Plan ahead for courses where students have earned lower grades.
Lowest historical GPA first. At least 100 letter grades over the five years through the selected term. Grades reflect past outcomes, not workload or a guaranteed result.
11 courses
Ranked courses have at least 100 recorded letter grades.
Survey of Modern Chinese Literature introduces Chinese-language prose fiction and poetry from the late 19th century through today.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Anatoly Detwyler
One student was not expected to have two or more 10-page stories every week, but noted that students had to remember every detail for the oral midterm and final exam.
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2026Gateway to Asia: Special Topics offers a comparative, interdisciplinary introduction to multiple Asian cultures, with possible topics including travelogues, languages, and food cultures.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Adam Kern
The course required extensive reading of manga, with students noting that even reading one volume fully was sufficient to ace the open-internet quizzes.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Multidisciplinary and historical survey of East Asian civilizations (China, Japan, Korea, Tibet, and Mongolia) from prehistory to the present, covering philosophy, economy, governance, social structure, kinship, and geography.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Anatoly Detwyler
Attendance was mandatory and a big factor in the grade. Quizzes were straightforward, testing whether students read the assigned material.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Explores Asian concepts of the monstrous, ghostly, and divine through religious studies, literature, anthropology, and history perspectives.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Jamal Jones
Grades relied on two short papers, two brief projects, and a lecture attendance question. Reviewers noted papers were graded lightly and did not assess knowledge of readings.
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2026Topics in Asian Literature explores specific themes, works, periods, or genres across Asia using translations as principal texts.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Anatoly Detwyler
As a literature course, students were required to read for every discussion session.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2024–Fall 2025Explores human flourishing through science and humanities, focusing on resilience, compassion, and community to build self-awareness and meaningful engagement in life and career.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Tony Chambers
The workload included weekly journals and quizzes, which students found super easy and interesting.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026The course examines selected topics in Asian Languages and Cultures.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Hieyoon Kim
One student reported minimal weekly assignments, typically consisting of one movie and one reading, with only three writing assignments and no exams.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026A literary or cultural study of a particular theme, work, period, or genre in Chinese literature, covering topics like Confucian Analects or Traditional Chinese Drama.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Fall 2024Proseminar covering advanced topics in Asian studies, focusing on cultures, historiography, and comparative analysis of societal narratives.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Introduction to Southeast Asian societies, politics, and cultures through modern literature, reading fiction, poetry, and ephemeral materials alongside literary analysis to explore writing's role in social transformation.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2025Introduction to ancient Tibetan cultural beliefs, practices, and motifs, including gender roles, folklore, astrology, art, medicine, and religious traditions.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Jampa Khedup
Assessment consisted of two open-note online exams, bi-weekly reading reflections, and one final essay. Attendance was mandatory, but students noted it was easy to do other homework during class.
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2026