Sinological Methods

Catalog description

This seminar is designed to acquaint graduate students with the basic methods and resources of Sino logical research. The course will begin with an overview of essential reference works and aids to study, such as dictionaries and concordances, and continue with a survey of the major primary sources for the study of traditional Chinese history. Students are required to demonstrate the use of the methods learned in the course in a research paper, to be presented to the class in the form of a brief lecture at the end of the semester. Only graduate students may enroll in this course. The prerequisites are reading knowledge of modern Chinese and two years of the classical language. Familiarity with Japanese, though not required, would prove helpful.