Want to study something fun in the Summer Term? See our recommendations below!
All of the following are open to all students, regardless of your academic background. Whether you’re fulfilling requirements or seeking electives to explore, be sure to check them out!
Jump ahead:
Literature
ASIA 366A: Modern Iranian Women Writers & Artists
Online | Term 1 | Mon, Wed from 9:30am – 10:30am
Taught by Dr. Mostafa Abedinifard
How have Iranian women written, filmed, and imagined their way into modern cultural life? From poetry and fiction to film and visual art, this course explores voices of dissent, embodiment, and creative resistance across more than a century.
ASIA 395: Modern Persian Literature
Online | Term 1 | Mon, Wed from 8:00am – 9:30am
Taught by Dr. Mostafa Abedinifard
How did modern Persian writers respond to a rapidly changing society? From satire to fiction and poetry, this course traces how literature reimagines identity, power, and everyday life.
ASIA 461: Gender and Sexuality in Modern Iranian Narratives
Online | Term 1 | Tue, Thu from 8:00am – 9:30am
Taught by Dr. Mostafa Abedinifard
How are gender and sexuality argued over, policed, and reimagined in modern Iran? From satire and fiction to film and everyday humor, this course explores how bodies, desire, and power are contested across culture.
ASIA 348: Poetic Life in Classical India
Online | Term 2 | Asynchronous
Taught by Dr. Adheesh Sathaye
Discover India’s incredible literary legacy of exquisite beauty and emotion by engaging with cultural explorations in the poetry, theatre, and ornate prose writings of India in the classical period (c. 300-1300 CE).
ASIA 361: Modern Chinese Fiction in Translation II
In-Person | Term 2 | Tue, Thu from 9:00am – 12:00pm
Taught by Dr. Renren Yang
In this thematic introduction to twentieth-and twenty-first-century Chinese fiction, explore how the love story has evolved from late nineteenth century to present-day Chinese culture.
ASIA 364A: Modern Japanese Literature in Translation
In-Person | Term 2 | Tue, Fri from 1:00pm – 4:00pm
Taught by Shota Iwasaki
Acquire an overview of the literature and cultural history of modern and contemporary Japan, with literary and visual materials in English translation from various genres between 1868 and the present.
History
ASIA 370: The Sanskrit Cosmopolis: India and the World, 200-1500 CE
Online | Term 1 | Mon, Wed from 9:00am – 12:00pm
Taught by Dr. Janet Um
Explore how the Sanskrit language shaped religion, politics, art, and literature in premodern India and across Asia.
ASIA 315: Japan from Feudal to Modern State
Hybrid | Term 2 | Tue from 10:00am – 1:00pm
Taught by Dr. Nam-lin Hur
Acquire an in-depth knowledge of the political, economic, social, and cultural lives which Japanese people produced and experienced from the late medieval to early Meiji periods.
Religion
ASIA 331: Islam in South Asia, 750-1750
Online | Term 1 | Mon, Wed from 1:00pm – 3:00pm
Taught by Dr. Hasan Siddiqui
Learn about the history of Islam in South Asia, beginning with the first Indo-Islamic interactions through the rise of European colonialism in the eighteenth century.
ASIA 387: Japanese Religions
Hybrid | Term 2 | Thu from 10:00am – 1:00pm
Taught by Dr. Nam-lin Hur
Explore Japanese religions such as Shinto, Buddhism, and more, through their historical ties to politics, society, and culture. Dive into key texts and join engaging discussions that bring these traditions to life.
Media and Popular Culture
ASIA 355: History of Chinese Cinema
Hybrid | Term 2 | Tue, Thu from 1:30pm – 3:30pm
Taught by Dr. Renren Yang
Explore major transformations in modern China through watching Chinese-language cinema, using film as a window on the narrative of a people making history.
ASIX 340: Orientalism in Popular Culture
Online | Term 2 | Wed, Fri from 1:00pm – 3:00pm
Taught by Dr. Arlen Wiesenthal
Drawing on Edward Said’s Orientalism, study how Western culture has shaped stereotypes about Asia through analyses of literature, film, and art to understand ongoing patterns of Eurocentrism, racism, and colonial thinking.
