Course Overview and Goals

This team-taught seminar, required of all East Asian Studies Majors, aims to introduce prospective majors to a range of the fields and methodologies that comprise East Asian Studies at Wesleyan. The material will be organized into several disciplinary modules, each contributing to a central theme.

This year the theme is "Traditions, Nation, and Global Community: Perspectives on East Asia." We will approach this topic by examining different perspectives on what "traditions" and "nations" are, as well as what "traditionalism" and "nationalism" might entail, and also looking specifically at how these ideas might function in East Asia. We will also ask what "globalization" is and how global communities might be relevant to understanding East Asia (and vice versa). This, in turn, will lead us to ask about the relation bertween East Asian Studies and Asian American Studies. With this as general background, we will turn to a series of five two-week modules, each illustrating a different approach to studying these complex relations. The modules are spelled out on a separate assignment sheet.

The course has three inter-related goals, which I will label content, methods, and skills. The first of these should be self-explanatory: students should come away from the class having learned something about traditions, nations, the global community, and their various relationships to in East Asia. One of the distinctive aspects of this course, though, is that it puts strong and explicit emphasis on the latter two goals. By methods, I mean that students will learn from five different faculty members how they approach their subjects. Among other things, this should help students to identify where their own interests and abilities lie, and so to construct their own course of East Asian Studies during their Junior and Senior years. The key skills for all approaches are essentially the same: close, critical reading; well-organized, clearly argued writing; thoughtful, responsive discussion. The course is designed to encourage a focus on all three of these skill areas.

In addition, the course aims to introduce you to the facility and programs of the Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies (FEAS). Attendance at some of the lectures and other events that are sponsored by the Center is required of all students in the class; these events are noted on the assignment sheet.

Readings and Preps

Most readings are in a coursepack available from Suburban Card and Gift (in Metro Square -- near Destinta, open 9-6 M-F, 9-5 Sat, 11-4 Sun, 347-5076). You will also need to purchase one books from Broad Street Books, easyWriter.

Several times in the semester, each student will be asked to prepare a "prep" assignment, working together with one classmate. These assignments, which must be posted on the class BlackBoard (see below) at least 24 hours prior to the class for which you are doing the prep, should consist of three types of information:

1. From two to four words, names, or facts that you had to look up in order to better understand the readings. Give brief explanations, and say where you found the information.
2. From two to four theses for which the reading argues, ranked from most to least important.
3. At least one question, either interpretive (e.g., "What does the author mean by...?") or critical (e.g., "How can the author believe that...?").

Papers: First Drafts, Comments, and Final Drafts

Five papers, each of approximately 500 words, are required for the course. There will be six opportunities in all to write papers; each student may skip one of these. The preparation of each paper involves three stages:

• First, students will prepare a first draft, due by 5 p.m. on the Friday of the second week of each module. Students will post their drafts on the class BlackBoard site (see below).
• Second, each student will submit comments on two of his or her classmates' papers, posting the comments on BlackBoard. Comments must be posted by the beginning of the following Monday's class (that is, you have about 70 hours).
• Third, students will prepare final drafts, incorporating comments as appropriate, which will be due the following Friday at 5 p.m. These will be printed papers and must be turned in to the course box in Shirley Lawrence's office in FEAS.

At each of these stages, students should consult easyWritier, as we will discuss in class.

Discussion: In-class and BlackBoard

Participation in discussion is required in this course for four reasons. First, active learning is better than passive learning: when one has made the effort to put your idea or interpretation into public view, you benefit from others' reactions. Second, and conversely, others benefit from hearing your ideas and your reactions to theirs. Third, I not only am able to gauge who is understanding what, but also regularly learn from what you all have to say. Fourth, the ability to articulate one's ideas and to discuss the ideas of others is a central skill which this class aims to cultivate.

There are two fora for discussion in this class: standard in-class discussion and discussion via BlackBoard, which I will demonstrate at the first class. You are encouraged to use BlackBoard in the same manner you would use an opportunity to speak up in class: to raise questions, float ideas, make comments, and so on.

Take-Home Final Essay: Synthetic Reflections

The final essay assignment will be distributed on the last day of class. You will be asked to answer one broad, synthetic question. The goal of this last assignment will be to stimulate you to reflect on what one can learn about the courses' theme by juxtaposing the five modules' different topics and apporaches.

Assessment and Summary of Assignments

Your grade in the class will be established as follows. The grade on each paper counts towards 1/8 of the final grade. The take-home final also counts as 1/8. Your participation in class, which is based on in-class and WebBoard discussion, comments on others' first drafts, and preps, counts for 2/8. As a rough guideline, minimal satisfactory participation (i.e., a "C") should amount to at least two constructive contributions—in class, free-form BlackBoard posting, or prep—per week.

In addition, I will read but not comment on all first drafts. I expect these to be polished, finished work: what you would normally turn in as a final draft. If I judge a first draft to be a sloppy, last-minute job, I will penalize the paper's final grade by up to two steps (e.g., B+ to B or B-).

First drafts cannot be turned in late. Failure to submit a first draft by the 5 p.m. Friday deadline will result in an automatic 2-step penalty on the final draft's grade. If for any reason you know you will not be able to submit a first draft on time, I strongly recommend that you speak with me well in advance to see if alternative arrangements can be made. Note that you can choose to skip any one of the papers: if you know that a particular week will be difficult for you, plan ahead.

Late final drafts will be penalized one step (e.g., B+ to B) for each day late, with the exception that papers due on a Friday and turned in by the following Monday will be penalized only one step.

Office Hours and Ways to Contact Me

My office is 201 FEAS; my office hours will be Mondays from 1:30 to 2:30 and 4 to 4:45, and Thursdays from 3 to 4:30. I'm happy to find another time to meet with you if these times won't work; just speak to me after class.

My office phone number is x3654; my email address is "sangle@wesleyan.edu."