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Asian StudiesInterdisciplinary FacultyJoseph A. Adler Sarah Blick Jianhua Bai Ruth W. Dunnell John H. Finefrock Shuchi Kapila Nurten Kilic-Schubel Rita S. Kipp Michelle S. Mood Vernon J. Schubel Wendy F. Singer Henry Spiller Hideo Tomita The Asian Studies Program at Kenyon offers an interdisciplinary concentration that incorporates a variety of courses in anthropology, art history, history, language, political science, and religious studies. The program also sponsors films, invites speakers to the College, and promotes other social and cultural events to stimulate campus awareness of the societies of East and Southeast Asia, India and its neighbors, and the Islamic world. With Asia as its point of reference, the curriculum encourages students to deal with Asian peoples as actors on the scene of regional and world history, rather than as objects of non-Asian peoples’ enterprises and observations. An important goal of the concentration is the development of a critical understanding of the ways in which people of the interrelated regions of Asia have historically defined and expressed themselves. The concentration in Asian studies comprises three elements: (1) at least one year of language study; (2) 1 1/2 units of coursework in selected areas of Asian culture, including an approved foundation course; and (3) a one-semester senior seminar. The concentration enables students to study formally the histories, cultures, and societies of Asia in a comparative and interdisciplinary format. Concentration Requirements and Curriculum1. Language study The program committee strongly recommends that students continue language study beyond the first year. 2. Area and disciplinary coursework Courses not specifically focused on Asia will not be counted toward the concentration. Where any doubt arises, please ask a member of the Asian studies faculty. Doublecounting for the major and the concentration is permitted. 3. Senior Seminar: Asia in Comparative Perspective Course content will be organized around a common theme that integrates the various disciplines and regions of Asia that students have been studying at Kenyon. Through readings, films, guest lectures by other Kenyon Asian studies faculty members and outside speakers, and other activities, the course will lead students to synthesize their academic and personal (e.g., off-campus) experiences in a broader comparative perspective. Students will produce work that examines one or more topics of their own special interest within the comparative Asian framework. Beginning Asian StudiesFirst- and second-year students may begin almost anywhere. See the list of all the Asian studies courses offered in the current year. Note that the Students hoping to spend all or part of their junior year in China or Japan should certainly begin to study the appropriate language in their first two years at Kenyon. New students interested in Asia who have not yet declared a major or a concentration are welcome to seek specific advice from any of the Asian studies faculty members. Off-Campus StudyOff-campus study in Asia is not required, but highly recommended. Students should consult Asian studies faculty members and the director of international education for the numerous opportunities available to Kenyon students to study in Asia for one semester or a year. Summer language-study programs are also available for students who need to prepare for off-campus study or desire to learn an Asian language not offered at Kenyon (e.g., Hindi, Urdu, Korean, Vietnamese). First-Semester CoursesElementary Classical Chinese Classical Chinese is an introduction to the classical literature of China. It is not a spoken language. (See Modern Chinese [CHNS] in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures for spoken Chinese.) No previous language study, including Modern Chinese, is required. Students who have already studied Modern Chinese should take CHIN 211 as their first course in Classical Chinese, instead of CHIN 111. Students learn ten characters and read ten lines of Chinese per day. The course moves at a pace that allows discussion of works read. There is a daily vocabulary quiz and in-class reading assignment. There is also a midterm and final each semester in this course. Students read in class from the first day, and by the end of the year they will be able to read simple prose with the aid of a dictionary. In the first semester, students learn 700 characters or grammatical particles, learn to write characters in stroke order, and learn basic pronunciation skills for Classical Chinese. Translation of Classical Chinese poetry is an important part of this course, with students compiling a book of their translations into English, for each semester of the course. The course is suitable for students seeking a reading knowledge of Chinese poetry to inform and enlarge the scope of their own creative writing in English, as well as students wishing to learn a language through translating its literature. In the second semester, students learn 700 additional characters and are able to use a Chinese dictionary easily. The course is taught in English. No prerequisites, but native speakers must take a more advanced course. Classical Chinese Literature in English This course is a survey of classical literature, including poetry and prose, in China. The course is taught in English using English translations and assumes no previous knowledge of Classical Chinese. No prerequisites. Intermediate Classical Chinese This course comprises readings in Classical Chinese and is taught in English. No prerequisite, but CHIN 111 and 112 are advised. Advanced Classical Chinese This course covers readings in Classical Chinese. It is taught in English. No prerequisite, but CHIN 211 and 212 are advised. Second-Semester CoursesElementary Classical Chinese See first-semester course description of CHIN 111. Intermediate Classical Chinese See first-semester course description of CHIN 211. Advanced Classical Chinese See first-semester course description of CHIN 371. Special Topics
in Ethnomusicology The focus of the course will be on the music of Asia, possibly Southeast Asia. The instructor will use video and audio selections to enhance the coursework. The context of the culture will be important for understanding the music. Methods of research will be discussed. Prerequisite: MUSC 103. Enrollment limited. Senior Seminar:
Asia in Comparative Perspective: Diasporas There are so many Tibetans in Dharamsala, India, that people called it Little Lhasa. Ramayana celebrations—based on the Hindu epic—in Southeast Asia reflect more ancient migrations of Indians, who carried their languages and cultures with them as they migrated. Chinese communities thrive throughout Asia, where Chinese traders once settled in the course of commercial enterprise. This course will examine old and new patterns of Asian migration and the diaspora of various Asian ethnic communities. We will use a lot of cultural artifacts and products of popular culture that reflect the transit of people from one part of Asia to another. There are also, however, some important theoretical questions we have to tackle. What is the relationship between diaspora and assimilation? What does it mean for a community to settle in a place and make it home? The converse of this question is: Who is indigenous? What effect does colonialism have on the changing meanings of migration and diaspora? The transmission of cultures and religions across Asia raises other complicated questions. For example, the “spread of Buddhism” from Indian eastward is usually seen through the transmission of texts and ideas—what about people? We are more apt to consider the importance of people in the spread of Islam. But surely in India, if not Malaysia too, most Muslims within a few centuries were converts, not immigrants. So how do we separate the diaspora of people from the diaspora of ideas? This course is the senior seminar for the Asian Studies Concentration. It is also a history course and will fulfill the upper-level seminar requirement and also a premodern requirement. Courses offered in 2002-2003 that meet Asian Studies Concentration requirements:
ANTH 113.02 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
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symbol designates courses most appropriate for first-year students or students new to the Asian studies curriculum.