Courses: Chinese Track 100-level | 200-level | 300-level | Departmental Honors CHIN 101-102 Beginning Chinese An introductory course that teaches the skills of listening comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing in Mandarin Chinese. Emphasis is on both linguistic aspects (pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar) and sociocultural strategies in communication. Computer programs for pronunciation, listening comprehension, grammar, and writing Chinese characters will be used extensively. Four 70-minute classes plus one 30-

CHIN 103-104 Advanced Beginning Chinese
An introductory course that teaches the skills of listening comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing in Mandarin Chinese. Emphasis is on both linguistic aspects (pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar) and sociocultural strategies in communication. Computer programs for pronunciation, listening comprehension, grammar, and writing Chinese characters will be used extensively. Three 70-minute classes. Each semester earns 1.0 unit of credit; however, both semesters must be completed satisfactorily to receive credit for either course.
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CHIN110 Introduction to Cultural Traditions of China
(in English)
China is one of the world's most enduring civilizations, with a history that spans over three thousand years. This course will provide a broad introduction to much of this tradition from its archaic beginnings to the twentieth century. Through careful readings of primary texts (translated into English), we will explore the development and interactions of diverse aspects of Chinese culture, including language and script, literature and the arts, philosophy and religion, politics, history and technology. No prior background in Chinese language or Chinese culture is assumed.
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CHIN 201-202 Intermediate Chinese
Further training in listening comprehension and oral expression. Continued work on the Chinese writing system, emphasizing the acquisition of an acceptable expository style. Four 70-minute classes plus one 30-minute small group session. Each semester earns 1.25 unit of credit; however, both semesters must be completed satisfactorily to receive credit for either course.
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CHIN 203-204 Advanced Intermediate Chinese
Further training in listening comprehension and oral expression. Continued work on the Chinese writing system, emphasizing the acquisition of an acceptable expository writing skill. Three 70-minute classes. Each semester earns 1.0 unit of credit; however, both semesters must be completed satisfactorily to receive credit for either course.
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CHIN 206 The Chinese Literary Imagination I: Beginnings to the Northern Song Dynasty
(in English)
This is a thematic introduction to Chinese literature in translation, tracing the development of poetry, narrative, and criticism up through the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127). We will focus on the representation of the self in literary texts - its authenticity and/or theatricality - with particular attention to historical contexts, issues of genre and gender, and the pressures exerted by political and religious ideologies .Where it is relevant, we will also take up some concerns of recent theoretical approaches to literary and cultural studies.
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CHIN 207 The Chinese Literary Imagination II: The Song Dynasty to the Fall of Imperial China
(in English)
This is the second half of a thematic introduction to Chinese literature in translation, focusing on the vernacular genres of the Song, Yuan,Ming, and Qing dynasties.We will explore the ways in which the self is constructed in the late imperial period, across genres such as diaries and informal prose, drama, short fiction and novels, and poetry. Questions of gender and sexuality, urban culture, and historical context will also be addressed.
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CHIN 208 The Chinese Literary Imagination III: Late Qing to the Present Day
(in English)
This is a thematic introduction to modern Chinese literature which travels from the Late Qing period through the twentieth century to the present day. We will explore how the individual and the nation are constructed in short fiction, poetry, essays and novels. Topics such as revolution and censorship, exile and the foreign, urban and rural identity, and gender and sexuality will guide discussions.We will view the cinematic versions of several contemporary novels as well.
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CHIN 230/330 Writing Women in Traditional China
(in English)
Who were the major women writers in traditional China? How did they represent themselves and how were they represented-in literary, historical, religious, and philosophical texts? This course will serve as an introduction to women's writings over the last two thousand years in China.We will examine the construction of gender, voice, and identity through close readings of poetry, fiction, essays, letters and biographical texts.We will also discuss the historical and social contexts so that we may better understand the conditions under which female authors lived and wrote. This course may be taken as 230 or with additional assignments, as 330.
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CHIN 243 Chinese Cinema
(in English)
Contemporary film from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the People's Republic of China. This course investigates the history of the Chinese film industry; the issue of cultural hegemony (the power Hollywood is thought to exert over film industries of the " Third World"); cinematic constructions of Chinese gender, family, nationhood, and individuality; and applications of contemporary Western film theory.
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CHIN 244 Classical Chinese Theater
(in English)
This course covers the three basic categories of theater in China. It begins with the short form known as zaju, which got underway in the thirteenth century; the long and ornate chuanqu (or Kunqu) of the fourteenth through seventeeth centuries, including the recently revised Peony Pavilion. The last phase is Peking opera, a form that prevailed from the mid-eighteenth century on and that is regularly performed today. Local variants on these forms will also be considered. Most of the drama we will read and discuss were written between forms will be a major topic, as will filmic versions of familiar plays. The impact of Chinese drama on such western dramatists as Stanislavsky and Brecht will come up for comment as will comparisons with Shakespearean drama. How and why China sought to preserve its dramatic traditions in the face of westernization is another important theme.
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CHIN 250 Research or Individual Study
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CHIN 250H Research or Individual Study
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CHIN 301 Advanced Chinese I
This course is designed to further expand students' comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing skills. Reading materials will be selected from newspapers, short stories, essays, and films. Three 70-minute classes conducted in Chinese.
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CHIN 302 Advanced Chinese II
Advanced language skills are further developed through reading and writing. Reading materials will be selected from a variety of authentic Chinese texts. Audio and video tapes will be used as study aids. Three 70-minute classes conducted in Chinese.
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CHIN 303 Advanced Chinese Conversation
This course is designed for students who wish to refine their proficiency in Chinese, enhancing it with specialized functional terminology and modes of expression for specific contexts and situations. The emphasis is placed on listening comprehension, speaking skills, and cultural understanding. Not offered every year. Subject to Dean's Office approval.
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CHIN 306 Advanced Reading in Twentieth-Century Literature and Culture
This course is designed to further expand and refine grammatical proficiency and communicative skills through intensive reading of authentic Chinese materials, such as short stories, newspapers, and essays and viewing of films and television broadcasts. Particular emphasis also given to increasing level of literary appreciation and critical awareness of the sociocultural contexts that shape readings. Three 70-minute classes conducted in Chinese.
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CHIN 307 Advanced Readings in Contemporary Issues
A variety of authentic materials including literary essays and dcumentary films will be selected to cover the study period from 1949 to the beginning of the twenty-first century.
Three seventy minute classes.
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CHIN 308 Advanced Chinese Language and Cultural Studies in Beijing
This course enrolls students who want to go abroad in January to have a total immersion learning experience on the campus of Tsinghua University in Beijing. Written material, documentary films and site-visits chosen for study in this three-week program will all be centered on the history and cultue unique to the city of Beijing. Students are required to attend and prepare for daily classes and quizzes, and to join the study tour scheduled on the weekends. In addition, participation in extracurricular events organized by students from the host institutes is requested to fulfill part of the course work. Porgam activities will be conducted exclusively in Chinese.
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CHIN 310 Introduction to Classical Chinese
Basic grammar and vocabulary of Classical Chinese, explored through readings selected from canonical sources in literature, philosophy, history and law. Special attention will be paid to grammatical differences between classical and modern Chinese. Students with an interest in Art History, History and/or Literature are highly encouraged to take this course to improve their reading skills. Three 70-minute classes.
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CHIN 317 The Art of Translation
The art of translation and its techniques are studied through analysis of the major linguistic and cultural differences between Chinese and English.   Students will work on guided translations of literary, cinematic, and press texts.   Additional readings in English on techniques and theories of translation will be discussed.   Students must have strong Chinese and English skills.   Two 70-minute classes conducted in Chinese.
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CHIN 325 Philosophical Approaches to Chinese Literature
This course will examine the longstanding dialectic between philosophy and literature in China. While the structure of the course is not itself historical, we will focus on seven successive periods: (1) the Warring States, (2) the Han dynasty, (3) the period of Division, (4) the Tang dynasty, (5) the Southern Song, (6) Ming and Qing, and (7) the first half of the twentieth century. Topics will include ethical conceptions of literature, the relationship between literary writing and the state, the development of aesthetic autonomy, the birth of metaphysical thought, the genre of commentary, and the problem of modernity. Some attention will also be given to problems of comparative analysis and interdisciplinary work.
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CHIN 339 Popular Culture in Modern China (in English)
This course provides a comprehensive examination of modern Chinese popular culture in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and other transnational Chinese communities in the past century. We discuss important issues in the field of popular culture across a variety of Chinese media, including film, literature, opera, theater, music, vintage photographs, and comic books. In doing so, this course will probe popular culture as it has manifested itself in the dynamic dialogue between high art and mass culture, and trace its sociopolitical, cultural, and aesthetic impact on modern China.
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CHIN 340 Literature of the Chinese Diaspora
(in English)
The idea of "Zuguo/Woguo", the motherland, has been central to Chinese literary writing throughout the past century. Novelists and poets in China are politicians by default and bear witness, in their lives and deaths, to the tremendous economic, political and cultural transformation that has occurred in twentieth-century mainland China. But what does China mean to writers of the Chinese diaspora? Writers in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, North America, Europe? We will probe representations of the self, the martial hero, exile, gender, sexuality, colonialism, nation and how all of these are (or are not) tied to the concept of a motherland. All of the novels read for this course were written in Chinese outside of mainland China and are available in English translation.
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CHIN 349 Mind, Place, and Landscape in Traditional China
(in English)
What is a place? How do writers and painters depict places? What does it mean to describe places one has never visited, or to create places that do not actually exist? In this course, we will examine the representation of places and landscapes across a variety of traditional Chinese media, including historical texts, poetry, fiction, drama, tomb art, paintings, literary and art criticism, travel diaries, and pilgrimage accounts. Topics will include spiritual and mental journeys, the imagination of the afterworld, landscape as portraiture, the mapping of empire, and dream narratives.
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CHIN 350 Research or Individual Study
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CHIN 350H Research or Individual Study
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CHIN 360 Senior Thesis Research
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CHIN 370 Senior Thesis
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