CMS 320 C: Cinema and Nation

JSIS 484 A | CMS 320 C

Made in Taiwan

Arts and Culture of Contemporary Taiwan

Tuesdays & Thursdays 10:30 am – 12:20 pm in person

Instructor: Ellen Y. Chang | eychang@uw.edu

Office Hours (available in-person & via Zoom): 15-min slot on TTh 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm.

BY APPOINTMENT ONLY! Visit Calendly to make an appointment.

Everything you need for this course can be found in Modules

COURSE OVERVIEW

This course will provide an introduction to the arts and culture of contemporary Taiwan through audio/visual texts of several key themes. Beginning with the cinematic works that emerge from the two student movements in Taiwan—the Wild Lily Movement in 1990 and the more recent Sunflower Movement in 2014, we will consider the role of Taiwanese cultural producers and productions as sites of encounter, of everyday engagements across difference, where discrepant stakes and histories are brought together in ways that produce new cultural meanings and identities (Leiba Faier and Lisa Rofel, “Ethnographies of Encounter”).

Our travels over the quarter will explore a curated series of audio/visual works that embody the multi-faceted narratives of “Made in Taiwan” as they capture the complexity and multiplicity of Taiwan’s artistic and cultural scenes both within and beyond the geopolitical boundaries of the island nation, as well as the tensions and debates that emerge at moments of cross-cultural interactions. Audio/visual materials are a key foundation of this course for several reasons: 1) they allow a more immediate and immersive mode of multi-sensorial encounter with the arts and culture of Taiwan that is as close as we can get while being physically away; and 2) this particular form of audio/visual encounter highlights the social, political, and economic effects brought about by the circulations of people, things, ideas, and social practices—all embedded in these cultural representations and requires our critical analysis. Our audio/visual sites of inquiry range from documentary and narrative films by both local Taiwanese and international filmmakers, independent and major labels music, folksongs, recordings of live performance, video art and installation, photo- and video-essays, television series, animations, video games, and vlogs, some of which were made with a distinct local or international audience in mind while others embrace both. Each class meeting consists of a mini-lecture by the instructor, followed by a guided, in-depth, seminar-style discussion. In addition to exploring the audio/visual archive, the reading, lectures, guest talks, and collaborative research projects will critically survey contested issues (re)framing the complex identities of Taiwan by addressing topics such as the role of gender as it intersects with other social formations, indigeneity of Taiwan, indigenous land rights and environmental protests, how migrant workers and transnational marriage confront racial construct and multiculturalism of Taiwan, sports as vehicles for navigating national identity, collective trauma and cultural memories, cultural productions as soft power to negotiate global politics, and how local folk culture—cuisines, rituals, lifestyles—becomes spectacles for local and international tourism, urban regeneration, and community mobilization.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

By the end of the course, students should have a good idea of what Taiwan is, what it looks, sounds, and feels like, and be able to discuss cultural products and issues about Taiwan in relation to local and global perspectives and interactions. Students will also develop competencies in the use of digital media for research and knowledge sharing by producing creative, collaborative academic work, including a digital, class-produced compendium of keywords related to the theme of Made in Taiwan. In the process of exploring interdisciplinary and multimodal approaches embedded in this course, students will build a shared vocabulary that integrates a variety of perspectives and will develop new, more complex ways of thinking. Students with expertise in any of the themes, issues, or texts discussed in this course are encouraged to provide historical depth and introduce further examples and materials that will push our thinking about how to engage cultural productions of a specific country both for pleasure and critically.

COURSE COMPONENTS

Canvas: Everything you need for this course—class schedule, required materials, discussion board, and assignment submission portal—is available on Canvas>Modules. The Modules section is designed and organized as a digital repository of the hard-copy syllabus you are currently reading, and will offer step-by-step assistance to guide you toward completing all the tasks and requirements for this course.

Lectures: Each class meeting will include a lecture that provides much of the historical and conceptual background necessary for this course. In-class activities engaging with the texts assigned for the week will be scheduled as well. You are strongly encouraged to attend all of the lectures. I will post the lecture slides as pdfs, not including the audio/visual clips, under Canvas>Files>Notes after class to help you review the material. Please note that I will not be providing recordings of the lectures, but I’m happy to meet individually if you have any questions or if you’d like to make up for a class that you missed.

Audio/visual materials [AV]: Audio/visual materials are a key foundation of this course as they can immerse us in the arts and culture of Taiwan multi-sensorially, an affective mode of experience that can potentially bring Taiwan into proximity. There are some scheduled, in-class film screenings, but all of the audio/visual materials are available through UW Libraries or our Canvas site. Materials that are scheduled for in-class screening will only become available on Canvas after the screening.

Readings [R]: The reading will consist of essays and book excerpts available on our Canvas site as pdfs or via links to the UW Libraries portal. This reading is designed to provide background or supplementary material that would help you engage in the lectures and in-class discussions productively. It should usually be finished before the first class meeting each week it is assigned to, unless otherwise noted. You’ll also be required to draw from the assigned readings in the assignments, so it’s important to remain current on these readings.

Assignments: There will be assignments in various formats throughout the course, including individual assignments and collaborative projects. All the collaborative projects are designed so that they can be prepared and completed during our regular class meetings. See Assignment Overview for assignment descriptions. Detailed instructions will be made available throughout the course.

ASSIGNMENTS AND EVALUATION

Students are expected to devote 15 hours per week to a 5-credit course, aka, you should plan on spending approximately 11 hours on this class each week in addition to the 4-hr weekly class meeting.

Each Student’s performance will be evaluated as follows:

Optional W Credit: Research Paper Assignment

Students are required to complete all evaluated assignments. Non-fulfillment of any assignment listed above may result in a non-passing grade for the course.

Extensions are granted only in cases of emergency with prior permission from the instructor. Assignments submitted late will be marked down ten percent for every day they are late unless prior arrangements have been made.

Plagiarism will be treated as a serious offense. It undermines the fundamental mission of the university and sanctions are therefore severe. For further information about plagiarism and academic misconduct, please see the UW Student Conduct Code: https://apps.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx?cite=478-121-107. The purpose of this course is to help students become critical and independent thinkers. Original thoughts and ideas will be highly valued, and students are expected to treat the work of others similarly.

Grading Criteria (See Grading Criteria Chart for Letter-Number-Percentile Grade Conversion)

• 4.0–achievement outstanding relative to the level necessary to meet course requirements
• 3.0–achievement significantly above the level necessary to meet course requirements
• 2.0–achievement meeting the basic course requirements in every respect
• 1.0–achievement worthy of credit that does not meet basic course requirements

CLASS POLICIES

Intellectual Exchange with Integrity and Respect: Students are expected to complete the readings and audio/visual materials before the class meetings they are listed in the syllabus and to discuss them in-depth, seminar-style, i.e. as an exchange of questions, explanations, and viewpoints about readings and key ideas. In so doing, you are expected to offer personal insights, listen to others’ viewpoints about class material, and demonstrate, in the physical and virtual classroom, academic integrity and respect for others.

Getting Help from the Instructor: You are highly encouraged to meet with me during office hours (or by scheduling an in-person or Zoom appointment) for further clarification of assignments, if you have questions about the course materials, or if you have personal concerns that will affect your academic performance. You are welcome to use email or Canvas message to contact me to ask brief questions. If you have lengthy or complex questions, please meet with me. To get the most out of our meeting, you are encouraged to come prepared with specific questions. If you would like help with your writing for an assignment, please bring one or more short sections of your draft (in the length reasonable for a 15- or 30-minute discussion). Please use appropriate etiquette in communication with the instructor, e.g. appropriate punctuation and level of formality.

See Class Policies for an outline of various UW Course Guidelines and Policies. I want to emphasize again that your experience in this class is very important to me. I am more than willing to work with you if you ever encounter any challenges that will affect your academic performance and wellbeing. I will do my very best to provide accommodations within my capacity as an instructor. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me at any time.

SCHEDULE & READINGS/VIEWINGS

See Weekly Plan for a detailed week-by-week course schedule and assignments. Alternatively, you may also refer to the Course Summary below, which lists all the readings/viewings and assignments in chronological order. 

Readings and audio/visual materials should be finished before the class meeting that they are assigned to, unless noted otherwise.

• [R] – Readings. Occasionally, [R] is followed by instructions, e.g. [R – Optional] for optional readings and [R – Cursory] for cursory reading. [R] w/o hyperlinks exist as pdfs on Canvas.
• [AV] – Audio/Visual works
• [In-class Activity] indicates in-class activities that are part of a graded assignment
• [Collaborative Learning] refers to collaborative learning and reading discussion activities either online or in class.
• Notes on names: Eastern name order is preserved for all, putting family names first, except for the name of those well-known in the West. Family names are put in CAPS to prevent ambiguity.