CGM Block A GUR Courses
also see Humanities GUR courses, C-COM GUR courses, and other non-GUR courses
Course List (LBRL)
Select one course from the following:
271 Humanities of India (4)
272 Religion and Society in China and Japan (4)
273 Art and Society in China and Japan (4)
275 Humanities of Japan (4)
276 Humanities of Africa (5)
277 Humanities of China (4)
278 Humanities of Islamic Civilization (5)
281 Representations of Otherness (4)
283 Religion and Globalization (5)
338 Mysticism (5)
360 China and the Emerging World Economy: From Antiquity to the Early Modern (5)
362 Islam and Muslims in the Indian Ocean (4)
372 Postcolonial Novels: Art, Rhetoric and Social Context (4)
378 Religion and Society in India (4)
Course Descriptions
Liberal Studies 271
HUMANITIES OF INDIA
4 credits; Class size: 50
Prerequisites: None.
The course is an introduction to South Asian culture. It concentrates on literature, history and the visual arts. It explores the development of a complex society and contending beliefs and values in ancient and early medieval India. It then traces how people who believed in a non-Indic religion, Islam, established themselves as rulers of most of medieval India, and the creation of an Indo-Persian culture in the Mughal Empire in early-modern India. Finally it explores British colonial rule in modern times, the development of several nationalisms, Gandhi, and life and art after independence. Lecture and discussion. Evaluation is by class participation, one paper and two essay exams.
Liberal Studies 272
RELIGION AND SOCIETY IN CHINA AND JAPAN
4 credits; Class size: 50
Prerequisites: None.
The course is a broad introduction to the major systems of thought and belief in pre-modern China and Japan. We begin with traditional cosmology in East Asia, with its understandings of the human and divine. We then examine East Asia’s major religious and philosophical traditions: Confucianism, Taoism, and ancestor worship in China; the animistic Shinto of Japan; and Buddhism, which comes from India. We pay particular attention to the interactions of these traditions and to differences between them and the monotheistic religions of the West. Readings include; Chuang-tzu: The Inner Chapters, Vimalakirti sutra, and Zen Teachings of Master Lin-chi. Teaching approach is lecture with discussion. Evaluation is by essay exams and a short paper.
Liberal Studies 273
ART AND SOCIETY IN CHINA AND JAPAN
4 credits; Class size: 50
Prerequisites: None.
The course examines aesthetic traditions of East Asia, courtly and popular, secular and religious. It focuses on religious assumptions, preferred styles and techniques, and on the social role of artistic expression in China and Japan. The course explores adaptation of traditional modes of artistic expression to modern life and international stimuli. Visual arts discussed include painting, sculpture, architecture, drama, and film. Lecture and discussion. Evaluation is by essay exams.
Liberal Studies 275
HUMANITIES OF JAPAN
4 credits; Class size: 50
Prerequisites: None.
An overview of Japanese cultural history, the course begins with a brief look at antiquity, devotes most attention to Japan’s medieval and early modern periods, and ends in recent history. We will focus particularly on the fighting man, the samurai. For seven hundred years, Japan was ruled over by a military aristocracy. What were the ideals of these men, and how did they live up to them? How did this group evolve over time? How did they combine brutal violence with an exquisitely beautiful culture? What has been the fate in modern times of the samurai and his ideal? Teaching approach is lecture with discussion. Evaluation is by a short paper and two exams, with extra credit for active class participation.
Liberal Studies 276
HUMANITIES OF AFRICA
5 credits; Class size: 50
Prerequisites: None.
This course is an introduction to the cultural heritage of Africa, and to the complex African experience, past and present. We will examine the dynamics of historical change in African societies. Rather than attempting an overview of the whole continent, which contains no less than 54 countries, and many more ethnic groups, languages, traditions, and histories, we will begin with a few case studies of civilizations and kingdoms before 1900. We then continue with study of colonial Africa and conclude with current situations in postcolonial countries. Although the course is multidisciplinary, and studies artistic, literary and cinematic forms of expression in Africa, the emphasis is on how the visual arts communicate and problematize human experiences. Readings include several African novels. Teaching is by lecture and discussion. Evaluation is by class participation, quizzes, two exams, and a research paper.
Liberal Studies 277
HUMANITIES OF CHINA
4 credits; Class size: 50
Prerequisites: None.
China contains a quarter of the human population, with a continuous history stretching over 4,000 years. No one-quarter course can do justice to this ancient and impressive civilization. We explore two themes. The first is prescription, statements of the ideal, of what human beings should think and do. The second is description, revealing an often quite different reality of human life. In the first part of the course we examine the formation of the great teachings that have shaped the Chinese world view. In the second half, we explore the ways people lived their lives. Readings include Death of Woman Wang, and Dream of the Red Chamber. Lecture and discussion. Evaluation is by quizzes and short papers, a midterm exam, and a long paper (10-12 pages).
Liberal Studies 278
HUMANITIES OF ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION
5 credits; Class size: 50
Prerequisites: None.
As an interdisciplinary introduction to Islamic civilization, the course explores the rich and complex religious, political, social, cultural and intellectual institutions and experiences that have shaped the Muslim world since the emergence of Islam in the 7th century A.D. The course emphasizes the shared religious, cultural and societal ideals of Muslims and their adaptation to different contexts in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. We study how Islam has been appropriated in different settings and periods to create ‘Muslim cultures’. Students consider sources of the charged images and representations that ‘Westerners’ and Muslims have constructed of each other in the past fourteen centuries. Lectures, with discussion on primary source materials. Evaluation is by class participation, essay exams and a paper.
Liberal Studies 281
REPRESENTATIONS OF OTHERNESS
4 credits; Class size: 45
Prerequisites: None.
The course examines images and narratives of the foreign, alien and uncanny Other in major works of modern literature, art and film from the 19th Century to the present. It is organized into three sections, each presenting images of otherness from a different perspective. In the first section, The Double and Death, we look at otherness through the psychological and philosophical concept of duality, and through death as the ultimate other. In the second section, Art and Nature, we consider art as the other of nature. The last section, The Foreigner, deals with various representations of otherness in terms of colonization, social expulsion, race, and gender relations, and alienation in general, with a focus on critiques of our contemporary world. Readings include Literary Theory by Jonathan Culler, modern and postmodern literary and philosophical texts, and films. Lecture and discussion. Evaluation is by class participation, two take home essays, and one in class exam.
Liberal Studies 283
RELIGION AND GLOBALIZATION
5 credits; Class size: 45
Prerequisites: None.
Focus on religious responses to globalization through case studies of modern religious movements. Case studies will be chosen to explore cultural interaction and religious change in a world shaped by technological revolutions and increased communication, information, and migration. Evaluation is by two tests and a final exam, plus classroom participation.
Liberal Studies 338
MYSTICISM
5 credits; Class size: 45
Prerequisites: Junior status or permission of the instructor.
An interdisciplinary exploration of mysticism in different religious traditions, the course may explore, for example, Christian, Muslim, and Taoist authors, and genres of autobiography, fiction, and poetry as well as more theologically oriented writing. One instructor also treats theoretical debate about the nature of mystical experiences and the construction and deconstruction of mystical meanings in language. Instruction is by guided class discussions with some lectures. Evaluation is by a class presentation, a term paper, quizzes, and a final exam.
Liberal Studies 360
CHINA AND THE EMERGING WORLD ECONOMY: FROM ANTIQUITY TO THE EARLY MODERN
5 credits; Class size: 45
Prerequisites: None.
Helpful background knowledge: an introductory course in Chinese history
The focus of this course will be early stages of the unfolding of ‘globalization’ in Eurasia, from antiquity into the early modern period. Particular attention will be given to China’s important role. Students will be introduced to three important and overlapping fields of study: the economic development of China from antiquity into the early modern period; early stages of the development of global trade in the Indian Ocean; and the effects of this trade upon societies of East Asia and the Indian Ocean rim. Lecture and discussion. Evaluation is by class participation and exams.
Liberal Studies 362
ISLAM AND MUSLIMS IN THE INDIAN OCEAN
4 credits; Class size: 45
Prerequisites: Junior status or permission of instructor.
Explores cross cultural contacts in the Indian Ocean world from East Africa, Arabia and the Persian Gulf to South and Southeast Asia, and the history and role of Islam and Muslims from the 7th century to the present. Focuses on texts by or about Muslim travelers—Sufis, pilgrims, scholars, and merchants—and their creation of networks, identities, and “Muslim spaces.” Shows that some aspects of globalization have a long history in the Indian Ocean.
Liberal Studies 372
POSTCOLONIAL NOVELS: ART, RHETORIC AND SOCIAL CONTEXT
4 credits; Class size: 45
Prerequisites: Junior status or permission of the instructor.
This course explores critical readings of postcolonial novels. It gives close attention to how novels are shaped as artistic wholes, and how they try to shape emotions and beliefs of readers. Students also practice reading beyond the novels to explore other sources for understanding social and political contexts in postcolonial societies. Evaluation is by written exams and a paper.
Liberal Studies 378
RELIGION AND SOCIETY IN INDIA
4 credits; Class size: 45
Prerequisites: Junior standing or permission of instructor.
The course examines changing relations between religion and society in South Asia. It explores how Buddhists and Hindus thought about morality, power, and freedom from rebirth, and students learn to read the Bhagavad Gita as a position argued within a series of inter-religious dialogues. It then explores Sufi Muslim beliefs and practices, and the gradual development of more exclusive religious identities among literate Muslims and Hindus. Finally, it explores reforming and modernizing leaders in both Hinduism and Islam, concentrating on Gandhi and Iqbal, and comparing them to leaders who have given more emphasis to purifying and reviving the ‘pure’ and ‘fundamental’ beliefs of Hindusim or Islam. Lecture and discussion. Evaluation is by classroom participation, essay exams, and a term paper.