Introduction to "Asia" Through Music and Performing Arts

Introduction to "Asia" Through Music and Performing Arts is a Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies course taught by Junko Oba.

This course satisfies Division I requirements.

Course Description
Asia is a diverse, dynamic, and complex cultural entity, whose definition and boundary have been constantly fluctuating in reality as well as in our imaginations. This course will introduce students to "Asia" as a subject of scholarly exploration through the distinctive aesthetics, sensibilities, and cosmologies of different Asian peoples as reflected in their everyday religious rituals as well as in their much celebrated cultural heritages of music, theatre, and dance. We will examine both religious and secular traditions including the Hindu puja ritual and shadow puppetry from India; traditional ritual dance ceremony and modern kecak from Bali; traditional and revolutionary Chinese musical dramas; and gagaku court music ensemble and shamisen (3-string lute) music from Japan, and the historical, socio-economic, and political conditions that have shaped these cultures and modified them over time. Closely studying these cases, we will question our preconceptions of "Asia" throughout the semester.

Learning Goals

 * Multi-Cultural
 * Presenting
 * Reading
 * Writing