Courses

This course is offered during Session A -- May 28 to July 3.

In this course we will study literary and religious aspects of Hindu myths. Through the reading of primary sources in translation, the course covers the main divinities and many mythological themes of early Vedic as well as later Puranic literature. We will follow the development of mythology from the Rig Veda to the epics The Mahabharata and the Ramayana and up to the classical mythology of the Sanskrit Puranas.

Schedule of Classes

Summer Sessions Website

Textbooks

Hindu Myths by Wendy D. O'Flaherty, Penguin 1975, ISBN: 97801-40449-907

The Rig Veda by Wendy D. O'Flaherty, Penguin 1981, ISBN: 97801-40449-891

Classical Hindu Mythology by C. Dimmit and J.A.B. van Buitenen, Temple University Press 1978, ISBN: 97808-77221-227

The Mahabharata: Abridged and Translated by John D. Smith, Penguin 2009, ISBN: 97801-40446-814

This course is offered during Session D -- July 8 to August 16

Senses of Asian cinema: genre, gender, community

In this course, we shall indulge in the senses of Asian cinema. There are many genres to choose
from: auteur, fantasy, kitsch, gangster, political, indie, etc. Paying close attention to genre
is important because each genre treats the particulars of story, character, time, place, body,
love, food, dress, sexuality, gender, violence, and one’s sense of belonging to the community in
remarkable ways. We shall also be aware of the concrete and ephemeral contexts and actions
in each frame as well as in the film as a whole. It is expected that each viewing will offer diverse
points of view, and each film will challenge our sense of the real in unexpected ways. The larger goal of the course is to help students experience diversity in Asian cinema, which challenges the myth of homogeneous ‘Asian values’—popular in business and commercial presses—and help us critically rethink the individual’s place in gendered, sexualized, hyperurbanized, conflicted, and violent postcolonial worlds. Each filmmaker shows how individuals fight to fit in their natural or imagined communities in a variety of ways. Where possible, we shall watch filmmakers at work via youtube videos and other social media. We shall also have partial screenings of Japanese, Korean, European, and Russian cinema. The idea is to get a sense of how Asian cinema relates to and deviates from cinema outside Asia. We shall read selections from critical film theory, postcolonial film criticism, psychoanalysis, new media, etc. A typical reading list includes Trinh Minh-ha, Gayatri Spivak, Ritwik Ghatak, Satyajit Ray, Ravi Vasudevan, Kaja Silverman, and several others.

Schedule of Classes

Summer Sessions Website