Course registration is happening for the 2024/25 Winter Session. Explore a list of new courses offered by the Department of Asian Studies. From courses in history, literature, culture, and society; there are many options for your specific interests, open to all UBC students across disciplines.
Queer/Early/Asias (ASIA 366C)
Offered in Term 1
Taught by Dr. Kiran Sunar
This course offers an introductory survey of gender and sexuality studies as applied to non-Western, non-contemporary contexts. We take up literary and visual texts from the pre-modern period to think about queer Asian pasts alongside contemporary secondary scholarship and regional creative adaptations that produce queer Asian futures. This course is hybrid meaning we will meet synchronously twice per week (once per week on Zoom, and once per week in-person).
Korean History Through Film (ASIA 366E)
Offered in Term 1
Taught by Dr. Ji-yoon An
In this course, we will explore modern Korean history through a cultural lens. Starting from the colonial period until the contemporary, each week will explore a milestone moment in Korea’s modern history and examine the relationship between history and culture. At times, we will study how culture of the time engaged with contemporaneous issues. At other times, we will examine how historical issues are remembered and reemployed in subsequent cultural works. Per week, there will be one film and two readings: one historical overview and one article analysing the film. In examining this link between history and film, students will gain a thorough knowledge of the key historical happenings that have shaped modern Korea, paying special attention to formations of gender, class, and national identities, as well as a deep understanding of the ways in which culture reflects/challenges/distorts history.
Buddhist Narrative in South Asia (ASIX 300E)
Offered in Term 1
Taught by Dr. Janet Um
In northern India during the sixth century BCE, Siddhartha Gautama abandoned a life of worldly pleasure and became the historical Buddha, the founder of the philosophy and religion now called Buddhism. To learn more about early Indian Buddhism, join us as we explore the life and teachings of the Buddha in South Asian narrative literature and art.
Hong Kong Diaspora in Canada (ASIX 315)
Offered in Term 2
Taught by Dr. Benjamin Cheung
Hong Kong has experienced a very unique history and developmental trajectory. Throughout this time, many people from this city have migrated to, and drastically transformed, modern-day Canada. This course will delve into topics such as identity, acculturation, and other topics associated with the Hong Kong diaspora in Canada.
