Arts, Sciences, and Engineering Film and Media Studies
Course Section Listing Course Course Title Term Credits Status
COURSE_SECTION-3-192470 FMST 254-01 Shanghai, Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei: East Asian Metropolises in Literature and Film Spring 2025 4.0 Open
Schedule:
Day Begin End Location Start Date End Date
TR 450 PM 605 PM 01/21/2025 05/11/2025
Enrollment: Enrolled     
15
Capacity     
16
Co-Located: CHIN 238-01 (P), CLTR 237-01, CLTR 437-01, ENGL 315-01, FMST 254-01, JPNS 237-01, KORE 237-01
Instructors: Lin Meng Walsh
Delivery Mode: In-Person
Description: What makes a metropolis so fascinating, disorienting, or dreadful? Is it the history, the people, or the never-ending parade of sights and sounds? In this course, we journey through four major urban centers in East Asia—Shanghai, Tokyo, Seoul, and Taipei—by examining their kaleidoscopic reflections in literature and film. We will come across city narratives composed from a medley of perspectives: Shanghai seen by Japanese writer Yokomitsu Riichi and by Chinese writer Wei Hui; Tokyo through the eyes of edokko (“Edo/Tokyo native”) writer Tanizaki Junichirō, zainichi (“resident Korean in Japan”) writer Yū Miri, and Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-Hsien. While appreciating the stories, we will learn about the complicated histories of each metropolis and acquire skills to critically analyze how a physical place can be transformed into metaphors for modernity, turmoil, sentimentality, (dis)connection, and so on. Taught in English.
Offered: Fall Spring