allied Powers. Texts from economics, philosophy, and literature will be used.

This writing- and reading-intensive course explores the history of the postwar period in Japan and its former colonies in order to delineate a way to think of the idea of apocalypse in relation to the phenomenon of crisis in advanced capitalism. Through an examination of the history of capitalist crisis in postwar Japan, the course investigates themes of apocalypse in atomic-bomb literature, television, and Godzilla, radical students movements of the 1960s, ecological-industrial disasters, worker art movements, debates on modernity and fascism, avant-garde theatre, popular music, the phenomenon of the “freeter”, religious movements, nationalism, and populism, and the so-called “ageing population” problem. The course revolves around texts by philosophers, economics, novelists, essayists, artists, and critics, as well as some films and audio recordings.

An exploration of most important cities of Tokugawa Japan. Among the largest cities of the early modern world, the three were home to a vibrant urban culture and remarkable economic activity. The framework is historical, but the texts will be diverse; buildings, maps, screen paintings, prints, film, and novels will be studied.

In popular culture medieval Japan often figures as an era of unremitting warfare, in which only samurai mattered. This course offers more balanced view of what many historians regard as the most volatile, yet also most creative, era in Japanese history. The course examines the era from 1100-1500 with an eye to understanding the place of warriors, but also to explaining the incredible cultural advances of the period, which gave rise to many of the arts for which Japanese culture is renowned.

The course examines the cultural practice of nature in China’s past and present, focusing on literary, artistic, spiritual, ethical, political, and scientific aspects of human-nature relation. The content is drawn upon various kinds of scholarly and primary sources with special emphasis on eco-critical approach and methods of textual and historical studies. 

A transpacific examination of gender and sexuality issues that have directly and indirectly affected Asians and Asian North Americans. Considers, for example, the gender and sexual representations of Asia in North America, the psycho-history of the “Yellow Peril” and its ramifications beyond Asian North Americans, the history of immigration, nationalism, colonialism, war, and the militarized empire, etc.

Topics vary according to the instructor’s interests. 

Topics vary according to the instructor’s interests. 

This course discusses documentary film and DV culture in contemporary China as forms of cultural, communal, and political practices. We focus on films and videos that seek to address important global issues such as peace and climate change in cross-media approach and in personal tone. We ask: What new tendencies are there in the films and videos? Where can we trace them back to? What fresh possibilities might they bring forth to our aesthetic and public life?

This course allows students to pursue the specialized study of topics tailored to the research and study opportunities available in Hong Kong and the expertise and interests of the instructor. Available only in the Woodsworth College Hong Kong Summer Program.

Distribution Requirement Status: This is a Humanities course
Breadth Requirement: None

EAS396H1    Topics in East Asian Studies [24L]

An in-depth study of Chinese, Japanese or Korean culture, history and/or literature. Content depends on the instructor. See EAS website for details. When offered, the course will have a subtitle that describes its content.

EAS397H1    Literary Lives in Late Imperial China[24L]

In-depth examination of five to six selected men and women through close reading of their literary repertoire and through biography and autobiography. The material will introduce concepts such as memory, literati identity, aesthetic theories, gender, and social transformations in the Ming and Qing period. 

An instructor-supervised group project in an off-campus setting. Details at http://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/current/course/399. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

An instructor-supervised group project in an off-campus setting. Details at http://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/current/course/399. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This intensive seminar explores theories of the object, the histories of objects in East Asia, and critical thinking about the process of research. Through theoretical readings, class, and individual research projects, the seminar asks how to formulate research questions, use the internet and other resources, and present discoveries in a class conference.

Readings of texts from ancient and medieval Chinese philosophy. Beginning by linguistic (especially semantic) analysis of key words, structure and meaning of sentences, paragraphs, and texts as a whole. Philosophical examination proceeds from linguistic analysis.

A general survey of modern Taiwanese literature from 1949 - present. It examines issues central to understanding the Taiwanese experience, such as historical/cultural context, oral/written language, self-identification, gender, human rights, etc.

Focusing on selected Chinese cities from the earliest history to 1800 CE, this course introduces students to different aspects of urban life and its representations in literature and history.  

This course explores development of ancient societies from prehistory to the Bronze Age of China, with an extensive introduction to recent archaeological discoveries. The course offers students an understanding of the origins and formation of Chinese civilizations.

This course introduces students to the technology and material culture of prehistoric and Bronze-Age China. The course offers students an understanding of the development of ancient technologies (e.g. bronze, jade, and lacquer) and associated ways of life from archaeological perspectives.

This course explores the intellectual culture of the Six Dynasties in China (3rd through 6th centuries CE), a vibrant period in which many new forms of thought and expression flourished. Texts include historical anecdotes, Buddhist and Daoist scriptures, self-cultivation manuals, philosophical exegeses, and treatises on music, art, and poetics.

Textual and conceptual analysis of theories and practices related to physical health and mental sanity in Chinese philosophical schools such as Confucianism, Daoism, and Chinese Mahayana Buddhism.

This course focuses on theories of Chinese arts by critically analyzing various theoretical texts on music, painting, calligraphy, and literature, in the form of special treatises and documents recorded in the Classics.

This seminar focuses on the May Fourth Movement in early twentieth century China. Taking May Fourth as a case study and a vantage point, this class enables a critical understanding of various aspects of the cultural and intellectual life in the early Republican period in China.

This intensive seminar focuses on the circulation of people (and as consequence, words and ideas) throughout East Asia and Central Asia in the premodern era. Texts include the diaries of the Japanese monk Ennin, as we try to understand the world such travellers searched for or encountered.

The focus ranges from the examination of cross-cultural theoretical problems (such as Orientalism) to a director-based focus, from the examination of genre (such as documentary or the category of genre itself) to the way film intersects with other cultural forms and technologies (such as Video and New Media).

This seminar provides an opportunity for in-depth reading and research into a specific topic in the cultural and intellectual history of Korea. Topics will vary each semester but may include colonial period print culture, the New Woman, the history of photography, and modernism.

Survey of China's architecture from the Song dynasty. Subjects include design (including fengshui); the role of architects and craftsmen; building techniques and materials; and the logistics and financing of building projects. Seminar format, with readings (Yingzao fashi, Lu Ban jing, geomantic treatises), and visits to the Royal Ontario Museum.

Through a sustained reading of several novels this course studies Bildungsroman, the story of an individual's coming of age, in the context of twentieth-century political, cultural, and social developments of imperialism, anti-colonialism, human rights discourse, and globalization. Our focus will be novels from the (post)colonial world and theoretical essays on the Bildungsroman form. The course aims to provide a model for rethinking literary history and literary genres within a global context. Authors may include Yi Kwangsu, Wu Zhouliu, Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Kang Younghill, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Camara Laye, amongst others.

Examines how the city and body exert formative forces on the text, and how the practice of writing and reading texts informs the ways we, as corporeal beings, experience the city as manifested in the nineteenth-century Japanese literature. Required readings are available in English.

This intensive seminar explores the growing field of sound studies with particular attention given to auditory histories and cultures in modern Japan and the prewar Japanese empire in East Asia. In this course, we study the interrelationships between industrialization, mass culture, colonialism, and techniques and processes of reproducing sound in order to specify the status of acoustic and sonic mediation in everyday life in a capitalist commodity economy. 

This course inquires into salient problems of the historical archive in relation to the experience of modernity in East Asian societies. What is the meaning of the modern archive in East Asia? How is the knowledge of the modern archive produced in relation to the production of quantitative knowledge (e.g., in demographic or economic statistics)? How should we approach the relationship between number and language? How is this knowledge transformed into state knowledge as well as into what we call common sense? 

Examination of how the future is imagined and materialized in architectural theory and practice throughout Japanese history. From classical temples to modernist experiments of the Metabolist movement to contemporary works by Isozaki Arata and Atelier Bow Wow, we study built and unbuilt structures as theories of the future. 

This seminar offers a selective survey of major historiographical problems and debates in the fields of late 19th and 20th century Chinese history. Course readings will include both theoretical and historical materials.

This course explores the historical and systematic aspects of classical Confucianism, which is fundamental for understanding Chinese philosophy and culture. The historical part discusses its development from Confucius to his disciples to Zisi to Mencius to Xunzi; the systematic part discusses issues such as emotions, art, poetry, morality and virtues, political philosophy, and ultimate reality.

Discusses how images of Japan, charged with varied degrees of desire for empirical knowledge, have contributed to contemporary novels and plays by David Mitchell, Ruth L. Ozeki, David Mamet, Joy Kogawa, Kazuo Ishiguro, Marguerite Duras, and David Hwang. All the readings, including Japanese literary and theoretical, are available in English.

An analysis of contemporary monographs on modern Japanese history. This course offers a critical survey of existing methodologies of and approaches to writing about Modern Japan.

As a continuation of EAS358Y1 (formerly EAS206Y1), this course helps students to gain in-depth control of grammatical structures and to read texts in classical Chinese with greater ease. Requirements include a major research/translation project. Open only to EAS majors and specialists.

This research course examines the ways our historical understanding of the Cold War in East Asia has shifted over the last twenty years. Focusing primarily on the divided Korean peninsula where it can be said the Cold War still rages, the course examines the mutual constitution of two competing regional political economies rooted in a shared commitment to developmentalism. Students will be expected to write a major research paper on a topic selected in consultation with the instructor.

This seminar introduces contemporary ethnographic literature written in English on South Korea. It is an interdisciplinary exploration of cultural and historical concepts that have shaped people's lives in South Korea, with a focus on anthropological writing. 

An advanced research seminar on the Korean War.

A comparative approach to the history of domesticity and family in modern East Asia.

This essay-driven course explores the complexity of examining North Korean history by using comparative methods developed through the study of other socialist societies and theories of everyday life.

Reads and discusses seminal theoretical literature, photo roman (by, e.g., Abe, Nakagami) and narratives about photography (by, e.g., Tanizaki, Kanai, Horie), to examine the rhetorical complicity and coercion of the two modes of representation which emerged in the modern and nationalistic age, and persist, in the wake of the newer media, as dominant registers of everyday life and departures from there.

A heavy reading, heavy writing course designed to guide students toward a final research paper on a self-selected topic of interest on the postwar political economy of South Korea. 

An examination of recent literature in the modern Korean history field, focusing especially on the late 19th and 20th centuries.

This course examines the cultural and social legacies of the 19th and 20th century hot and cold wars fought by the U.S. and Canada in different parts of Asia. It explores film, literature, and other cultural products that came out of the transpacific violence and its aftermath.

This course analyses select topics in the historiography of East Asian. Students are expected to write a major research paper.

An intensive seminar exploring one of Japan’s most recognizable figures, the samurai. This course investigates the historical reality of warrior life along with the legends, with focus on the ways in the warrior’s world found expression in religion, art, and literature. 

This course surveys historical literature on the Japanese Empire. A heavy reading and writing course intended for EAS majors and specialists. The second semester will require a major research paper.

An in-depth study of Chinese, Japanese or Korean culture, history and/or literature. Content depends on the instructor. 

An in-depth study of Chinese, Japanese or Korean culture, history and/or literature. Content depends on the instructor.

This course confronts the Orientalist view of the world by looking at one Asian nation regularly exempted from that paradigm: Japan. By examining, among other topics, Japan's emperor system, its construction of a national history, and its own imperialism, this course hopes to point toward other ways of thinking about East and West.

A scholarly project chosen by the student, approved by the Department, and supervised by one of its instructors. Consult the website (eas.utoronto.ca) for more information. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

A scholarly project chosen by the student, approved by the Department, and supervised by one of its instructors. Consult the website (eas.utoronto.ca) for more information. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

A scholarly project chosen by the student, approved by the Department, and supervised by one of its instructors. Consult the website (eas.utoronto.ca) for more information. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

The department reserves the right to place students in the language course appropriate to their level of language skill. In most cases, students must attend a mandatory interview or take a placement test in order to enrol in a language course. Please see http://eas.utoronto.ca for details. A student who enrols in an EAS language course and is subsequently discovered to have prior background and/or higher language competency than is appropriate for the course may be removed at the discretion of the Department.

Intended for students with no background in Mandarin or any Chinese dialect, this course provides an introduction to modern standard Chinese as a foreign/second language. The course consists of mandatory lectures and tutorials. Students study a minimum of 550 Chinese characters. Interviews (held in early April for returning students and early September for incoming students) are required of all students who wish to enrol in the course. See http://eas.utoronto.ca for details.

This course is designed for students who understand elementary Mandarin or any Chinese dialect because of their cultural or family backgrounds. The course consists of mandatory lectures and tutorials. Students will learn a minimum of 650 characters. Interviews (held in early April for returning students and early September for incoming students) are required of all students who wish to enrol in the course. See http://eas.utoronto.ca for details.

This course is a continuation of EAS100Y1. Students learn major grammatical structures which are not introduced in the first year and expand their vocabulary. Interviews (held in early April for returning students and early September for incoming students) are required of students who wish to enrol in the course, except for students who have the minimum grade in the prerequisite. See http://eas.utoronto.ca for details.

This course is a continuation of EAS101Y1. It focuses on development of students’ listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills at a low intermediate level. Interviews (held in early April for returning students and early September for incoming students) are required of students who wish to enrol in the course, except for students who have the minimum grade in the prerequisite. See http://eas.utoronto.ca for details.

This high intermediate-level course is a continuation of EAS200Y. Students learn to read short texts which deal with personal or social topics, write paragraph-length compositions, and converse in social situations which require exchanges of basic information. Interviews (held in early April for returning students and early September for incoming students) are required of students who wish to enrol in the course, except for students who have the minimum grade in the prerequisite. See http://eas.utoronto.ca for details.

This fourth-year Chinese course aims to develop students’ language abilities at an advanced level. It focuses on reading of fictional and/or journalistic writings. In this course, students will improve their reading comprehension, strengthen their writing skills and advance their speaking and listening skills through class discussions and oral presentations. Interviews (held in early April for returning students and early September for incoming students) are required of students who wish to enrol in the course, except for students who have the minimum grade in the prerequisite. See http://eas.utoronto.ca for details.

This fourth-year Chinese course aims to develop students’ language abilities at an advanced level. The course focuses on reading argumentative-style essays and news. In this course, students will improve their reading comprehension, strengthen their writing skills and advance their speaking and listening skills through class discussions and oral presentations. Interviews (held in early April for returning students and early September for incoming students) are required of students who wish to enrol in the course, except for students who have the minimum grade in the prerequisite. See http://eas.utoronto.ca for details.

This course is designed for students with no or a very limited Japanese language background. The course aims to build students' basic written and spoken skills in the language as well as provide relevant cultural information. By the end of this course, students should expect to be able to read and write simple passages, as well as 175 kanji (characters), and to engage in simple daily conversations. The course consists of mandatory lectures and tutorials. All students enrolled in the course must complete an online placement form prior to the first class. See http://eas.utoronto.ca for details. 

This course is for students with some background in the Japanese language. Ability to read and write hiragana and katakana, as well as approximately 60 basic kanji is required to enrol in this course. Students are also required to have basic proficiency in the language, including the ability to describe the locations of objects and people; to describe past and non-past events and states; and to provide reasons for actions and statements. The course consists of mandatory lectures and tutorials. Students who wish to enrol must pass the placement test. See http://eas.utoronto.ca for details. 

This course is for students who have never studied or know little about the language. Those who have successfully completed this course may be able to take EAS121H1 or EAS220Y1 based on the result of a placement test. This course is only available in the Summer Abroad program.

This is an advanced beginners' level language course. The course includes an introduction to complex sentence structures and basic vocabulary for daily life. All four language skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing) are emphasized and approximately 250 kanji are introduced. Some cultural aspects are introduced as well. Both lectures and tutorials are mandatory. Those who have not taken EAS120Y1/EAS121H1 or those whose final grade in EAS120Y1/EAS121H1 did not meet the required level must pass the placement test to take this course (held in early April for returning students and early September for incoming students). See http://eas.utoronto.ca for details. 

This course is for students who have some prior knowledge about the language. Students should already be familiar with hiragana, katakana and some kanji as well as basic sentence patterns. Those who have successfully completed this course may be able to take EAS220Y1 or EAS320Y1, depending on the result of an interview and/or placement test. This course is available only in the Summer Abroad program. 

This course is for students who have completed EAS120Y1/EAS121H1 or equivalent. Those who have successfully completed this course may be able to take EAS320Y1 based on the result of a placement test. This course is available only in the Summer Abroad program.

This is a lower intermediate level course. It is appropriate for those who have learned Japanese for two years in an academic institution and/or who have passed N4 of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. A strong foundation in beginners' level grammar and knowledge of 400 basic kanji is required. The course stresses equal development of all four skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing). All the classes are conducted in a seminar setting. Those who have not taken EAS220Y1 or those whose final grade in EAS220Y1 did not meet the required level must pass the placement test (held in early April for returning students and early September for incoming students) to take this course. See http://eas.utoronto.ca for details. 

This is a lower intermediate Japanese course for those who have completed EAS220Y1 or equivalent. Those who have successfully completed this course may be able to take EAS320Y1, EAS460H1, or EAS461H1 based on the result of a placement test; for EAS460H1 an interview will also be required. This course is available only in the Summer Abroad program.

This is a lower intermediate Japanese course. Those who successfully complete this course may be able to take EAS460H1 or EAS461H1 based on the result of the interview and/or placement test. This course is available only in the Summer Abroad program. 

This is a high intermediate-level Japanese course. It focuses on oral/aural communication. Emphasis is on acquisition of vocabulary, spoken styles, and communication strategies that are required to carry formal/informal conversations in contemporary Japanese society. Native or near-native speakers are not permitted to take this course. Those who have not passed EAS320Y1 must take the placement test (held in early April for returning students and early September for incoming students) to take this course. See http://eas.utoronto.ca for details. 

This is a high intermediate-level Japanese course. Focused on advanced reading and writing skills. Emphasis is on acquisition of advanced grammar, vocabulary/kanji and expressions especially in authentic written Japanese texts. Native or near-native speakers are not permitted to take this course. Those who have not passed EAS320Y1 must take the placement test (held in early April for returning students and early September for incoming students) to take the course. See http://eas.utoronto.ca for details. 

This is an upper intermediate-level Japanese course. Those who have successfully completed this course may be eligible to take EAS460H1 and/orEAS461H1 depending on the result of a placement test; for EAS460H1 an interview will also be required. This course is available only in the Summer Abroad program. 

This is an advanced Japanese course for those who have completed a course equivalent to EAS460H1 or EAS461H1 or passed N2 of the JLPT. This course is available only in the Summer Abroad program. 

This is an advanced Japanese course for those who have completed EAS460H1 or EAS461H1 or equivalent. This course is available only in the Summer Abroad program. 

This course is designed to help students build communication skills in the Korean language. Through an integration of listening, speaking, reading and writing, this course aims to provide a solid foundation in beginning-level Korean. This course assumes that students do not have any prior knowledge of Korean. Interviews (held in early April for returning students and early September for incoming students) are required of all students who wish to enrol or have enrolled in the course. See http://eas.utoronto.ca for details. 

As a continuation of EAS110Y1, this course is designed to help students increase their communication skills in the Korean language.  Students in this course are expected to perform basic communicative functions, read and write paragraph-level texts, and conjugate verbs/adjectives accurately. Interviews (held in early April for returning students and early September for incoming students) are required of all students who wish to enrol in the course. See http://eas.utoronto.ca for details. 

Covering both EAS110Y1 and EAS210Y1, the course is ideal for self-motivated students who enjoy fast-paced language learning, students possessing a passion for Korean films and television, students with some listening and speaking skills from prior study or family background, and students taking the full four-year course series. Successful completion of the course fulfils the prerequisite for EAS310Y1. Interviews (held in early April for returning students and early September for incoming students) are required of all students who wish to enrol or have enrolled in the course.  See http://eas.utoronto.ca for details.

As a continuation of EAS110Y1, this course is designed to help students increase their Korean communication skills at beginner high to intermediate low levels.  This course is ideal for self-motivated students who enjoy fast-paced language learning, and students who have built basic language skills from prior study. Successful completion of the course fulfils the prerequisite for EAS310Y1. Interviews (held in early April for returning students and early September for incoming students) are required of all students who wish to enrol in the course.  See http://eas.utoronto.ca for details.

As a continuation of EAS210Y1 and EAS211Y1, this course is designed to help students improve their Korean proficiency at an intermediate level.  The class focuses not only on oral fluency and grammar but also on reading comprehension and discussions on various issues related to contemporary Korea. Interviews (held in early April for returning students and early September for incoming students) are required of all students who wish to enrol in the course. See http://eas.utoronto.ca for details. 

As a continuation of EAS310Y1, this course is designed for advanced-level learners of Korean. By reading short essays/articles and watching films, this course aims to improve students’ proficiency in speaking, writing, listening, and reading. All classroom and online discussions are conducted entirely in Korean. Interviews (held in early April for returning students and early September for incoming students) are required of all students who wish to enrol in the course. See http://eas.utoronto.ca for details. 

This course covers a wealth of areas that require a specialized use of Korean, drawing on various contexts to assist students to upgrade their language skills and proficiency for specific academic or professional purposes. This course is ideal for students who seek career opportunities in Korea-related business or in higher education in Korean studies. The major emphasis is on comprehension and composition of academic and business related texts and preparation for a Korean proficiency test. Interviews (held in early April for returning students and early September for incoming students) are required of all students who wish to enrol in the course. See http://eas.utoronto.ca for details.