Language Courses

Language holds the key to knowing people and culture. Of the 5 levels of classes offered, those up to the 4th year meet 4 hours a week, while a double credit intensive elementary-intermediate class meets 6 hours a week. Spoken Chinese is stressed in the 1st year, with focus on basic sentence patterns needed for ordinary conversation. Writing is given more emphasis in the second year, alongside reading, grammar and vocabulary expansion. 3rd and 4th year courses offer readings in Chinese culture plus grammar review. 5th year offerings include business and journalistic materials, modern literature and film, and practical correspondence.

Since language provides insight into ways of thought, feeling and perception at the root of culture, we encourage all with even a little curiosity about Chinese to take whatever their schedules allow, and give credit for 1 semester of study. Students with a serious interest in the language should begin as early as possible, especially if planning to spend a semester or a year abroad, since they need 3 years of college level Chinese in order to make the most of their overseas study. Taking intensive Chinese in the first year is the surest route.

Non-intensive classes meet three times a week; intensive classes meet six times a week.

1, 2 Elementary Chinese
Active command of both oral and written Chinese stressed; emphasis on pronunciation and conversation, pinyin and characters, basic vocabulary and structures. Supplemented by laboratory drills. No prerequisites.

1-2 Intensive Elementary Chinese
Combines Chinese 1 and 2 into one semester. Followed by Chinese 3-4, this intensive course allows the student to begin third-year Chinese (Chinese 21) after only one year of study. Designed for those who want to move faster. Meets every day. Two credits. No prerequisites.

3, 4 Intermediate Chinese
Continuation of Chinese 1, 2. Emphasis on basic vocabulary and structures, conversation, reading, and writing. Supplemented by laboratory drills. Prerequisite: Chinese 2 or equivalent.

3-4 Intensive Intermediate Chinese
Continuation of Chinese 1-2. Combining Chinese 3 and 4 into one semester, this course is designed for those who want to move faster. Meets every day. Two credits. Prerequisite: Chinese 2, 1-2, or equivalent.

21, 22 Reading and Conversation
Designed for students with the equivalent of two years of college Chinese. In addition to further vocabulary development, grammar review, and reading of contemporary prose essays, skills in conversation, translation, and composition are also stressed. Conducted mainly in Chinese. Supplemented by laboratory drills. Prerequisite: Chinese 4 or equivalent.

121, 122 Advanced Chinese I and II
Designed for students with the equivalent of three years of college Chinese. Intensive practice in speaking, reading, writing, and translating. Emphasis on contemporary materials dealing with cultural topics. Conducted in Chinese. Supplemented by laboratory drills. Prerequisite: Chinese 22 or equivalent.

125 Newspaper Readings
Introduction to the language of Chinese media, including newspapers, magazines, TV, radio and the internet. Covers both the content of the selected materials and the linguistic characteristics of the language: its structures, vocabulary and style. Emphasis on improved reading comprehension through the study, analysis and discussion of a wide range of topics in the Chinese media.
Prerequisites: CHNS 122 or equivalent.

126 Business Chinese
Advanced Chinese course for those interested in contemporary Chinese business communications. Covers various types of authentic business-related language materials, both oral and written. Emphasis on cultural and linguistic aspects of the Chinese business communications. Objectives include a better understanding of the business world in China, its practices and trends, as well as development of language skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
Prerequisite: Chinese 122 or equivalent.

127 Reading Short Stories
Advanced Chinese language course designed to develop reading skills and appreciation of short stories by Chinese writers, from the early 20th century to present. Both cultural and linguistic aspects covered, with emphasis on grammar, diction and style. Training in composition and oral presentations also included.
Prerequisite: Chinese 122 or equivalent.

128 Practical Writing
Introductory course in practical writing for students of advanced Chinese. Covers various forms of basic personal, administrative and business writings. May include official notices and stipulations, business proposals and contracts, documents related to lawsuits and litigations, and personal letters of invitations and congratulations. Emphasis on linguistic features of the materials: vocabulary, syntactic structure and style.
Prerequisite: Chinese 122 or equivalent.

Advanced Placement; Transfer Credit
Students who know Chinese may arrange for advanced placement. Those who have taken college-level Chinese may arrange for credit transfer.

Literature and Culture (in English)

China represents the world's most richly documented civilization and literary tradition. We offer 5 survey and topical courses covering 3000 years of literature, integrated with 3 courses in civilization and intellectual history. Taught with a comparative dimension, they provide students with the experience of knowing a different culture, while stimulating rethinking of aspects of one's own culture that often escape notice.

As the courses assume no knowledge of Chinese culture or language, they are suitable for all – China specialists or otherwise. Those with primary linguistic goals are encouraged to go beyond them, for language learning is a much more inspired experience when coupled with a study of culture and literature. For Chinese American students, the courses will enable them to explore their cultural roots beyond the historical and political reversals of 20th-century China, to understand better the traditional values that integrate into their lives in America.

61 Classical Chinese Literature
Introduction to source materials and major genres and writers of the classical period, from 800 B.C.E. to the nineteenth century, with special emphasis on recurrent themes, generic developments, aesthetics, and cultural and historical contexts. Readings include selections from The Book of Poetry, Songs of the South; early historical narratives; Han rhyme-prose and folk ballads; Six Dynasties nature poetry and protofiction; Tang-Song poetry, lyrics, and short stories; Yuan songs and drama; and Ming-Qing novels. (May be taken at 100 level with consent.) Members of the program

62 Major Modern Chinese Writers
A full understanding of modern China cannot be achieved without a sufficient knowledge and understanding of modern Chinese literature. A survey of major modern authors and their works from the late 19th century to the present. Examines issues of major concern manifested via literature including the conflicting sense of the modern self, search for national identity, and conflicts between traditional and modern cultural values. Explores political, historical, sociocultural, and artistic implications in relation to the complexity of modern China. (May be taken at 100 level with consent.) Zhong

70 Introduction to Chinese Popular Culture
A survey of modern and contemporary Chinese popular culture including popular fiction, film, television, music, and the internet. Offers a rare opportunity for students to study and examine a range of Chinese popular cultural forms and texts, specifically their content, production, reception, and social and political implications within specific historical contexts. (May be taken at 100 level with consent.) Zhong

76 The Chinese Ghost Story
The forms and uses of the ghost story in classical Chinese cosmographic, philosophical, historiographic, and literary traditions from the third century B.C. to the eighteenth century. Special emphasis on the poetics and politics of the ghost story in classical Chinese moral, political, and literary discourses. No prerequisites. Taught in English. Members of the program

78 Youth and Culture in Modern China
How "youth" came to be conceptualized in modern China and for what reasons. Reading, watching, and discussing modern Chinese fiction, poetry, essays, film, and scholarly writings. How, as a modern political, social, and cultural category, youth has played a unique role in China's quest for modernization. Members of the department

80 Introduction to Chinese Cinema
Evolution of Chinese film from its inception to the present and how cinematic changes reflect social, cultural, and political changes. Major film directors and cinematic styles and techniques they employed and different subject matters that have preoccupied them. Relationships between Chinese film and politics, social-cultural changes, Hollywood, and the unresolved issues of modernity. No prerequisites. Zhong

81 New Chinese Cinema
A comparative exploration of films made in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the PRC in recent decades. Examination of how political, economic, and ideological contexts affect filmmaking in these different "Chinese" regions; how these differences help demonstrate diversities, specificities, contradictions, as well as interactions within and between these Chinese communities. No prerequisites. Zhong

101 Foundations of Chinese Thought
The golden age of Chinese philosophy (500-200 B.C.), with special emphasis on the major schools that established the foundations of Chinese thought: Confucianism, Daoism, Moism, School of Names, Legalism, and Yin-Yang philosophy. Issues such as basic orientations of Chinese thought vis-a-vis Western philosophy and the relevance of ancient Chinese thought to the contemporary world will also be discussed. Members of the program

108 Rural & Urban China Through Cinema
This film course addresses a central socio-cultural issue in modern China, that of the urban-rural divide. Focusing on films set in rural, urban, and rural-to-urban settings and made in modern and contemporary China, this course explores how cinematic representations capture the cultural differences, their social and historical reasons and contexts, the changing dynamics in rural and urban China, and the social, cultural, and political implications of such filmic representations. English. Prerequisites: One course on modern Chinese culture. Members of the program

111 Cultural Perspectives on Chinese Literature
Major aspects of traditional Chinese culture via texts in poetry, prose, philosophy, fiction, and drama. Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist world views and ideals of life as expressed in literature; cultural heroes; voices of women and the common people; the literati's quest for cultural identity; reclusion and utopianism; man and nature; attitudes toward love, family, war, time, and death; comparison with Western perspectives. No prerequisites.
Members of the program

112 Women and Gender in Modern Chinese Literature & Culture
Discussion from a gendered perspective of literary and other cultural texts produced since the early 20th century. Why have women and gender issues constituted an intrinsic part of modern Chinese history? How have men and women writers and intellectuals responded to China's modern challenges? How to understand their responses? No prerequisites. Zhong

161 Classical Chinese Literature
Introduction to source materials and major genres and writers of the classical period, from 800 B.C.E. to the nineteenth century, with special emphasis on recurrent themes, generic developments, aesthetics, and cultural and historical contexts. Readings include selections from The Book of Poetry, Songs of the South; early historical narratives; Han rhyme-prose and folk ballads; Six Dynasties nature poetry and protofiction; Tang-Song poetry, lyrics, and short stories; Yuan songs and drama; and Ming-Qing novels. Additional readings in Chinese and extra class meetings. (Also offered as lower-level.)

162 Major Modern Chinese Literature
See Description for CHNS 62. For CHNS 162, additional work will include reading/watching materialstexts and criticisms-in the original language, writing responses to these materials, writing longer papers.

170 Introduction to Chinese Popular Culture
See description of Chinese 70. For Chinese 170, additional work will include reading/watching materialstexts and criticisms-in the original language, writing responses to these materials, writing longer papers.

Special Topics and Directed Studies

91, 92 Special Topics
Selected topics in literature and culture. In English. Members of the program

93, 94 Directed Study
Guided independent study in Chinese language. Prior consent of instructor is required. Members of the program

191, 192 Special Topics
Courses and seminars for advanced students. Members of the program

193, 194 Advanced Directed Study
Guided independent study in Chinese language, literature, and culture. Prior consent of instructor is required. Members of the program

198, 199 Senior Honors Thesis
See Thesis Honors Program for details.

Summer Course Offering

CHNS 1A/2A Intensive Elementary Chinese
Combines Chinese1 and 2 into a one summer session course, with instructional emphasis on both linguistic aspects (pronunciation, vocabulary, and structures), and socio-cultural strategies in communication. Students learn all sounds and tones in Mandarin Chinese, basic vocabulary, frequently used characters, pinyin (the standard Mandarin Chinese transcription system), and information about Chinese language, culture, and society. This course enables students to acquire the equivalent of one year of regular Chinese in 6 weeks, from which they can proceed to second-year Chinese and beyond. No previous knowledge of Chinese required.

For more information about the course, contact Dr. M. Wang.

For information about other summer courses, please visit the Summer School website.