East-West InstituteProject Presentation:

Developing a Course Syllabus on Asian Art

Susana Sosa

Fresno City College

A few quick facts about Fresno City College…

An ethnically diverse campus of 26,200 students, including 18% Asian/Pacific Islander

Interest in Asia & Asian studies has increased on our campus

WHAT: AsianFest is an open air community festival that showcases and celebrates our diverse Asian American culture with demonstrations, martial arts performances and traditional dance. Watch High School students compete in the Mandarin Speech Contest or travel to the Asia via the cultural village to learn about elements of culture from Japan, China, Laos, Cambodia, India, and even walk through a Hmong hut! Come hungry to sample delicious Asian cuisine while enjoying hours of entertainment on two different stages. Shop the colorful vendor fair and learn origami and other cultural crafts all under the direction of Jumpstart, an early literacy program where children will enjoy culture as well as literacy enriched activities.

A personal challenge:

How does an art historian

with a specialty in 19th-century

French art develop a

course in Asian art?

Vincent van Gogh, The Bridge in Rain and Hiroshige, Sudden Shower over Shin-Ohashi

BridgeEdouard Manet, Portrait of Emile Zola

Claude Monet, La Japonaise

Another challenge:How to make the

connections between Asia

and here?

What I taught (and knew) about Asian art before the E-W Center Institute:

Challenges in writing the syllabus:

• Chronological development?• Thematic content?• Focus on media?• How much to cover in a semester?

Art 55: 17 week-course on Asian Art

Course Content inspired by this E-W Institute

Chosun Era Jar

Goryeo Vase

Song Vase in Shape of a HuSong Gui Incense Burner

Course Textbook will be supplemented by:

How the Institute has Helped Me

• Dialogue with colleagues—new insights, ideas and shared experiences (Thanks especially to Stanley, Barbara & Jenny!)

• Buddhism will now become a more extensive and deeper focus across time and place

• UH Library gave me access to books—helped expand bibliography for both myself and students

My goals for the future:

• Expand course to include more of South-east Asia: Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos (Hmong)

• Work with colleagues to integrate course into FCC’s Cultural Studies Program which offers courses in Asian-American Studies