Southeast Asian Studies at Yale University

Courses

VIET 110, and VIET 120, Elementary Vietnamese I and II
(See Online Course Information site for class times and other information)

Intended for students with no background in Vietnamese, the objective of this course is to help students acquire a basic working ability in the language, with attention paid to integrated skills such as speaking, listening, writing (Roman script), and reading. To this end, the lessons are centered around short dialogues on situations of daily life. However, approaches and activities are varied, appealing to different learning strategies. Students practice real communication using materials that include newspaper and magazine articles, simple songs and poems, games, maps, audio tapes, videos, books, pictures, etc. Each lesson in the textbook includes dialogue, vocabulary, grammar practice and development, task-based activities, narratives and situation dialogues to increase comprehension, and exercises to help students develop reading and writing skills. Participation is needed. No previous knowledge of or experience with Vietnamese language is required.

VIET 132 and VIET 142, Accelerated Vietnamese 1 and II
(See Online Course Information site for class times and other information)

An accelerated entry-level course designed for heritage students or speakers of Vietnamese language who can comprehend and speak informal Vietnamese on topics related to everyday situations, but have not learned to read or write. The course aims to develop grammatical accuracy and overall competence in speaking, reading and writing skills. (Permission of instructor; Serves as a pre-requisite to VIET 140/540)

VIET 130 and VIET 140: Intermediate Vietnamese I and II
(See Online Course Information site for availability)

Designed for intermediate-level students who have prior knowledge of the Vietnamese language. This course attempts to present an integrated approach to language learning and is aimed at strengthening students’ listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills in Vietnamese. Students are thoroughly grounded in communicative activities such as conversations, performance simulations, drills, role-plays, games, etc. The task-based activities are meant to provide relatively safe settings where students can practice Vietnamese, make mistakes, and learn from them. Students improve their reading and writing abilities by developing their vocabulary, grammar, and meaning-based knowledge.

VIET 150, Advanced Vietnamese
(See Online Course Information site for class times and other information)

Aims to enable students to achieve greater fluency and accuracy in the language beyond the intermediate level and to solidify their reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. Topics include social, economic, and cultural practices; gender issues; and notions of power, taboo, etc. Prerequisite: VIET 140/540 or equivalent.

VIET 220, Introduction to Vietnamese Culture, Values, and Literature
(See Online Course Information site for availability, class times and other information)

This course is designed to introduce students to Vietnamese Culture, values, and literature through the study of literary texts, with special attention paid to Vietnamese modes of experience in thinking, feeling, valuing, and perceiving themselves and the external world. Topics include cultural and national identity, aesthetics, meaning of life, war, and death. Selected readings from Zen poems, folklore, autobiographies, and religious and philosophical writings.
* All readings in translation. No previous knowledge of Vietnamese required. (offered alternate years)

VIET 470 and 471, Independent Tutorial
HTBA; Not Cr/D/F

For students with advanced Vietnamese language skills who wish to engage in concentrated reading and research on material not otherwise offered in courses. The work must be supervised by an adviser and must terminate in a term paper or its equivalent. Permission to enroll requires submission of a detailed project proposal and its approval by the language studies coordinator. Please contact Dr. Quang Van for details.

PHIL 22, Eastern Philosophy
Yale Summer Session Only

This course is designed to introduce students to Eastern philosophy through the study of philosophical and religious texts, and serves to foster interest in philosophy in general and in Eastern philosophy in particular. It also offers students an alternative to Western perspectives. Topics include reality, knowledge, self, right and wrong, non-attachment, the meaning of life, death, and aesthetics.

Related Courses

ANTH 201b, Postwar Vietnam
Professor Erik Harms
Vietnamese society since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. Focus on the effect of economic and political changes on cultural and social life. The challenges of postwar socialism; economic renovation; the intersection of market-oriented socialism with class dynamics, urbanization, gender, health care, and ritual life.

ANTH 244a, Modern Southeast Asia
Professor Erik Harms
Introduction to the peoples and cultures of Southeast Asia, with special emphasis on the challenges of modernization, development, and globalization. Southeast Asian history, literature, arts, belief systems, agriculture, industrialization and urbanization, politics, ecological challenges, and economic change.

HIST 323: SE Asia Since 1900
Professor Ben Kiernan
Comparative colonialism, nationalism, revolution, and independence in modern Southeast Asia. Topics include Indonesia and the Dutch, Indochina under French rule, the United States in the Philippines and Vietnam, Buddhism in Burma and Thailand, communist and peasant movements, and the Cambodian revolution and its regional repercussions.

ANTH 339/539b, Urban Ethnography of Asia
Professor Erik Harms
Introduction to the anthropological study of contemporary Asian cities.  Focus on new ethnographies about cities in East, Southeast, and South Asia.  Topics include rural-urban migration, redevelopment, evictions, social movements, land grabbing, master-planned developments, heritage preservation, utopian aspirations, social housing, slums and precariousness, and spatial cleansing.

HIST 382, Vietnamese History from Earliest Times to 1920
Professor Ben Kiernan
Evolution of a Vietnamese national identity, from Chinese colonization to medieval statehood, to French conquest and capitalist development. Topics include the roles of Confucianism, Buddhism, gender, and ethnicity in a Southeast Asian context.