1 - 10 of 67 results for: CHINGEN

The 2006 film Pursuit of Happyness, an unabashed celebration of the American Dream, was enthusiastically embraced by Chinese audiences. It seems that the pursuit of happiness has become truly globalized, even as the American Dream is slipping away for many. Are Americans still convinced that their conception of happiness is a self-evident truth and a universal gospel? Is there anything that Americans might learn about what it means to live a good life from not only the distant past, but also cultures in which happiness is conceptualized and sought after very differently? This course takes a multi-disciplinary approach to the question of happiness and invites undergraduate students to reflect on its relationship to virtue, wisdom, health, love, prosperity, justice, and solidarity. Giving equal weight to Chinese and Western sources, it seeks to defamiliarize some of the most deeply held ideas and values in American society through the lens of cross-cultural inquiry.n nDuring the summer, students will read a selection of novels, memoirs, and reflections by philosophers, psychologists, and sociologists. In September, we will review these texts and place them alongside movies, short fiction, news stories, and social commentary while we interrogate the chimera of happiness. In addition to daily seminars, we will experiment with meditation, short-form life writing, and service learning with participation of local elders. Furthermore, there will be at least three guest speakers, including a prominent Confucian philosopher and a Stanford alum now running a happiness-related enterprise. nSophomore College Course: Application required, due noon, April 7, 2015. Apply at http://soco.stanford.edu.

Preference to freshmen.This course considers a variety of animal characters in Chinese and Western literatures as potent symbols of cultural values and dynamic sites of ethical reasoning. What does pervasive animal imagery tell us about how we relate to the world and our neighbors? How do animals define the frontiers of humanity and mediate notions of civilization and culture? How do culture, institutions, and political economy shape concepts of human rights and animal welfare? And, above all, what does it mean to be human in the pluralistic and planetary 21st century?

Topics include the origin of Chinese, development of dialects, emergence of the standard, preferred formulaic expressions, the evolution of writing, and language policies in greater China. Prerequisite: CHINLANG 1 or 1B, or equivalent.

Functions of languages in Chinese culture and society, origin of the Chinese language, genetic relations with neighboring languages, development of dialects, language contacts, evolution of Chinese writing, language policies in Greater China. Prerequisite: one quarter of Chinese 1 or 1B or equivalent recommended. Freshman seminar.

Required for Chinese and Japanese majors. Introduction to Chinese culture in a historical context. Topics include political and socioeconomic institutions, religion, ethics, education, and art and literature.

An inquiry into the conception of aesthetic beauty in China. Special attention to the coupling of aesthetics ("beauty") and morality ("goodness") in the visualnand literary arts, as well as the frequent dissonance or rivalry between them.

A gateway course on China, with a focus on the politics of everyday life, in the capital city of Beijing. Introduction to the history and politics of modern China. The pleasures, frictions, and challenges of daily living in the penumbra of power in Beijing as reported, represented, and reflected upon in fiction, film, reportage, social commentary, and scholarly writings. Priority to those preparing to participate in BOSP-Beijing Program or returning from the program.

Archaeological studies in contemporary East Asia share a common concern, to contribute to building a national narrative and cultural identity. This course focuses on case studies from China, Korea, and Japan, examining the influence of particular social-political contexts, such as nationalism, on the practice of archaeology in modern times.

Examination of different forms of Chinese popular culture used to gauge or control fate and uncertainty, from geomancy and qigong to ghost culture and mahjong. Ways in which Chinese are incorporating these cultural forms into the informal economy to get rich quick: rotating credit associations, stock market speculation, pyramid schemes, underground lotteries, counterfeiting. Impact of casino capitalism on Chinese culture and social life today.