Course Descriptions

ASIA 199 Topics in Asian Studies (1-4)

A semester-long study of topics in Asian Studies. Topics and emphases will vary according to the instructor, but may include socio-economic policy, history, oral history, ethnic identity, literature, religion, language, art, folklore, or film from interdisciplinary perspectives. In addition to the theoretical discussion, fieldwork and community service may be involved.. This course may be repeated for credit with different topics. See the New and Topics Courses page on the Registrar’s webpage for descriptions and applicability to majors/minors in other departments.

  • General Education Requirement Fulfillment: Topic dependent
  • Prerequisite: Topic dependent
  • Offering: Occasionally
  • Professor: Staff

ASIA 201 Gateway to East Asia (4)

This course introduces East Asia to the liberal arts student from multiple and cross disciplinary perspectives. The course deals with the rich cultural heritage of East Asia by looking at the cultural exchange within and beyond East Asia over a history of two thousand years. The course includes such topics as early intellectual traditions, religion, arts, language, literature, science, communication and everyday life. It is intended to lay a solid foundation and to generate broad interest in Asia so that students can proceed to a general study of Asian cultures or pursue their interest in specific cultural topics.

  • General Education Requirement Fulfillment: Arts & Humanities
  • Offering: Annually
  • Instructor: Staff

ASIA 210 Making and Playing of Traditional Musical Instruments (4)

This course emphasizes hands-on experience in making, practicing, and investigating various traditional art forms and music such as, the Confucian Six Skills and Four Arts, Eight Sounds, and some folk art forms. In the process, the students will use brush pens for calligraphy, make and play flutes or other musical instruments, and create handcrafts, while reading and discussing classic texts, researching on topics, presenting their learned skills, and reflecting the experience. As a result, the students gain deeper understanding of the cosmos, ethics, aesthetics, folklore, and symbolism of the cultures in and beyond East Asia. There will be multimedia materials to be used in class, individual and group projects/presentations, exhibitions, demonstrations and performances along the course.

  • Offering: Alternate Years
  • Instructor: Zhang

ASIA 299 Topics in Asian Studies (1-4)

A semester-long study of topics in Asian Studies. Topics and emphases will vary according to the instructor, but may include socio-economic policy, history, oral history, ethnic identity, literature, religion, language, art, folklore, or film from interdisciplinary perspectives. In addition to the theoretical discussion, fieldwork and community service may be involved. This course may be repeated for credit with different topics. See the New and Topics Courses page on the Registrar’s webpage for descriptions and applicability to majors/minors in other departments.

  • General Education Requirement Fulfillment: Topic dependent
  • Prerequisite: Topic dependent
  • Offering: Occasionally
  • Professor: Staff

ASIA 310 Asian Social Media in a Global Context: Critique and Design (4)

This course examines Asian social media as a form of digital culture and globalization. With its focus on contemporary forms of Asian social media, students will analyze, evaluate, and critique social media as it is manifest across different cultural contexts, particularly with respect both to institutional power and rhetoric and to individual agency and expression. Students will be challenged to reflect on social media as an emergent, hegemonic form of generating and participating in culture, to understand its risks and benefits to society, as well as to develop their own purposeful ethic regarding social media use and participation.

  • General Education Requirement: Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences; World Engagement: NEL study beyond 132, CV
  • Offering: Annually
  • Instructor: Wen

ASIA 352 Field Study in Asia (4)

This post-session course is conducted in one or more Asian countries, focusing on the social changes of the target countries in their transition from and conflict between tradition and modernity in a globalizing world. A fieldwork-based course, its topics include political system, cultural and artistic expressions, economic changes, holiday and festival celebrations, language, ethnicity, or other aspects of globalization and localization. There will be trips to museums, cultural relics, schools, factories and villages, lectures and discussions on the road and at the site, guest lectures on topics chosen, and reading on the topics chosen. With first-hand experience of participation and observation, the course will enhance the students' understanding of the cultures and people of the target countries. Post-session.

  • General Education Requirement Fulfillment: Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences
  • Prerequisite: Consent of instructor
  • Offering: Alternate years
  • Instructor: Staff

ASIA 390 and 391 Independent Study (2 or 4)

Intensive study of a selected topic. Normally for juniors or seniors who are majors in Asian Studies. Requires program faculty approval. May be repeated with different content.

  • General Education Requirement Fulfillment: Arts & Humanities
  • Offering: On demand
  • Instructor: Staff

ASIA 399 Topics in Asian Studies (1-4)

A semester-long study of topics in Asian Studies. Topics and emphases will vary according to the instructor, but may include socio-economic policy, history, oral history, ethnic identity, literature, religion, language, art, folklore, or film from interdisciplinary perspectives. In addition to the theoretical discussion, fieldwork and community service may be involved.. This course may be repeated for credit with different topics. See the New and Topics Courses page on the Registrar’s webpage for descriptions and applicability to majors/minors in other departments.

  • General Education Requirement Fulfillment: Topic dependent
  • Prerequisite: Topic dependent
  • Offering: Occasionally
  • Professor: Staff

ASIA 429 Topics in Asian Studies (1-4)

A semester-long study of topics in Asian Studies. Topics and emphases will vary according to the instructor, but may include socio-economic policy, history, oral history, ethnic identity, literature, religion, language, art, folklore, or film from interdisciplinary perspectives. In addition to the theoretical discussion, fieldwork and community service may be involved.. This course may be repeated for credit with different topics. See the New and Topics Courses page on the Registrar’s webpage for descriptions and applicability to majors/minors in other departments.

  • General Education Requirement Fulfillment: Topic dependent
  • Prerequisite: Topic dependent
  • Offering: Occasionally
  • Professor: Staff
Willamette University

Asian Studies

Address
900 State Street
Salem Oregon 97301 U.S.A.
Phone
503-370-6060 voice
503-370-6720 fax

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