Chinese Studies
Overview
Chinese is housed in the department of Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture (CSLC). Besides serving as one possible area emphasis within the CSLC major, Chinese is also a stand-alone major. The Chinese Studies major is intended for students primarily interested in Chinese language, literature, and culture. The major aims to help students attain a high degree of fluency, and much of the coursework is done in Chinese. The language is a vital component not only of Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture, but all studies related to East Asia. The faculty of Chinese is additionally affiliated with the East Asian Studies (EAS) program and major, and serves these accordingly in an advisory capacity.
Major Requirements
COURSEWORK
Language Component
Students must complete five courses total.
Literature in Translation
Students must complete one course from the list below:
| CHIN 272 | The Rise of the Martial Arts Novel | 4 units |
| CHIN 273 | Contemporary Chinese Writers in Exile | 4 units |
| CHIN 274 | Ghost and Love Stories | 4 units |
| CSLC 150 | The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons: Masterpieces of Classical Chinese Literature | 4 units |
| CSLC 252 | To Dwell or to Wander: Reading Confucius and Zhuangzi | 4 units |
Methods/Theory
Students must complete one course from the list below:
| CHIN 272 | The Rise of the Martial Arts Novel | 4 units |
| CHIN 273 | Contemporary Chinese Writers in Exile | 4 units |
| CHIN 274 | Ghost and Love Stories | 4 units |
| CHIN 460 | Translating Chinese I | 4 units |
| ENGL 290 | Introduction to Literary Methods | 4 units |
| ENGL 370 | Literary Criticism | 4 units |
| LING 301 | Introduction to Linguistics | 4 units |
Three Additional Electives:
| AMST 270 | Asian American Literature | 4 units |
| AMST 272/EASN 272 | Asian Immigrants in American Society | 4 units |
| AMST 280/DWA 246 | The United States and East Asia | 4 units |
| ARTH 160 | Introduction to East Asian Art | 4 units |
| DWA 237 | Cuba, Vietnam, China: Communism in a Post-Communist World | 4 units |
| DWA 245 | China and the World | 4 units |
| HIST 141 | East Asian Survey | 4 units |
| HIST 242 | Imperial China | 4 units |
| HIST 243 | Modern China: Colonialism, Nationalism, and Revolution | 4 units |
| POLS 226 | Contemporary Chinese Politics | 4 units |
| POLS 227 | East Asian Politics: China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan | 4 units |
| RELS 266 | Sexuality and Gender in Buddhism | 4 units |
| RELS 276 | Empire and Religion in Asia and the Pacific | 4 units |
Second-Stage Writing Requirement
Students will satisfy the second-stage writing requirement by submitting a paper in English from a 300-level or seminar course (in any subject) in the fall semester of the senior year, which will be evaluated by the appropriate major coordinator.
Comprehensive Requirement
This requirement is fulfilled through either a seminar course (CSLC 252, or CHIN 460) or a 2-unit Independent Study in the fall semester of the senior year, in which the student will produce: either (1) a 20-page paper written in English on Chinese language or literature, including source texts written in Chinese; or (2) an annotated translation, with commentary, of a Chinese language text into English. In the spring semester, the student will make any required revisions and prepare an oral presentation to be given in Chinese.
College Honors
Students with an overall GPA of 3.25 and a major GPA of 3.50 may submit an honors research proposal at the end of the fall semester of the senior year. If the proposal is supported by two faculty advisers, the student will enroll in a 2-unit Independent Study in the spring to expand the fall semester senior comprehensive paper into a distinguished 40-page paper.
Minor Requirements
Five courses (20 units) numbered
CHIN 202 and above.
LING 301 may fulfill one of these courses. Three of the five courses must be completed as Occidental courses (one of the three MUST be taken at the Eagle Rock campus. The other two may be taken at an Occidental-in-China campus).
Transfer Credit Policies
The Chinese Studies policy on transfer credit conforms to College policy (with the additional restrictions noted for the minor above). Students who earn a score of 4 on the AP Chinese Language examination will earn four units of credit and be placed into
CHIN 201 while those who earn a score of 5 will earn four units of credit and be placed into
CHIN 202. The department does not place students based on IB or A-level examinations. Students should reference the
Transfer Credit section for more details.
Courses
Chinese Courses
Faculty
Regular Faculty
Damian Stocking, chair (fall)
Associate Professor
B.A., University of California, Berkeley; M.A., Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
Susan Grayson, chair (spring)
Professor, Spanish and French Studies; Advisory Committee, Group Language
A.B., M.A., Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles; Ph.D., Wright Institute Los Angeles Attestation d’études, Université de Bordeaux
Meimei Zhang
Associate Professor
B.A., Beijing Foreign Studies University; M.A., Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles