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 211 fulfills the global language proficiency requirement.

The Chinese Cultural Revolution encompasses a number of shifts in perception and narratives around politics and society in China during the years 1966-1976. One story was told of a Cultural Revolution that would result in a perfect society where everyone had what they needed, class struggle was ended, and men and women were all free and equal. Every aspect of society had to be the best – industry, agriculture, science. In this revolution, leaders like Mao Zedong declared that art and literature were weapons to free the masses and they were to be used to share the message of the Communist Party and to document and promote Party successes. Other stories claimed that this red utopia was just a dream: that numbers and reports were inflated. that there was not enough for everyone, that not everyone was free and equal. After the Cultural Revolution, other stories revealed evidence of editing, omitting, and fabricating evidence. This course will focus on examining a variety of texts that reflect the changing perception of truth, including but not limited to: memoirs, creative writing, reportage, photographs, posters, paintings. By taking this co-taught course, students will have the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the Chinese Cultural Revolution as a social, political, and cultural movement from multiple perspectives. Students will analyze important texts of history, art, and literature.

Designed to help students solidify and further their communicative and writing ability in Chinese through contact with various written styles of modern Chinese language. Advanced Chinese also provides an introduction to contemporary Chinese literature. 311 and 312 may be taken in either order.

Reading and analysis of classic literary works in English translation from selected periods, such as legends and poetry of the Tang Dynasty, plays of the Yuan Dynasty, novels of the Ming and Qing Dynasty, and representative works of contemporary literature. Examination of the development and adaptation of different literary genres in the process of social transformations such as migration and immigration. Taught in English.

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. Taught in English.

In this class, we read the English translations of popular Chinese folklore. These include the tale of Mulan, the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Goddess, and the legend of Caiji. We analyze how the stories evolved throughout history and how they were told differently in mainstream and vernacular cultures. We also examine a number of adaptations of these stories in film, story-telling and writings by Chinese American authors, and compare the differences in terms of language, theme and function. Taught in English.