LTCS 110

East Asian Popular Culture in Transition

Instructor: Prof. Ping-hui Liao (Chuan Lyu Endowed Chair)

Classroom: PCYNH 120 Time: M/W/F 4:00-4:50pm
Office Hours: W/F 2:30-3:30 and by appointment Place: Lit. Building
443
Description/Requirements: The course focuses on the emergence of
Korean/Chinese
waves
and
of
trans-Pacific
or
Asian
American/Hollywood film co-production, alternative e-chat and Line
networks across East Asia, Asian fashion and new sense of beauty,
among other Asian pop trends.
To comprehend the new
connectivities and the expanding popular cultural flows and
exchanges in East Asia, we examine the historical conjectures in
which these trans-regional codes and forces are constructed and
circulated across borders. Our main objective is to familiarize
students with the cultural dynamics of East Asian creative industries
and everyday practice. Reading materials will be available on Ted;
they deal with topics like Asian values and Korean/Chinese waves;
queer faces and the sense of beauty; colonial modernity and
postcolonial identity; nationalist responses to trans-regional conflicts
and disputes; glocal cultural economy of the fake; comics and xreality, among others. Students are obliged to write commentaries
on reading materials and to discuss in groups. In addition, they
need to team up and do group (2-3 persons) presentations on
chosen topics. A term paper is to be submitted at the end of the
quarter.
Grading Policy: It is in compliance with what is stated in UCSD
student handbook.
Grades will be assigned on the basis of
accomplishments in the following:
Class Participation and Group Discussion 32%;
Group Presentation 8%
4 Commentaries 40%;
Term paper 20%.
References:
East Asian Pop Culture;
Understanding Popular Culture, 2nd ed.;
Asian Popular Culture in Transition.
Class Schedule
Week 0

First Day of Class

Sept. 25 Preview: Syllabus; Course Work, etc.

Screening: Mehtas Wagner at Valencia (2008), Highlight of

Der Ring des Nibelungen

Week 1 What Asian Popular Culture Says about the World
Today
Sept. 28 Why Pop Culture? How to Study Global Trends?
Reading: Stanley, What Sitcoms Say about
American Voters (bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20067565);
During, Global Popular and Bodybuilding
Sept. 30 Ceramicist Barry You visits Class (from Upland, CA)
Reading: Fiske, Productive Pleasure
Oct. 2 Structure, Audience, and East Asian Popular Culture
Student Group and Presentation Sign-up
Reading: Huat and Iwabuchi, East Asian TV Dramas
Week 2 Asian Values and Trans-regional Media Culture:
From Japanese to Korean and Chinese Waves
Oct. 5 Shared Structure of Feelings, Memories, and Behaviors?
Reading: Lin and Tong, Re-Imagining a Cosmopolitan Asian
Us;
Lee, Questions of Cultural Proximity and the Asian Popular
Oct. 7 Hanryu and Asian Fandoms
Reading: Mori, Winter Sonata and Cultural Practices of Active
Fans in
Japan; Hirata, Touring Dramatic Korea
Oct. 9 Student Group Presentation 1 on Hanryu, the Korean Wave
Reading: Yang, Chinese Drama in Taiwan
Study Group Statement Write-up (I)

Week 3

TV and Film Co-Productions across East Asia

Oct. 12 Asian Televideo Cyperspace

Reading: Hwang, Trans-Action
Commentary #1 Due in Class
Oct. 14 Trans-Regional Networks
Student Group Presentation 2: CCTV and Chinese soap operas
Reading: Davis and Yeh, Power of Small
Screens
Oct. 16 Pan Asian Film Co-production
Student Group Presentation 3 on Transnational Journey of

Meteor
Garden
Reading: Davis and Yeh, Pan Asian Cinema
Study Group Statement Write-up (II)
Week 4

Asian American Film Directors and Hollywood

Oct. 19 Japanese Anime and Video Games

Student Group Presentation 4: Japanese Anime,
With References to US Reception or Appropriations
(for example, South Park)
Reading: Wada-Marciano, Global and Local Materialities of
Anime
Oct. 21 From Bruce Lee to Ang Lee
Student Group Presentation 5: Hulk by Ang Lee,
On his Use of American Comic and SciFi
Reading: Xiao, Translating Hollywood Film to Chinese
Audience;
Marchetti On Hulk and US Ethnic Tension
Oct. 23 Emerging Asian American Film Directors
Student Group Presentation 6: Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift by
Justin
Lin or work by Mike Kang
Reading: Review Essays on Justin
Study Group Statement Write-up (III)
Week 5

Mobile Subjects and X-Reality

Oct. 26 Asian Social Networks

Commentary #2 Due in class
Reading: Economist Essays on Alibaba, Huawei, etc.
Oct. 28 Asian X-cities and Fake Cultural Economy
Student Group Presentation 7: Fake Products
Reading: Abbas, Faking Globalization
Oct. 30 M Generation and Their Rules of Engagement
Student Group Presentation 8: Sampling Asian Social Networks
Reading: Coleman, X-Reality
Study Group Statement Write-up (IV)
Week 6

Fashion and Consumer Culture

Nov. 2 Western Modes and Asian Clothing

Student Group Presentation 9: East Asian Fashion Successes
Reading: Clark, Orientalism Today; Slade, Contemporary
Japanese

Consumer; Okada, Cultural Odor in the Global Order

Nov. 4

Changing Sense of Beauty: Cool and Asian Turn

Student Group Presentation 10: Plastic Surgery as a Global

Trend
Reading: News Articles on the Controversial Subject
Nov. 6 Fitness and New Look: from Kawaii to Neo Wu
Reading: Berry and Farquhar, The National in the
Transnational;
Wong, From National Allegory to Global Commodity
Film Director(s) Class Visit
Study Group Statement Write-up (V)
Nov. 6-8 Taiwan Film Showcase at UCSD (Calit2 Auditorium of Jacobs
School)
Week 7

LGBT Discursive Practices in Asia

Nov. 9 Gender Bend and Superwomen

Commentary #3 due in class
Reading:; Aso, Revolutionary Girls; Economist Review of
Wonder Woman
Nov. 11 Veterans Day; No Class
Nov. 13 Queering Asia
Student Group Presentation 11: Gay movements in Asia
Reading: Halberstam: Queer Faces
Study Group Statement Write-up (VI)
Kaohsiung Pop Music Group Performs at UCSD (Presby Conrad
Concert Hall, Music Dept.)
Week 8

Asian Pop Music, MTV, and Cultural Politics

Nov. 16 Singaporean Pop Music: Nostalgia and Nationalism

Reading: Essay on Sun Yen-chih
Screening: I not Stupid
Nov. 18 Korean Girls Generation and Gangnam Style
Student Group Presentation 12 on Korean Pop
Reading: Essays from Korean Cultural Studies Source Book
Nov. 20 Hong Kong and Taiwan Student Movements
Student Group Presentation 13 on Sunflower and Umbrella
Reading: Chuang, Walking Democracy
Study Group Statement Write-up (VII)

Week 9

Thanksgiving and Food Consumption

Nov. 22 Japanese Iron Chef

Commentary #4 Due in Class
Student Group Presentation 14: Iron Chefs and Cooking Shows
Reading: Holden, The Overcooked and the Underdone
Nov. 24 Gender, Food, and Identity
Reading: Tan, Fish Cheeks; Chiang, Seventh Daughter
Student Group Presentation 15: Amy Tans Joy Luck Club
Nov. 26 Happy Thanksgiving Holidays
Week 10

Whither East Asia?

Nov. 30 Robotics and Ageing Societies

Reading: Economist Essays
Going over Student Paper Topics
Dec. 2

Term Paper Workshop

Dec. 4 In-class Self-Evaluation

Final Exam Week Doomsday
Term Paper due by 4:30pm, Dec. 11, 2015.
Please turn in Paper Folder to Literature Dept., with information on
the cover: Your Name, PID Number, LTCS110, Prof. Ping-hui Liao,
Date of Submission, and Privacy Waiver Notice.

Course Policies and Requirements

Attendance: 10% of course grade will be deducted each time a student accumulates 2
sessions (or 1 week) of absence without acceptable reasons (doctor or parents notes
required for excuses).
Class Preparation: All readings must be completed prior to class. For those who choose the
P/NP option due to GPA concerns, a minimum of 70% is needed to qualify for P.
Turnitin: All commentaries must be submitted to turnitin.com on or before they are due in
class, to check their originality against sources in Chinese, English, and other languages.
Please note: 3 points will be deducted each time if failing to submit before deadline.
Late Paper Policy: A late submission will be penalized for each day late, beginning on the
due date if submitted after the class. Unless pre-arranged, assignments more than a
week late will not be graded, and no electronic submissions are accepted.
Students with Disabilities: Students with disabilities are encouraged to speak with the
instructor at the beginning of the quarter to discuss any accommodations necessary to
guarantee your full participation.

E-Mail: Please use e-mail for simple, logistical questions or clarifications. Write: LTEA 120B in
the subject line. Please allow 24 hours for a reply. No electronic submissions of assignments
are accepted.
Statement of Academic Integrity: Students are expected to do their own work, as outlined in
the UCSD Policy on Academic Integrity published in the UCSD General Catalog: Cheating
will not be tolerated, and any student who engages in suspicious conduct will be confronted
and subjected to the disciplinary process. Cheaters will receive a failing grade on the
assignment or the exam and/or in the entire course. They may also be suspended from
UCSD. Academic misconduct includes but is not limited to:
Cheating, such as using text messages or copying answers from another student during the
exam, modifying a graded exam and returning it for a new grade, or submitting the same
paper or assignment for two or more different courses unless authorized by the instructors
concerned.
Plagiarism, such as using the writings or ideas of another person, either in whole or in part,
without proper attribution to the author of the source.
Collusion, such as engaging in unauthorized collaboration on homework assignments or
take home exams, completing for another student any part or the whole of an assignment or
exam.

Assignments: Description and Evaluation

4 Commentaries: 40 points total, 10 points each (you must write four commentaries to be
eligible for your commentary score, and no late submissions or email attachments will
be accepted). Summarize and Reflect.
Objective: Write a two-page, typed-up essay to reflect on what the essays are about,
whether the issues are significant, and how so.
Form: Approximately 1000 word essay written in this order:
1) 200 words highlighting the theme/issues in comparative perspective;
2) 200 words providing comments around your problematic/questions;
3), 600 words presenting argument in response to questions raised in class
discussion.
Grade breakdown:
2.0 points: 200 word thesis and summary;
2.0 points: 200 word textual analysis;
3.0 points: 400 word perspective and reflections;
3.0 point: original contribution to our class discussion.
Term Paper: 20 points
Objective: Write a research project on a text or topic related to Asian Pop Culture but
not discussed during class lecture; include at least three outside resources not
originating online.

Term Paper Guidelines

Paper Format:
Please consult the latest edition of MLA Style
Manual or MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. You may
want
to
visit
MLA
formatting
website
at
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01
for
guidance.
Your paper must be typed, double-spaced with one-inch margin on
all four sides of the page. Please staple your 5-6 pages of text
followed by a works cited page. You should proof-read your writing

carefully, making sure that there are no spelling, grammar, or

punctuation mistakes.
Paper Content: Your paper must be written in your own words and
based on your own research findings; plagiarism, plot summary, or
paraphrase of a secondary source will not be tolerated. Please
abide the rules as outlined in the UCSD Policy on Academic Integrity
published in the UCSD General Catalog.
Please write a cogent essay in which you begin by stating a
problematic (thesis), then go on to identify theme(s) or text(s) you
plan to analyze or compare, to examine textual evidence in detail to
support your argument, to draw on current scholarships, and to
conclude with your creative insights. While important to review
major findings in the field, you should demonstrate your critical
capacity by engaging the experts and sustaining your own line of
arguments between primary and secondary sources.
Grading Criteria: You will be graded on (1) 7.0 points: originality in
developing your textual analysis and perspective; (2) 6.0 points:
your command of the research field and criticism; and (3) 7.0 points:
organization of your paper and quality of writing. Do not submit a
paper that you have submitted or are writing for any other class.
Paper Deadline: Due on/before Dec. 11, 2015. No electronic or
late submission is acceptable.
Important Reminder: Dont forget to save a copy of your paper
before submission.
Good Luck!