Course:

CHI 101  Beginning Chinese I

Professor:

Huiwen Li

CRN:

90198

Schedule:

Mon Tue Wed Thurs    2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Olin Languages Center 120

Distributional Area:

FL Foreign Languages and Lit

Class cap:

15

Credits:

4

Cross-listed:  Asian Studies

This course introduces students to the basics of Mandarin Chinese, a language with the largest number of native speakers worldwide. The objective of this course is to learn how to understand, speak, read, and write everyday Chinese language to the best of our abilities and have fun in the process. By the end of this course, students will be able to conduct simple, practical conversations with Chinese speakers on a variety of everyday topics, and read and write short passages in Chinese. The relationship between language and culture is emphasized, and in addition to becoming familiar with the tones and structures of the Chinese language, students will begin developing an understanding and sensitivity to various cultural contexts in which new language skills can be appropriately applied. Daily active participation, frequent use of audios and videos, and one-hour tutorial with Chinese tutor per week are expected. Please note that this course is a prelude to Chinese 106 (Intensive Chinese, 2021 spring), at the culmination of which students can choose to travel to Qingdao, China, for an eight-week intensive summer program.

 

Course:

CHI 201  Intermediate Chinese I

Professor:

Yi-chen Lee

CRN:

90199

Schedule:

 Tue  Thurs    2:00 PM - 3:20 PM Olin Languages Center 118

Distributional Area:

FL Foreign Languages and Lit

Class cap:

15

Credits:

4

Cross-listed:  Asian Studies

This course is for students who have taken one year of basic Chinese at Bard or elsewhere. Continued emphasis will be on basic skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Daily practice, frequent use of the language lab, and one session with the Chinese tutor are required.

 

Course:

CHI 301  Advanced Chinese I

Professor:

Huiwen Li

CRN:

90201

Schedule:

Mon  Wed     3:50 PM - 5:10 PM Olin Languages Center 210

Distributional Area:

FL Foreign Languages and Lit

Class cap:

15

Credits:

4

Cross-listed:  Asian Studies

This course is for students who have taken at least two years of basic Chinese at Bard or elsewhere, and who want to expand their reading and speaking capacity and to enrich their cultural experiences. Texts will be selected from newspapers, journals, and fictional works.

 

Course:

CHI 315   Chinese Calligraphy

Professor:

Huiwen Li

CRN:

90991

Schedule:

Thurs     3:50 PM - 6:10 PM Reem Kayden Center 111

Distributional Area:

PA Practicing Arts

Class cap:

20

Credits:

4

Cross-listed:  Asian Studies

This course introduces the East Asian art of calligraphy—“shufa” in Chinese and “shodo” in Japanese. Long regarded as the highest form of art in East Asia, calligraphy lends itself to painting and poetry. Together they form the so-called “three perfections” in the literati tradition. We will study the aesthetic principles that connect the three aesthetic forms. Considerable time will be devoted to discussing the philosophical traditions of Taoism, Zen Buddhism and Confucianism.  The emphasis of this course, however, is on learning the techniques of writing with the brush and developing individual styles and an appreciation of the art of calligraphy.  The course is open to all students. No prior knowledge of Chinese is required.

 

Course:

CHI 403  Beyond China: Chinese Literature in the Diaspora

Professor:

Lu Kou 

CRN:

90202

Schedule:

 Tue      10:20 AM - 12:40 PM Reem Kayden Center 200

Distributional Area:

FL Foreign Languages and Lit

Class cap:

15

Credits:

4

Cross-listed:  Asian Studies

This course is an introduction to modern and contemporary Chinese literature focusing on Chinese cultural spheres beyond the People's Republic and Taiwan. We will read Chinese diasporic literatures along a transnational itinerary, analyzing poetry and fiction hailing from Southeast Asia, Europe, and the U.S. At each location, Chinese immigrants must confront a multiethnic and multicultural society of layered histories and politics and find their own voice in their new home. The authors we will study, Yu Dafu, Zhang Ailing, Bai Xianyong, Nie Hualing, Li Yongping, Huang Jinshu, Gao Xingjian, Yang Lian, Ma Jian, Yan Geling, etc., each in their unique ways, have to confront issues such as exile and alienation, conceptions about being Chinese, understanding of the self and other, and the ways to narrate belonging and cultural identity. While examining their writings through close reading, we will learn to think critically about topics such as globalization with its impact on literary production and dissemination, the processes of cultural contact, and the representations of transnational experiences. This course fulfills Difference and Justice requirements as it deals with Chinese literature in a global context, focusing on unpacking the thorny problems of race and ethnicity, prejudices and discrimination, nationalism, and translational experiences. Prerequisite: three and more years of college Chinese language instruction or with the approval of the instructor. Taught in Chinese.