Welcome to Asian Studies at Marietta College

A new experimental course on women in East Asia will be offered by Dr. Ihor Pihdainy in the spring of 2012. The purpose of this course is to examine the lives and writings of women in East Asia (China, Japan, Korea), from the earliest written records to the beginning of the 20th century. The focus will be on how women perceived themselves and the world about them. Students will be considering these lives within their social, cultural, political and economic contexts, and will pay particular attentions to questions concerning gender and gender relations. Course reading will consist of primary texts and contemporary secondary scholarship. Classes will consist of a combination of lecture and discussion, with a good portion being devoted to the texts that have been assigned.The course can be used as a substitution for an Asian Studies major requirement.

For more information about the course, contact Dr. Pihdainy at iop001@marietta.edu, or 740-376-4461.

Dr. Mark Bagshaw, Professor of Management and Leadership, was interviewed about his recent novel Chaucer on the Nile: A Pilgrim's Progress on WOUB-TV's News Watch program on September 23. Dr. Bagshaw is an Asian Studies Program's affiliated faculty member who teaches "International Business in Global Contexts" and "International Leadership in Global Contexts," two elective courses, for the Program's newly established Asian Studies major.

Chaucer on the Nile is a novel about international business and international leadership. Chaucer Jeffries, a college student at a small university in the mythical town of Bologna, Ohio, is on a study-abroad trip in Egypt when he blunders into a terrorist plot with explosive results. In attempting to extricate his friends and himself from danger, he gains some practical knowledge in international leadership, and learns a bit about negotiating borders in love and friendship as well.

"I wanted to do something valuable for my International Business and International Leadership courses that wasn't just another textbook or a series of lectures on the printed page," Dr. Bagshaw said. "I thought that an international novel, with a gripping plot, featuring a group of students who encounter problems when they enter a foreign culture and have to deal with those problems, might be a good way to accomplish this."

The Asian Studies major is interdisciplinary and organizes its courses in four core disciplines: 1) Chinese language (Mandarin), 2) Asian art, 3) Asian history, and 4) Asian literature and culture. The major also includes elective courses in International Business and International Leadership Studies.