Fall 2024

  • CHIN 101: Elementary Chinese

    Introduction to Chinese sentence structure and writing system, together with the development of basic aural/oral skills, with attention to the cultural context. Students who have learned spoken Mandarin Chinese at home or in another context, but who are unable to read or write, are encouraged to register for Chinese 280. Prerequisites:

    Not open to students whose previous Chinese language experience exceeds the requirements of CHIN 101.

     6 credits; No Exploration; offered Fall 2024 · Shaohua Guo

  • JAPN 101: Elementary Japanese

    Introduction to the Japanese sentence structure and writing system, together with the development of basic aural/oral skills, with attention to cultural context. Prerequisites:

    Not open to students whose previous Japanese language experience exceeds the requirements of JAPN 101.

     6 credits; No Exploration; offered Fall 2024 · Chie Tokuyama

  • JAPN 101: Elementary Japanese

    Introduction to the Japanese sentence structure and writing system, together with the development of basic aural/oral skills, with attention to cultural context. Prerequisites:

    Not open to students whose previous Japanese language experience exceeds the requirements of JAPN 101.

     6 credits; No Exploration; offered Fall 2024 · Chie Tokuyama

  • CHIN 204: Intermediate Chinese

    Expansion of vocabulary and learning of complex sentence forms, with equal emphasis on the development of the four skills: reading, writing, speaking, and listening comprehension. Prerequisites:

    Student has completed any of the following course(s): CHIN 103 – Elementary Chinese with a grade of C- or better or equivalent.

     6 credits; No Exploration; offered Fall 2024 · Lin Deng

  • CHIN 204: Intermediate Chinese

    Expansion of vocabulary and learning of complex sentence forms, with equal emphasis on the development of the four skills: reading, writing, speaking, and listening comprehension. Prerequisites:

    Student has completed any of the following course(s): CHIN 103 – Elementary Chinese with a grade of C- or better or equivalent.

     6 credits; No Exploration; offered Fall 2024 · Lin Deng

  • JAPN 204: Intermediate Japanese

    Emphasis is on the development of reading skills, especially the mastery of kanji, with some work on spoken Japanese through the use of audiovisual materials. Prerequisites:

    Student has completed any of the following course(s): JAPN 103 – Elementary Japanese with a grader of C- or better or equivalent.

     6 credits; No Exploration; offered Fall 2024 · Miaki Habuka

  • JAPN 204: Intermediate Japanese

    Emphasis is on the development of reading skills, especially the mastery of kanji, with some work on spoken Japanese through the use of audiovisual materials. Prerequisites:

    Student has completed any of the following course(s): JAPN 103 – Elementary Japanese with a grader of C- or better or equivalent.

     6 credits; No Exploration; offered Fall 2024 · Miaki Habuka

  • JAPN 250: Gothic Literature in Twentieth Century Japan—Empire, Colonies, and Subjects

    This course looks at Gothic both as a genre born in the colonial and imperial context and also as a post-colonial discursive practice that criticizes the colonial condition. The course focuses on the engagement with the Gothic genre in modern Japanese literature of the twentieth century. We will examine the Gothic elements, such as the haunted mansions, female ghosts, supernatural phenomena, and the fantastic animals and beasts within Japanese literature as they relate to issues, such as gender, race, and identity, in the colonial history of the Empire of Japan. All materials are in English.

     6 credits; IS, International Studies, LA, Literary/Artistic Analysis; offered Fall 2024 · Lingling Ma

  • CHIN 280: Chinese Literacy

    This course is aimed at fluent Mandarin speakers who have not learned to read and write. Students will intensively study the same characters as taught in Chinese 101, 102, 103, and 204. Successful completion will allow students to register for Chinese 205 in the winter term. 6 credits; No Exploration; offered Fall 2024 · Shaohua Guo

  • CHIN 348: Advanced Chinese: The Mass Media

    This course introduces to students major milestones in the development of Chinese cinema since 1980, with additional materials including popular television shows and online materials. Emphasis will be on culturally appropriate language use, and on discussion of the social issues that are implicitly and explicitly addressed on the Chinese-language media. The course aims to increase students’ fluency in all four aspects of Chinese language learning (listening, speaking, reading, writing) and to deepen students’ understanding of China as a transitional society. Prerequisites:

    Student has completed any of the following course(s): CHIN 206 – Chinese in Cultural Context with a grade of C- or better or satisfied the Chinese language requirement with a Carleton placement exam score of 300.

     6 credits; LA, Literary/Artistic Analysis, No Exploration; offered Fall 2024 · Shaohua Guo

Winter 2025

  • CHIN 102: Elementary Chinese

    Continuation of Chinese 101. Prerequisites:

    Student has completed any of the following course(s): CHIN 101 – Elementary Chinese with a grade of C- or better or equivalent.

     6 credits; No Exploration; offered Winter 2025 · Xuping Sun

  • JAPN 102: Elementary Japanese

    Continuation of Japanese 101. Prerequisites:

    Student has completed any of the following course(s): JAPN 101 – Elementary Japanese with a grade of C- or better or equivalent.

     6 credits; No Exploration; offered Winter 2025 · Chie Tokuyama

  • JAPN 102: Elementary Japanese

    Continuation of Japanese 101. Prerequisites:

    Student has completed any of the following course(s): JAPN 101 – Elementary Japanese with a grade of C- or better or equivalent.

     6 credits; No Exploration; offered Winter 2025 · Chie Tokuyama

  • CHIN 205: Intermediate Chinese

    Continuation of Chinese 204. Completion of this course with a C- or better fulfills the language requirement. Prerequisites:

    Student has completed any of the following course(s): CHIN 204 – Intermediate Chinese or CHIN 280 – Chinese Literacy with a grade of C- or better or equivalent.

     6 credits; LP Language Requirement, No Exploration; offered Winter 2025 · Lin Deng

  • CHIN 205: Intermediate Chinese

    Continuation of Chinese 204. Completion of this course with a C- or better fulfills the language requirement. Prerequisites:

    Student has completed any of the following course(s): CHIN 204 – Intermediate Chinese or CHIN 280 – Chinese Literacy with a grade of C- or better or equivalent.

     6 credits; LP Language Requirement, No Exploration; offered Winter 2025 · Lin Deng

  • JAPN 205: Intermediate Japanese

    Continuation of Japanese 204. Completion of this course with a C- or better fulfills language requirement. Prerequisites:

    Student has completed any of the following course(s): JAPN 204 – Intermediate Japanese with a grade of C- or better or equivalent.

     6 credits; LP Language Requirement, No Exploration; offered Winter 2025 · Miaki Habuka

  • JAPN 205: Intermediate Japanese

    Continuation of Japanese 204. Completion of this course with a C- or better fulfills language requirement. Prerequisites:

    Student has completed any of the following course(s): JAPN 204 – Intermediate Japanese with a grade of C- or better or equivalent.

     6 credits; LP Language Requirement, No Exploration; offered Winter 2025 · Miaki Habuka

  • CHIN 240: Chinese Cinema in Translation

    This course introduces to students the drastic transformation of Chinese society, culture, and politics over the past three decades through the camera lens. We will examine representative films from Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Particular attention will be paid to the entangled relationship between art, commerce, and politics, as well as the role digital technologies and international communities play in reshaping the contemporary cultural landscape in China. This class requires no prior knowledge of Chinese language, literature, or culture. 6 credits; CX, Cultural/Linguistics, LA, Literary/Artistic Analysis; offered Winter 2025 · Shaohua Guo

  • JAPN 251: The Tale of Genji—A Thousand Years of Words and Images

    Considered by many as the world’s first novel, The Tale of Genji, written around 1000 CE, depicts the lives and struggles of the Heian aristocrats. This class will introduce students to the celebrated classic, theories on the work, and one-thousand-years of visual history. Unlike today’s solitary reading activities, the tale in premodernity was experienced as the combination of texts, images, and sounds. This course observes and discusses an intertwined history of words and images from premodernity to modernity, examining the dynamics between texts and images through the screen art, incense, manga, theater, and movies. All materials are in English. 

     6 credits; IS, International Studies, LA, Literary/Artistic Analysis; offered Winter 2025 · Lingling Ma

  • JAPN 346: Advanced Japanese: Consumerist Culture in Contemporary Japan

    This course focuses on the consumerist culture in Japan. It will look at the contemporary Japanese short stories, movies, new media, and critical theories that focus on  the overt consumption of material and immaterial commodities, such as food, fashion,and brands, in contemporary Japan. This course will help students develop reading andlistening skills, situated in the contemporary Japanese cultural context. Students will practice and integrate their Japanese through in-class discussion and written assignments.

     Prerequisites:

    Student has completed any of the following course(s): JAPN 206 – Japanese in Cultural Context with grade of C- or better.

     6 credits; IS, International Studies, LA, Literary/Artistic Analysis; offered Winter 2025 · Lingling Ma

  • CHIN 347: Advanced Chinese: Reading the News

    This course uses readings of various Chinese language news sources to learn about multiple Chinese perspectives on current events, and to become conversant in the prose style that is a model for formal written Chinese. Emphasis is on vocabulary expansion, text comprehension strategies, and differences between colloquial and written usage. Active use of the language (including oral discussion and regular written compositions) will be stressed. Students will learn to become savvy, independent consumers of Chinese-language news media.

     Prerequisites:

    Student has completed any of the following course(s): CHIN 206 – Chinese in Cultural Context with a grade of C- or better or satisfied the Chinese language requirement with a Carleton placement exam score of 300.

     6 credits; LP Language Requirement, No Exploration; offered Winter 2025 · Xuping Sun

Spring 2025

  • CHIN 103: Elementary Chinese

    Continuation of Chinese 101, 102. Prerequisites:

    Student has completed any of the following course(s): CHIN 102 – Elementary Chinese with a grade of C- or better or equivalent.

     6 credits; No Exploration; offered Spring 2025 · Lei Yang

  • JAPN 103: Elementary Japanese

    Continuation of Japanese 102. Prerequisites:

    Student has completed any of the following course(s): JAPN 102 – Elementary Japanese with a grade of C- or better or equivalent.

     6 credits; No Exploration; offered Spring 2025 · Lingling Ma

  • JAPN 103: Elementary Japanese

    Continuation of Japanese 102. Prerequisites:

    Student has completed any of the following course(s): JAPN 102 – Elementary Japanese with a grade of C- or better or equivalent.

     6 credits; No Exploration; offered Spring 2025 · Lingling Ma

  • ASLN 111: Writing Systems

    The structure and function of writing systems, with emphasis on a comparison of East Asian writing systems (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) to Western alphabetic systems. Topics covered include classification of writing systems, historical development, diffusion and borrowing of writing systems, and comparison with non-writing symbol systems. 6 credits; CX, Cultural/Linguistics, SI, Social Inquiry; offered Spring 2025 · Lin Deng

  • CHIN 206: Chinese in Cultural Context

    This course advances students’ proficiency in oral and written Chinese, at the same time integrating elements of traditional Chinese civilization and modern Chinese society. Emphasis is on cultural understanding and appropriate language use. Prerequisites:

    Student has completed any of the following course(s): CHIN 205 – Intermediate Chinese with a grade of C- or better or satisfied the Chinese language requirement with a Carleton placement exam score of 206.

     6 credits; LP Language Requirement; offered Spring 2025 · Shaohua Guo

  • JAPN 206: Japanese in Cultural Context

    This course advances students’ proficiency in the four skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing in Japanese. The course also integrates elements of traditional Japanese civilization and modern Japanese society, emphasizing cultural understanding and situationally appropriate language use. Prerequisites:

    Student has completed any of the following course(s): JAPN 205 – Intermediate Japanese with a grade of C- or better or equivalent.

     6 credits; LP Language Requirement, No Exploration; offered Spring 2025 · Miaki Habuka

  • CHIN 251: Heroes, Heroines, Exceptional Lives in Chinese Biographical Histories

    Through generic and historical analysis of the two-millennia long biographical tradition in Chinese historical writing, this project explores lives of heroes and heroines, including, but not limited to: dynastic founders, ministers, generals, poets, assassins, and exceptional women. In this introduction to premodern Chinese culture and literature, students will experience, in English translation, some of the most beautiful works of ancient Chinese literature from the second century BCE through the eighteenth century CE. No prior Chinese language study required. 6 credits; IS, International Studies, LA, Literary/Artistic Analysis; offered Spring 2025 · Lei Yang

  • JAPN 343: Advanced Japanese: Nature in Popular Media

    This course examines Japanese popular media through an environmental lens, spanning from the thireteenth century to the present. It explores how novels, films, and animation depict the evolving human relationship with the non-human world amidst political, cultural, and philosophical shifts. Topics include modernization, internal colonization, gender dynamics, and industrial disasters, with a focus on canonical authors and global issues. Students develop skills in cultural comprehension through discussions and written assignments.

     Prerequisites:

    Student has completed any of the following course(s): JAPN 206 – Japanese in Cultural Context with grade of C- or better.

     6 credits; IS, International Studies, LA, Literary/Artistic Analysis; offered Spring 2025 · Chie Tokuyama

  • CHIN 358: Advanced Chinese: Everyday Life in Ancient China

    Were chopsticks originally eating utensils? Did ancient Chinese sleep on beds and sit on chairs? What did they wear? In this course, students will find answers to questions like those in a series of expository writings concerning various aspects of daily life in ancient Chinese society, while enhancing their proficiency in comprehending authentic materials and producing extended discourse on related topics through a variety of oral and written coursework. This course also provides a fair amount of exposure to common sources for historical studies of China, and thus expands students’ vocabulary and knowledge about Chinese history and archaeology. Prerequisites:

    Student has completed any of the following course(s): CHIN 206 – Chinese in Cultural Context with a grade of C- or better or satisfied the Chinese language requirement with a Carleton placement exam score of 300.

     6 credits; IS, International Studies, LA, Literary/Artistic Analysis; offered Spring 2025 · Lin Deng