Home

A female professor pointing at document while three students sitting and looking at materials
A female professor looking over two students looking into a textbook
A female professor and student looking into a document
A male professor standing in front of the screen, lecturing
A male professor standing in front of students
A female professor pointing at a blackboard while a male student is standing next to her

Fall 2025 Featured Courses

CHIN 1051 Masterpieces of Chinese Literature in Translation
CHIN 1051


MWF 10:10am-11am Meets Remotely (3 credits)
Prof. Graham Chamness

Why do some works of literature become masterpieces that endure across centuries and cultures? What can a literary tradition reveal about people, societies, and cultural values—both ancient and modern? This course invites students to explore these questions through the rich and diverse tradition of Chinese literature. We’ll read a wide range of important works: philosophical writings by some of the world’s most influential thinkers, poems studied and memorized by students in China and East Asia down to the present day, and provocative works of drama and fiction that challenge social norms. No knowledge of Chinese is required; all texts are in expert English translations. Together, we’ll examine how literary canons are formed, how traditions evolve, and how the masterpieces of Chinese literature can stir us just as powerfully as Shakespeare or Homer.

JPNS 3861 Imagining the Samurai in Japanese Literature and Culture
JPNS 3861


TTh 5pm-6:15pm Duane Physics G2B41 (3 credits)
Prof. Keller Kimbrough 

Explores the rich history of the imagination of the samurai in Japan, across multiple genres of fiction, poetry, drama, visual art, and cinema, from earliest times to the present. Attention is given to the varied meanings the image of the samurai has held at different historical moments, and to contrasts between the representations of the realities of samurai life.

Upcoming Events

Department News