The primary objective of this course is the development of language teachers' assessment literacy, which includes knowledge of key assessment principles and skill in creating or adopting assessment tools and procedures for the language classroom. Participants in this course will develop their knowledge and skills related to assessing all skill areas in the language classroom, including productive skills (writing, speaking), receptive skills (reading, listening), and assessing grammar and vocabulary. Grading and student evaluation will also be important topics of consideration and exploration in this course. Designed specifically for in-service (and pre-service) language teachers, the course combines theory with practice by covering essential principles of effective classroom assessment and the development of effective assessment tools for classroom use. Participants completing this course will become more assessment literate and better able to evaluate student performance in their classrooms fairly and effectively.

Buddhism in China, Korea and Japan with emphasis on the relationship between East Asian Buddhist thought and practice and the various historical contexts in which they emerged. Graduate-level requirements include assigned readings in primary Chinese or Japanese sources and in modern Chinese and/or Japanese secondary sources, together with a research paper based in part on such sources.

What is ritual? Tantric Buddhism employs ritual in radical ways to work towards the goal of enlightenment in this very lifetime. This course provides an introduction to the principles of tantric ritual, including themes of guru devotion, rites of consecration, vows of secrecy, and visualization practice. In particular, the course guides students in contemplating what it means to imagine oneself as a deity as a means of attaining enlightenment. The importance of ritual to the practice of Tantric Buddhism invites us to reflect upon the larger significance of "ritual" for understanding tantra, Buddhism, and religion at large. The course culminates in an in-class colloquium aimed at defining ritual in dialogue with tantric materials. Graduate-level requirements include additional class presentations on research topics which will build upon the themes of the class to provide additional context, investigate a particular topic in greater depth, or diversify the scope of the material.

The three major East Asian languages, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, are becoming increasingly popular in American K-16 schools. EAS 480/580 is for advanced undergraduate students and graduate students who wish to become language educators and/or specialists in one of these languages. The first half of the semester focuses on linguistic issues and pedagogical challenges specific to teaching the three East Asian languages (e.g., tones and syllabic features, writing systems,), and we then continue with sociocultural and sociopolitical dimensions of East Asian language teaching.

This class is intended to prepare students to teach a second/foreign language. It will provide students with the essential foundations in language teaching methodology and theory, pedagogical grammar, curriculum and materials development, classroom management, and formal and informal assessment techniques. In addition, students will gain practical knowledge through video practicum components, which allow them to watch and reflect on actual classroom teaching. Students will complete this program with the pedagogical knowledge and practical understanding necessary to be confident and effective language teachers.

This course introduces its students to the theories, principles and techniques underlying qualitative research and its application in applied linguistic research. Students apply the data collection and analysis tools and conduct their own qualitative projects during the semester . We begin by exploring the epistemology of qualitative research. The focus is on principles in designing a qualitative research project, such as constructing the research relationship, choosing among different approaches, and situating events in context . We then move to discuss how these theoretical positions are realized in practice through examining common data collection and analysis methods. In the final part, the students present their own projects and reflect on how qualitative methods can contribute to their understanding of specific issues in applied linguistics. Throughout the semester, we also engage in reading and critique of representative qualitative research in applied linguistics- within and beyond the East Asian context.

Though China and Japan share many civilizational traits, they have produced radically different political systems. Using the intellectual prism of "nationalism", this course explores how Japan and China have reacted to the "every people a polity" principle (nationalism). Graduate-level requirements include writing longer papers and meeting with the instructor six times for additional instruction. Graduate students may be asked to conduct a lecture.

This course explores the mutual impact of culture and nature - how the natural environment has shaped culture, and how humans have impacted the natural environment (and to take this full circle, how human-induced changes in the natural environment subsequently impact societies). The relatively rapid and thoroughgoing transformations in East Asia over the past century allow us an ideal setting to explore the interaction between culture and nature. Focusing largely on China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, this course explores how the relatively new field of environmental history opens new dimensions of historical inquiry. Graduate-level requirements include extra reading of additional translations of primary sources, extra discussion time with the instructor, a research-oriented paper, and a different grading scheme.

The course investigates ways in which humanities engage in the global creative economy. It examines key concepts such as creativity, aesthetics, and contemporaneity in humanities, and examines how they become inseparable to the rise of the global creative economy, whether through culture industries, digital media, creative spaces, artistic activisms, or urban development. It focuses on the connections and intersections between aesthetics and art, knowledge and information, and creative economies around the world. Examples of the creative economy include cities from Asia, America, Europe, and Africa. This course is suitable for students who are interested in humanities, global studies, media arts, e-society, visual culture and media studies, urban planning, economics, business, and even those dealing with intellectual property laws. Graduate-level requirements include longer papers, additional readings and research, reading reports, additional meetings with instructor, and significant longer presentations in class.

The course provides graduate training in the theories and methods of religious studies and guides students in contextualizing their own work within this discourse. It is an opportunity to learn how religion became an object of study, to explore the approaches of key theorists, and to assess the efficacy of these approaches. Controversies surrounding ritual, canon, culture, power, translation, and "experience" will inform our conversations. Students will develop a more nuanced understanding of the relationship of religious studies and area studies, in terms of historical and continuously-evolving dynamics. Finally, this course challenges students to evaluate the broader role of religious studies in the humanities and to set goals for their professional contributions to this discourse.