Spring 2021

H+U+D CITY SEMINAR

Description:

This is a seminar about Tang China and Nara Japan, and Early Heian Japan, Unified Silla Korea, Northeast Asia under Parhae, and Uyghur Inner Asia through their cities, palaces, monasteries, Buddhist art, and painting.  We begin by studying material remains of the two best-documented civilizations of East Asian in the seventh-ninth centuries.  Focusing on material remains of Tang China and Nara Japan, we investigate the validity of the frequent assessment of this period as “international Tang.” We then move to Korea, Mongolia, and Central Asia.

Students will have a wide range of topics to work on.  They will be encouraged to find comparative topics.  This seminar is an opportunity for students to use Chinese, Japanese, or Korean in research papers, but the course has no prerequisites. There are no exams.  Readings will be assigned to the whole group and to individual students for short presentations every week. Undergraduates will write one short and one long paper.  Graduate students will write and present research papers.

Instructors:

Nancy S. Steinhardt, East Asian Languages and Civilizations (School of Arts and Sciences); with guest lecture by Zhongjie Lin, City and Regional Planning (Design)

Time:

Tuesdays, 7:00-10:00 p.m.

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