Instructor:

ASIAN STUDIES 100

Cross Culture Perception and Awareness

Instructor: David Wong
Office Phone: 845-9254
Office: 7- 623

Course Description:

The purpose of this course will be to raise the student's awareness and understanding of the operation and composition of non-American cultures and societies. The skills of observation and analysis that the students will acquire through this course should enable them to confront and interact with any other non-American culture. (3 credits)

Prerequisites, or required preparation: Placement in ENG 22/60

Overview:

We remember and repeat Kipling's "East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet." But we hardly recall his other lines:

"But there is neither East nor West, Border,
nor Breed, nor Birth. When two strong men stand
face to face, tho' they came from the ends of
the earth." In the above course description, by culture and society it is intended that this course includes all observable forms by which a group of people is characterized and identified. Chinese and other major Asian cultures will be the base and model for the structure of the course. This means encountering human behavior on its most basic levels of subsistence and survival to the most sophisticated levels of symbolism, politics and art. Coupled with the identification of a material culture will be the attempt to correlate the observable phenomenon with the unobservable forces that shape the forms of culture that we perceive and dictate the behavior and attitudes of a people.

By understanding East-West distinction and similarity, students will be able to apply their insights to other studies and aspects of their practical life when viewing the impact of cross-culture contacts on government, society, traditional value systems and material culture. The rudimentary skills of observation and analysis that the students will acquire through this course should enable them to confront and interact with any other non-American culture after the classroom experience has ended.

Students should be able to read and write at a college level. Students who feel they do not meet this requirement are advised to take the necessary English courses (English 22, etc.) either prior to or concurrently with AS 100.

Course Objectives:

Intellectual pursuit will be a major facet in understanding any culture and society if and only if intellection does not become an end in itself. To talk about drinking tea is not the same as savoring the flavor of the tea. To create a more meaningful balance between knowledge and practical application, three levels of the learning process are envisioned:

Provide the instruction and guidance for the academic understanding of Asian (Chinese) culture in light of dynamic social, economic, political, philosophical and religious background.
Correlate the observable phenomenon of human behavior and endeavor with the "unobservable" forces of historical, religious and societal pre-conditions that are revealed through the academic disciplines.
Provide students with samples of a cultural environment where participation and interaction with the culture can take place.

After selecting a particular aspect of Chinese and other major Asian cultures for discussion, the instructor will apply the approaches and analyses gathered from the various humanities and social science fields to explain the underlying historical, philosophical, and aesthetic ramifications behind a particular cultural phenomenon. Using their American background as the comparative base, the students will learn to discern areas of discrepancy between other major Asian cultures and American cultures as well as area of commonality. The students must be able to articulate their newfound awareness and insights in objective, academic terms comprehensible to other American students and scholars. Mere interpretation or impression without academic basis or reference to support their views will be unacceptable since the purpose of the course is to enhance academic and critical thinking in rational terms.

The student will demonstrate evidence of achieving the above objectives by:

Submitting one book report: minimum 4 typewritten pages with endnotes and bibliography.
Passing 3 essay examinations based on lectures.

Class Lectures

Why such a course, 2 lectures
Definition of Culture and tradition, 3 lectures -- Common denominator (Chinese)
Weltanschauung: My world view/Language, 3 lectures
Reason for migration to where and why, 3 lectures
Problem encounter: "Objectivity," 4 lectures
Problem: Acculturation, 4 lectures --Fear: Love/Hate; Cultural Identity: Over compensate/under compensate
Perception of Myself: Who am I, 4 lectures; My possibilities and my Limitation: FIRST EXAMINATION
Family Unity: Collectivism/Individualism, 5 lectures
Social Relationship in America and Asia, 4 lectures; "open/close’; Reason: Religion: MID TERM EXAMINATION
Education system: Facts/knowledge/freedom, 5 lectures
Government Systems, 5 lectures; Equality/democracy/justice: FINAL EXAMINATION (SEE CLASS SCHEDULE) A: Two essay questions total sixty points (60)

Note: A week before the exam the student will receive a set of 4 or 5 essay questions to consider. At the time of the exam he will be required to answer (2) questions from the set. The questions will focus primarily on topics raised in classroom lectures and discussions, but the student will be expected to relate and coordinate those topics with the data provided in the assigned texts.

Criteria for grading essay exam:
discussion answers directly and specifically the question asked.
discussion relates analysis of specific problem to the context of the civilizations under consideration.
discussion is supported by acceptable evidence.
discussion is organized logically and persuasively.
discussion shows analytical ability by presentation of appropriate comparative data from different theories.

B: Ten multiple choice questions. Total twenty points (20). Questions will be based on reading and class discussions.

C. Ten identification of terms. Total twenty points (20). Terms will be based on reading and class discussions.

Minimum requirements for final grade:

A = cumulative score of 90%

B = cumulative score of 80%

C = cumulative score of 70%

D = cumulative score of 60%

Note: No "make-up" exam will be given unless instructor is notified of an absence ahead of time.

Course Content

1. Why offer a course in Cross Cultural Perception and Awareness?

2. Definition of Culture and Tradition.

    a. The problem of objectivity.
    b. The bias, prejudice and the unconsciousness of cultural perception and awareness.
    c. The phenomenological approach.

3. The reason for the migration of Japanese and Chinese and other immigrants to Hawaii.

4. The problems of acculturation which the first four generations encountered and a study of the transformations which resulted:

    a. First generation
    b. Second generation
    c. Third generation
    d. Fourth generation

5. Cultural Identity or loss of Identity.

    a. Who really am "I"?
    b. Am I really what I think I am?
    c. Am I "East or West"?
        i. Chinese/Japanese - American
        ii. American - Chinese/Japanese
        iii. Both
    d. Do you love your country? Does your country love you?

Cultural - Problems and Differences Under Examination

1. Perception of Myself

a. Expression of opinion: vocal/reticent

b. Friendliness: open and casual/formal and reserved

c. Identity: individualistic/collective

d. Activity: independent/dependent

e. Confrontation: direct, adversarial/indirect, mediation

2. Meaning of friendship

a. Serious/causal

b. Permanent/temporal

3. Government

a. Conservative/Liberal

b. Authority/Power

c. Law and Order

d. Justice

e. Rights

f. Freedom

4. Education

a. The meaning of an education

b. The value and significance of an education.

lst Exam 5. What aspect did Eastern/Western, Philosophy/Religion contribute and play in the World View of that culture?

a. East

1. Confucianism: King, Government (Man, ethic, conduct and society)
a. Group Identity: Individualism

b. Ethnicity: Nationalism

c. Family Unity: Social Unity

d.Tradition: Change (Tranquility and Order: Struggle and Change)

e. Compromise: Confrontation

f. Obligation: Non-Commitment

g. Silent: Vocal

h. Education (Elite): Masses

2. Taoism (How they view Nature and Man)

a. Complementation: Contradiction

b. Harmony with Nature: Nature to be conquered

c. Non-Duality: Duality

d. No Absolute only Functional Absolute: Absolute

e. Things exist Dependently: Things exist Independently

3. Buddhism [How they view Phenomena (appearance) in contrast to Reality]

a. Impermanent: Permanent

b. Self-Enlightenment: God's Aid

c. Cyclical: Linear

d. Monism: Monotheism

e. See things as they are, without changing them:

To change things

f. Inward Transformation: Outward Transformation (change the world)

g. Self-Denial: Actualization

4. Zen (How they view life as aesthetic experience)
a. Direct Experience: Conceptual

b. Intuition: Analytical

c. Concrete: Abstract

5. Class Discussion and Analysis MIDTERM b. West 1. Existentialism (The world view starts from the self)
a. "I" decide my reality

b. "I" decide my existence

2. Hegel (Human consciousness through dialectic)
a. Man's consciousness revel through dialectics

b. The acceptance of human possibilities in this world through negation

c. Thesis, antithesis, Synthesis

3. Marx (Utopia to be attained in this world, through transformation/revolution)

a. What is and what should be

b. Dialectical and Historical Materialism

c. Man decides his history

Some Basic Differences Between Eastern and Western Philosophical Outlook:

Taoism: Wu Wei (Inaction; man should follow the course of nature, and the world will change by itself. Karl Marx: "Action and transformation by man"; "What is (bad) should change to what should be (good)" "Man decides his course of history"
Buddhism: "No Self" (self is an illusion). "All things change, impermanent, therefore the world as we see it is unreal." "Liberation of self through inward awareness." Existentialism: "I" decide the existence of my world." "The world is real and I should fulfill my existence here and now." Karl Marx: "Liberation is liberation of the world through action."
Confucianism:"Collective identity;" "Tranquility and order by accepting that which is given." "Life is conformity to social rituals."
Existentialism: "Individual identity." "Uniqueness and standing out from the crowd."
Karl Marx: "Struggle and change for the better through dialectic"
Class Discussion and Analysis

FINAL