Courses in Asian Studies

Fall 2023

Questions and concerns about course registration should be sent to Asian-studies@buffalo.edu.

AS 101 Introduction to Asian Studies

Instructor: TBA
Format: In person

Are you interested in a career related to Asia, or considering studying abroad in Asia? Or maybe you just want to know more about its cultures and histories because your classmates, neighbors, and coworkers are from there? What is Asia, anyway, and who and what should we consider Asian? This class is designed to introduce students to the diversity of Asia and to the resources at UB and beyond for studying Asia and Asian diasporas. Students will develop critical thinking and writing skills while exploring the fields of Asian and Asian-American studies.

The class will hear from distinguished UB professors who will discuss the latest research, trends, and resources in the field of Asian and Asian-American studies. Students also will start thinking about the impact of developments in Asia on their career goals and be encouraged to consider study abroad opportunities in Asia.

AS 181 Asian Civilization I

Instructor: TBA
Format: In person

Introduction to major themes and events in the histories of China, Korea, Japan, the Indian subcontinent, and Southeast Asia in early times. Considers the developments of ways of thought, the emergence of and interactions among states and empires, and artistic and literary movements. Our goal is to understand the historical forces and transformations shaping Asia before about 1600. This course is the same as HIS and course repeat rules will apply.  Students should consult with their major department regarding any restrictions on their degree requirements.

AS 221 Survey of Asian Literature

Instructor: Prof. Sharmeen Mehri
Format: Remote real time

This course will introduce students to narratives of romance that span Asia's wide variety of religious, literary, theatrical, and cinematic traditions. Rather than defining romance by what it contains, we will instead consider what romance as a genre does. Through this approach, it becomes possible to examine why certain narratives were compelling enough to be transmitted across and preserved within a diverse range of cultures and historical periods. Texts include English translations of Sanskrit drama, a Hindi Sufi mystical work, an early Japanese novel, recent Bollywood cinema, Korean television melodramas, and the worldwide Harlequin Romance phenomenon. There are no prerequisites for this class. We will be covering a wide range of materials, and it is essential that students complete assigned readings before class and actively participate in class discussions. All are welcome in this class, regardless of age, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, ability, ethnicity, or religion. I ask that you keep an open mind towards the course materials and be tolerant and respectful of the opinions expressed by your fellow classmates.

This course is the same as ENG 222  and course repeat rules will apply.  Students should consult with their major department regarding any restrictions on their degree requirements.

AS 347 The Fantastical World of Japanese Anime

Instructor: Prof. Mimi Okabe
Format: In person

In the past three decades Japanese popular culture has surpassed the technology industry to become Japans largest export. In particular, anime (Japanese animation), the most profitable form of Japanese popular culture, has become increasingly visible all over the world. Although anime fandom in the U.S. is anchored by several works of mass appeal, it remains a subculture whose increasingly influential devotees occupy a cultural fringe. This course introduces students to this unique subculture and introduces an academic approach to viewing the anime art form. In addition to the focus on specific genres of anime, this course will pay special attention to four influential anime directors; Oshii Mamoru, Satoshi Kon, Hosoda Mamoru and Miyazaki Hayao. This course is designed to be interactive, while it builds a rigorous understanding of the anime medium through its history, its artists, and its institutions. Not only will the course focus on critical analysis of films, it will use anime as a medium by which to study Japanese culture at large, with some attention given to production. Taught in English.

HIS 350 Modern Japanese Media

Instructor: Prof. Mimi Okabe
Format: In person

This course introduces the study of Japanese culture through the media of modern Japan (i.e., TV, anime, manga, stage productions and video games) with a focus on adaptations of Sherlock Holmes and Western detective stories!  Students will critically analyze the "multi-media afterlives" (Vanacker and Wynne: 2013) of Sherlock Holmes in Japan and their influence in shaping Japanese cultural discourses of empire, nation, and identity.

HIS 374 The Spread of Christianity in Asia

Instructor: Prof. Mark Nathan
Format: In person

This course traces the introduction and spread of Christianity in Asian history, focusing primarily on East Asia and giving special attention to Korea. It begins with an examination of Jesuit missions to Japan and China, as well as the role that India played in the establishment and maintenance of these missions. The different Jesuit strategies for accommodating or rejecting indigenous religious beliefs and customs are compared and considered, as well as the Nestorians in China much earlier. Then we turn to the unique way in which Catholicism was subsequently established in Korea, where Christianity has enjoyed unparalleled success in East Asia. We will look closely at how Christianity has affected and been affected by socio-political developments, its interactions with and influence upon traditional Asian religions, its relationship to nationalism since the late 19th century, and its tensions and conflict with colonialism and Communism in the 20th century. It concludes by asking what factors might have enabled Christianity to have such success in Korea (and the Philippines) and compare these to the situation in China and Japan. This course is the same as  HIS 374 and course repeat rules will apply.  Students should consult with their major department regarding any restrictions on their degree requirements.

AS 391 China and the World

Instructor: TBA
Format: In person

Survey of Chinese views of the world order, exchanges in material culture across China's borders, and the ways in which Chinese governments and people have interacted with the world from the imperial era to the present era of the rise of China. This course is the same as HIS 391, and course repeat rules will apply.  Students should consult with their major department regarding any restrictions on their degree requirements.

AS395 K-pop and Its Global Reach

Instructor: Prof. Stephanie Choi 
Format: In person 

Many people around the world learn about South Korea through the wave of Hallyu that displays glamorous television acts, trendy music and fashion, and vibrant nightlife in Seoul. But how much do we know about the local contexts and sociocultural flows of those media presentations? What is the musical landscape of South Korea, and how does that landscape reflect the cultural dynamics of the nation? This course aims to explore multicultural flows of ideas, sounds, images, products, and lifestyles that are mediated, contested, and reshaped in the global circulation of K-pop. While we attempt to acquire media literacy through literature review and song and music video analyses, we will explore the production and consumption of K-pop, in relation to the discourses of identity politics of gender/sexuality, race/ethnicity, class, generation, and nationality in the context of cultural globalization.