Ohio State nav bar

Spring 2014 Courses

core classes: Asian American Studies
electives: Asian Studies - U.S. Race & Ethnicity


Asian American Studies

East Asian Languages and Literatures
3446 Asian American Film
29054 Kirk Denton TR 11:10-12:30 Mendenhall Lab 131


Asian Studies

English

4400 Literary Locations: Radical London
20494 Pranav Jani WF 2:20-3:40 Hagerty Hall 046

History


3194 Controversies in Contemporary Korea
1198 Mitch Lerner T 4:00-7:00 Hagerty Hall 042
Description: This course examines four contemporary controversies in Korea from a historical perspective, in order to provide a broad understanding of the very recent history of the birthplace of the "Korean Wave" and the "Miracle of the Han River." There will be four major areas to be covered. First, we will look at the controversies surrounding the comfort women, Japanese history textbooks, Dokdo Islets, and Collaboration; second, we will look at globalization, economic growth, and the Korean Wave; Third, we will look at North Korea and the "Axis of Evil"; and finally, we will examine "education fever" in South Korea." The course goals are to enable students to become familiar with the history and culture of modern Korea, to gain critical perspectives on contemporary controversies in Korea, and to explore new ways of understanding the human condition through the lens of contemporary controversies in Korea.

This course is part of a newly created effort to build an e-class system of shared classes with Korean content among a number of Midwestern schools. All courses will have small enrollments, will be simulcast among 3 universities, and will make extensive use of internet-based technologies. This class is being taught live at the University of Michigan by Dr. Juhn Ahn, and shared with students at OSU and Purdue on an interactive basis, with each campus limited to an enrollment of 12 students.

For additional information, contact Mitch Lerner, Dept. of History.

Korean


4194 North Korea Beyond Images
32725 Mitch Lerner Th 3:25-5:55 Enarson 348
Description:This course is designed to explore the visual cultures of North Korea. While North Korea has notoriously gained a reputation as the most isolated country in the world, there are many images inundating media, in news or in popular culture. Images are the most prominent way through which we gain knowledge about North Korea, but they are not transparent mediums and are in need of interpretation. Throughout the semester, we will explore various ways through which North Korea uses visual mediums to showcase its state power and ideology, to write history, and to represent memory to the people of North Korea and to the world. We will also examine the representation of North Korea from perspective of the defectors as well as the Western spectators and even tourists. The genres that we will examine include art, architecture, murals, posters, stamps, illustrations, animation, photography, film, opera, mass games, museum, cemetery, and processions/parades. Students are expected to develop a critical perspective on the politics of representation and the role of the mediums in use.

This course is part of a newly created effort to build an e-class system of shared classes with Korean content among a number of Midwestern schools. All courses will have small enrollments, will be simulcast among 3 universities, and will make extensive use of internet-based technologies. This class is being taught live at the University of Wisconsin by Dr. Se-Mi Oh, and shared with students at OSU and Michigan on an interactive basis, with each campus limited to an enrollment of 12 students.

For additional information, contact Mitch Lerner, Dept. of History.

History of Art


3605 History of Photography: East-West Photography
30419 Namiko Kunimoto WF 12:45-2:05 Baker Systems 0120

8821 Studies in Japanese Art: Gender and East Asian Contemporary Art (4 cr.)
21424 Namiko Kunimoto M 2:15-5:00 Pomerene Hall 315


US Race / Ethnicity

English


2282 Introduction to Queer Studies (cross-listed as WGSST 2282, class no. 27571)
20459 Jian Chen WF 9:35-10:55 University Hall 038

4580 Special Topics in LGBTQ Literature and Culture: "Reading Race and Sexuality"
29531 Joe Ponce WF 2:20-3:40 Enarson Classroom Bldg 222

4581 Special Topics in U.S. Ethnic Literatures: "The Ethics of Comparative Racializations"
29532 Lynn Itagaki WF 9:35-10:55 University Hall 056

6760.01 Introduction to Graduate Study in Postcolonial Literature and Theory
29541 Pranav Jani Th 9:10-12:25 Denney Hall 0419

Sociology


3487 Research Methods in Sociology
26642 Neha Gondal T Th 2:20-3:40 Townshend Hall 250
Description: Are you interested in researching the Asian American community? This introductory course in social research methods familiarizes you with techniques for systematically studying the insights that people have about the world around them. While there are several methodologies used by social scientists to study the social world, in this course, we will learn about four broad approaches conventionally referred to as 'experimental,' 'quantitative,' 'qualitative,' and 'relational' techniques. We will begin with a discussion of the fundamental concepts, challenges, and issues involved in doing research. In this section, we will cover topics on the process and ethics of doing research, measurement issues, and causality. In the subsequent two sections, we will cover experimental techniques and some basic statistical methodologies for doing research that are generally used on large datasets such as the General Social Survey. Next, we will study some methodologies used to study a comparatively smaller sample of individuals, such as interviewing, participant observation, and content analysis. We will finish the semester by learning about a network analytic framework to study the social world. While these different techniques are mostly complementary and sometimes substitutable for each other, it is important to note that they often involve different assumptions about the organization of the social world. As we cover different topics, I will highlight the assumptions involved in each methodology. It is also important to bear in mind that not every approach to conducting sociological research will appeal equally to you. Nevertheless, in order to be able to offer informed criticism to any type of research, irrespective of whether it is your 'chosen' technique, you must have a reasonable familiarity with that way of doing research.

This course can count towards the Asian American Studies minor if you do a final project on the Asian American community. For more information, please contact Prof. Gondal.

Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies


4540 Women of Color: Art, Literature and Culture
27588 Lynn Itagaki WF 2:20-3:40 University Hall 086