Spring 2020 Offerings

ASIA
ASIA 200:  Introduction to Asian Studies
Dr. Carol Brash, Dr. Sucharita Mukherjee,
Dr. Deborah Pembleton, Dr. Sophia Geng, MWF, 2:10, CSB
This course introduces Asian Studies majors and minors to the range of disciplines within the field of Asian Studies through four units taught by four different Asian Studies faculty. In addition to examining a variety of themes focusing on Japan, China, and South Asia, students will also engage in career-preparation and experiential activities. At the beginning of the course, students will write a focus statement describing their planned Asian Studies concentration topic (thematic, geographical or chronological). The coursework will culminate in a final paper that explores an issue based on each student's concentration topic.

ASIA 399: Asian Studies Capstone
Dr. Elisheva Perelman, TR, 2:40, CSB
In this Asian Studies capstone, students will write a paper that showcases their understanding of the Asian Studies field by focusing in-depth on one topic selected in consultation with the course instructor and others. 

ART
ART 200:  Environmental Art and Architecture (FA)
Richard Bresnahan, TR 9:35, R 12:45-3:45
This course focuses on a range of issues addressing art, architecture and their relationship to a sustainable environment. Through an analysis of critical theory, students will gain an understanding of the language and critical issues of art, architecture and their impact upon the environment. Through a hands-on approach, students will apply these concepts to make ceramic artwork in the SJU Pottery Studio. By using all native materials, designing through a programmatic structure of indigenous systems, in a sustainable framework the student will parallel architectural and design schematics presented in theory and research to an applied reality. Students will critically analyze readings, will discuss examples of art and architecture and will meet with artists in order to expand their understanding of the relationship between art, architecture and the environment. 

ART 230: Art Moves I—Neolithic 1400 (FA)
Dr. Carol Brash, TR, 12:45, SJU
This course is an introduction to art history from ca. Neolithic Period-1400. The course content includes art from around the world with a focus on art made to discover or illuminate a truth (or to subvert or obscure truth, in some cases). This course considers the design and creation of objects, ideas, and technologies across space and through time. Each class period will focus on a number of issues, which will be introduced through specific examples of art. Any object may be examined from several points of view: as an independent work of art, as an example of a particular style developed within a chronological framework, or as a type which illustrates features associated with a certain locale, country, religious, political, or social context.

ART 300: Modern and Contemporary Art (FA)
Dr. Carol Brash, TR,, 2:20,  SJU
A survey course tracing the principle movements and theories of art in the US, Europe, and Asia from 1850 to the present. This is a discussion- and writing-intensive course. There is a required field trip (an additional fee will be charged to your student account for this). Open to non-art majors with a prerequisite of FYS 101 or 201. 

CHINESE
CHIN 112: Elementary Chinese II
Limei Danzeisen, MWF, 1:50, SJU
Introduction to the basic elements of the Chinese language. Practice in listening, speaking, reading, and writing, including work with grammar, pronunciation, and culture.

CHIN 212: Intermediate Chinese II (LANG)
Dr. Sophia Geng, MWF, 10:40
Review and continued study of grammar together with additional training in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. 211 and 212 emphasize Chinese culture and civilization. Satisfactory completion of CHIN 212 fulfills the global language proficiency requirement.

CHIN 312: Chinese Conversation and Comp II 
Dr. Sophia Geng, MWF, 2:10, CSB
Designed to help students solidify and further their communicative and writing ability in Chinese through contact with various written styles of modern Chinese. Advanced Chinese also provides a basic introduction to contemporary Chinese literature and culture. 311 and 312 may be taken in either order.

CHIN 321A: Chinese Women in Literature (HM, GE, IC)
Dr. Sophia Geng, MWF, 1:00, CSB
This course aims to engage students with literature by and about Chinese women and the gender, class, and cultural issues that are intertwined with this intriguing topic. We will read ancient and contemporary Chinese women’s writings, including poems, short novels, and autobiographies. Notable female authors include Ban Zhao and Qingzhao Li from ancient China and Bingxin and Huiyin Lin from modern China. We will also discuss who the female writers were and the reasons they took up the pen, a practice often discouraged by the traditional patriarchal society. Furthermore, we will read portrayals of women’s lives that were confined to the inner quarters of the household and the expectations imposed upon them by the society and customs of their times. Readings include tomb inscriptions for honorable ladies, biographies of deceased concubines, essays on the proper conduct of women, chapters of novels focusing on the domestic life, and diaries of foreign missionaries.

COMMUNICATION
COMM 350A: Intercultural Communication (EL, IC, SLR)
Dr. Jennifer Kraemer, MWF, 10:20, SJU
Examines the relationship between communication and culture. Communication theory is used to identify and explore barriers and opportunities in communicating with individuals from different cultures and co-cultures. Skills necessary for communication across cultures are identified and developed. Special attention is placed on communicating cross culturally within the U.S.A., including across race, socio-economic class, etc. In addition, the course also explores communicating internationally. Note: Most semesters of this course have a required experiential learning component and a course fee. 

GENDER STUDIES
GEND 360P: Love in Japanese Literature and Film
Dr. Jeff Dubois, MWF, 11:50, CSB
Through Japanese texts and visual media (film, print), this course explores a diversity of representations of love in modern Japanese culture, with a brief introduction to classical representations of love in order to set the framework for their modern legacy. We ask how love in Japan can be understood in relation to sexuality, gender, and family with reference to theories from gender and queer studies. We will move through themes such as double-suicide, modern love, feminism, homosexuality, prostitution, sex and war, castration, and more, pairing great literary works with their equally influential filmic adaptations. 

GEND 360Q: Chinese Women in Literature (GE, HM, IC)
Dr. Sophia Geng, MWF, 1:00, CSB
This course aims to engage students with literature by and about Chinese women and the gender, class, and cultural issues that are intertwined with this intriguing topic. We will read ancient and contemporary Chinese women’s writings, including poems, short novels, and autobiographies. Notable female authors that will discuss include4 Ban Zhao and Qingzhao Li from ancient China and Bingxin and Huiyin Lin from modern China. We will also discuss who the female writers were and the reasons they took up the pan, a practice often discouraged by the traditional patriarchal society. Furthermore, we will read portrayals of women’s lives that were confined to the inner quarters of the household and the expectations imposed upon them by the society and customs of their times. Readings include tomb inscriptions for honorable ladies, biographies of deceased concubines, essays on the proper conduct of women, chapters of novels focusing on the domestic life, and diaries of foreign missionaries.

GLOBAL BUSINESS LEADERSHIP
GBUS 201: Principals of Management in a Global Context
Dr. Tony Yan, T, 6:15pm, CSB
This class gives students a foundation in management theories and concepts. This course will help students improve their communication skills and practice problem solving, conflict resolution, strategic planning and decision making as an individual and in groups. Students will develop an understanding and relationship of the traditional functional areas of organizations; Marketing, Human Resources, Operations and Finance. The class setting will frequently utilize global business settings, cases and examples. Students will examine multiple ethical perspectives and learn to utilize these perspectives as a context for decision making.

HONORS PROGRAM
HONR 220G: Introduction to International Relations (IC, SS)
Dr. Christi Siver, MWF, 12:40, SJU
Students learn about global issues through different theoretical lenses, including realism and liberalism. Using these lenses, students investigate international security, civil conflict, economic interactions, and the influence of globalization. They also examine the influence of important actors in the international arena, including states, intergovernmental organizations, and non-governmental organizations. Students examine their understandings of culture and how it shapes understanding of concepts like human rights. This broad overview helps students have a better understanding of the world around them and how their worldview shapes their perceptions of international events.

JAPANESE
JAPN 112: Elementary Japanese II
Masami Limpert, MWF, 9:30 & 10:40 (two sections), CSB
Continued study of the basic structure of the Japanese language. Practice in speaking, listening, reading and writing, with a focus on an accurate command of grammar and culturally appropriate communication skills.

JAPN 212: Intermediate Japanese II
Masami Limpert, MWF, 11:50, CSB
Review and continued study of grammar together with additional training in speaking, listening, reading and writing.

JAPN 312: Advanced Japanese Language II
Dr. Jeff Dubois, MWF, 10:40, CSB
Review and continued development of grammar together with development of skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing.

JAPN 321B: Love in Japanese Literature and Film (GE)
Dr. Jeff Dubois, MWF, 11:50, CSB
Through Japanese texts and visual media (film, print), this course explores a diversity of representations of love in modern Japanese culture, with a brief introduction to classical representations of love in order to set the framework for their modern legacy. We ask how love in Japan can be understood in relation to sexuality, gender, and family with reference to theories from gender and queer studies. We will move through themes such as double-suicide, modern love, feminism, homosexuality, prostitution, sex and war, castration, and more, pairing great literary works with their equally influential filmic adaptations.

JAPN 330D: Nuclear Japan:  Bombs and Energy (EMB, ES, IC)
Dr. Jeff Dubois CD mod, MWF, 3:00, SJU
This course combines classroom learning at CSB/SJU during CD mod and ends with an experiential component abroad. With portions both at home on campus and abroad in Japan, this “embedded” course explores the legacy of nuclear weapons and energy in Japan through ethical perspectives. While we consider the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on one hand, and the nuclear meltdown in Fukushima following the triple disaster of March 11, 2011 on the other, we also look for points of convergence and divergence between the understanding of atomic weapons and atomic energy in the imagination of Japan and the world. We look at witness narratives in short story and novel form, and traverse media such as film, manga, anime, photography, painting, children’s books, poetry, and digital art to gain insight into the possibilities for expression and representation in the atomic age. After establishing a foundation for understanding Japan’s nuclear legacy in the domestic portion of the course, we deepen our knowledge by visiting Japan’s nuclear ground zeros. The Japan portion of the course will be based out of Tokyo, where there are many exhibits and spaces that commemorate Japan’s nuclear tragedies. From there, we will make trips to Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Kyoto, as well as safe areas outside of Fukushima. Through discussions as a class and with Japanese students, reflections (journals) that compare our pre-Japan learning to that on site, and portfolio creations, students will demonstrate integration of the home and abroad portions of the course.

HISTORY
HIST 114: Confusingly Confucian: Creating East Asia before 1600 (HM)
Dr. Elisheva Perelman, MWF, 11:50, CSB
British philosopher Bertrand Russell often sneezed at Confucius' ideas, but he could never discount them. How is it that a long dead Chinese sage caused such allergies in an analytic philosopher in the 20th century? Why did Confucius, his contemporaries, his Asian detractors, and his disciples have such import in East Asian cosmology? And just what is this cosmology and how did it help to shape actions throughout the area? This course offers a glimpse into East Asian civilization--namely, the political, cultural, and social history of China, Japan, and Korea from the paleolithic era to the 17th century.

HIST 319: Japanese History Through Horror: Monsters & Modernity (GE, HM)
Dr. Elisheva Perelman, MWF, 9:30
This course examines horror in its myriad forms in the history and formation of modern Japan, from the 17th century to the present. By exploring the historical context in which various literary, political, religious, and cultural sources are produced (and in turn, reflect) and what the works represent, students will gain a broader understanding of how, why, and what fears helped to shape the historical development of modern Japanese culture and society, and how these fears changed over time. This course is suitable for students of any major, including those who have not taken a previous history course.

PEACE STUDIES
PCST 333: Theologies of Violence and non-Violence (IC, TU)
Dr. Jon Armajani, TR, 2:40, CSB
This course examines theological perspectives on violence and nonviolence ranging from absolute pacifism to just war theory to the celebration of “redemptive violence.”

PCST 368C: Islam and Gender (TU, GE, IC)
Dr. Jon Armajani, TR, 1:05, CSB
This course will focus on the various ways in which relations between Muslim women and men have been appropriated, interpreted, and concretized in a variety of real-life situations throughout the early, medieval, and modern periods in Islam with a regional focus on Islam and gender in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, Europe, and/or North America. This course will use gender as a primary lens of analysis for examining course content by examining the, at times static and at other times dynamic, roles of women and men in societies where Muslims are in the majority and others where they are the minority in order to gain an understanding of the relationship between appropriations of gender with respect to Islam and its corresponding cultural contexts.

PHILOSOPHY
PHIL 156: Asian Philosophy (HM, IC)
Dr. Charles Wright, TR, 9:35, SJU
An introduction to the foundational texts of the South Asian and Chinese philosophical traditions. Texts originating in South Asia (i.e., the Indian subcontinent) will include selections from the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, and early sutras from the Theravada Buddhist tradition. The Chinese traditions of Confucianism and Taoism will be approached through study of the Lao Tzu (a.k.a. the Tao Te Ching) and the Analects of Confucius.

POLITICAL SCIENCE
POLS 351: U.S. Foreign Policy
Dr. Christi Siver, 11:10, SJU
In this course, students will learn about the many different factors that can influence U.S. foreign policy decisions. First, what are the most important interests? Nuclear proliferation, climate change, infectious diseases, or poverty? Second, who are the actors that play a role in shaping foreign policy? The Executive (including the President, military, and relevant agencies – CIA, EPA, Commerce Department), Congress and Supreme Court all play a role, as does the media, interest groups, and the public. Then, what are the different tools? Foreign policy can include military action, economic sanctions, trade incentives, foreign aid, among other tools. Finally, how does the U.S. decide on the best policy to address these issues? Using insights from scholarly literature and current events, students explore these questions.

THEOLOGY
THEO 345: Theologies of Violence and non-Violence (IC, TU)
Dr. Jon Armajani, TR, 2:40, CSB
This course examines theological perspectives on violence and nonviolence ranging from absolute pacifism to just war theory to the celebration of “redemptive violence.”

THEO 369C: Islam and Gender (TU, GE, IC)
Dr. Jon Armajani, TR, 1:05, CSB
This course will focus on the various ways in which relations between Muslim women and men have been appropriated, interpreted, and concretized in a variety of real-life situations throughout the early, medieval, and modern periods in Islam with a regional focus on Islam and gender in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, Europe, and/or North America. This course will use gender as a primary lens of analysis for examining course content by examining the, at times static and at other times dynamic, roles of women and men in societies where Muslims are in the majority and others where they are the minority in order to gain an understanding of the relationship between appropriations of gender with respect to Islam and its corresponding cultural contexts.