Please note: This is NOT the most current catalog.
Asian Conversations
http://www.stolaf.edu/depts/asian-studies/asian_conversations/index.html
Director, 2007-08: Katherine Tegtmeyer-Pak (Asian Studies/Political Science)
Faculty, 2007-08: Luying Chen (Asian Studies), Chinese language and literature, Bruce Dalgaard (Economics), Japanese economics; Robert Entenmann (History), East Asian history; Rika Ito (Asian Studies), Japanese language and linguistics; Phyllis Larson (Asian Studies), Japanese language and literature; Yuedong Merritt (Asian Studies), Chinese language and literature; Barbara Reed (Asian Studies and Religion), East Asian religions; Pin P. Wan (Asian Studies), Chinese language and literature
Asian Conversations is an interdisciplinary program integrating study of the Chinese and Japanese languages with investigations into the culture, history, language and societies of East Asia (China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam and more).
Beginning with the Class of 2011, Asian Conversations will be offered as a sophomore-year option. Students who are studying Chinese or Japanese language will be invited to apply in Spring 2008 for a three-course sequence.
Those accepted into the program will embark on a series of linked courses that explore "Journeys through Asia."
COURSES
(OLD) ASIAN CONVERSATIONS PROGRAM
The Asian Conversations program is an interdisciplinary way to begin a liberal arts education. Whether you plan to major in biology, economics, history, Asian studies, or anything else, the Asian Conversations program offers you an integrated, innovative way to complete required study in foreign language and the liberal arts. In the Asian Conversations program about twenty students study Chinese or Japanese language while they explore the cultures of East Asia through the interdisciplinary courses listed below (Asian Studies 211 and 212).
During the January Interim of their second year, students have the option of traveling to China and Japan accompanied by an Asian studies faculty member. A course focusing on the theme "National Identity in China and Japan" takes students to sites in China and Japan and offers them the chance to interact with peers in the Asian language they have studied. Although this January study tour is not required for Asian Conversations students, they are given priority in registering.
The following courses are available only to sophomores enrolled in the Asian Conversations program.
211 Asian Conversations: Rice and Society in East Asia
Using rice (and agriculture more generally) as a means of access, this course introduces students to an examination of the societies, politics, and economies of East Asian countries. Drawing on social science methods, it looks at traditional East Asian societies as well as the drive for modernization and the consequences that modernization has had on these societies. Prerequisite: Asian Studies 112 or permission of the instructor. Counts toward the Asian Studies major. Offered for the last time in Fall 2007.
212 Asian Conversations: National Identity in China and Japan
In this Interim course, students who have completed the Asian Conversations sequence travel to sites in China and Japan in order to experience those cultures firsthand and to study Chinese and Japanese constructions of national identity. Through readings, site visits, interactions with peers in the target languages, homestays, and journal writing in both English and their target language, students learn about how Asians in these two countries perceive themselves and their role in the region and in the world, both in the past and in the present. Prerequisite: Asian Studies 21 or permission of the instructor. Offered for the last time in Interim 2008.
(NEW) ASIAN CONVERSATIONS
Asian Conversations is an interdisciplinary program integrating study of the Chinese and Japanese language with investigations into the culture, history, language and societies of East Asia (China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam and more).
Beginning with the Class of 2011, Asian Conversations will be offered as a sophomore-year option. Students studying Chinese or Japanese language will be invited to apply in Spring 2008 for a three-course sequence.
Those accepted into the program will embark on a series of linked courses that explore "Journeys through Asia."
210 Asian Conversations I: Mapping Journeys
How do pilgrims, travelers and migrants make sense of their journeys in Asia? Students explore maps, histories, tales, and guides that define Asia today and in years past, including at least one of the classic Asian texts; study how cultural, linguistic, economic, religious, social, and political connections and divisions create and sustain communities in Asia; spend the last few weeks of the term planning related projects for their Interim course. Prerequisite: Chinese 112 or Japanese 112 or permission of instructor. Offered Fall Semester.
215 Asian Conversations II: Meeting Sojourners
Students pursue contacts with contemporary Asian sojourners, including migrants, business people, public officials, religious leaders, and writers, seeking to speak with a range of persons traveling through Asia today. On site in Japan, or the St. Olaf campus, students work through projects from Asian Conversations I to better understand how ordinary people construct Asian culture and society today.
220 Asian Conversations III: Interpreting Journeys
Having looked at how people journey through Asia, this final semester in Asian Conversations considers how ideas travel over time and space. Students examine a range of interpretations of Asia, including the spiritual, literary, philosophical and linguistic; and students present the ideas gathered from contacts made during Interim at the beginning of the semester. Additional materials include memoirs, novels, films that share individualized interpretations of Asian journeys. Prerequisite: Chinese 231 or Japanese 231 and Asian Studies 215. Offered Spring Semester.