General comment for all courses

In most cases, students who try to enroll in courses I frequently teach that have limited enrollment opportunities are first placed on a waitlist, even when there is considerable space still in the course.

If you are on the waitlist your best strategy is a) to attend the first sessions of the class and b) to state your interest in the course in an email to me using the keyword "enrollmentissue" (no spaces used—see the sidebar for how to email me). You can also email me and, if I have time, I can give you a sense of my intentions for that particular class (not for you as an individual but the general size of the class and so on.) You can try talking to me after that first class but as a practical matter I do not always remember our conversation since there are quite a few random things going on after class during those first few sessions. Just talking to me is risky; talking with me and following up with an email is much better. Use the keyword, above.

I try to rapidly determine the final enrollment of a class and can probably give you a "sense" of your status after the first two or so sessions of the course. However, since I work with the department on this it can take up to two weeks to settle all issues. In most cases whether or not you are a major, intended major or minor is very important, and when you will be graduating is important. However, beyond this there can be a wide variety of individual factors which I give due consideration. In some of my classes Jan Johnson makes most of the choices, but in communication with me. In other classes I like to take the lead.

EA109

Is this course a good fit for you?

Generally speaking, this class — "History of the culture of tea in China and Japan" — covers the topic at these levels: cultural history, objects (tea manuals, literature, painting, ceramics, architecture, garden design, philosophy), and "signs" (tea-related concepts and how they move across boundaries, including country boundaries). The class opens with learning the basics about tea cultivation, harvesting, crafting of tea leaves, and brewing. After that, we cover tea culture chronologically which, in practical terms means greater emphasis on (Han) China in the earlier sessions and greater emphasis on Japan in the later sessions. The China sessions are mostly built around the origin and spread of tea practices, tea manuals, poetry and paintings. The Japan sessions are mostly built around the concept of "wabi". We spend one day on Korea.

The topic of this course might make is sound easy but there is quite a lot of reading and considerable factual detail to master for exams. It is, however, a fairly straightforward class. It is fairly easy to know what is expected of you. Much of the testable material is presented via lecture and is so complex in its details that it is unlikely that you can trust the notes of another student. There are no study sheets nor can the information be gleaned from the web. Therefore regular attendance is necessary to score well.

My experience is that students look a little worn down towards the end of the term because of the amount of detail in the course and the conceptual difficulty of understanding the origins of, and meaning of, "wabi".

This class is NOT about common social practices (tea at weddings, current tea industry, etc.). We study the more-or-less "high" culture of tea up until around 1700. We definitely do not study how to perform the Japanese (or Chinese) tea ceremony but we do look deeply at the philosophical foundation for the Japanese tea ceremony as it was originally conceived.

Bottom line expectations (things that, if not met, are certain to have a negative impact on your grade): equal intellectual curiosity and energy afforded to China and Japan, regular attendance, flexibility in maintaining interest whether the topic is poetry, ceramics, aesthetics or whatever, avoidance of multitasking, academic honesty.

Useful skills for this class: good note-taking ability, good ability at managing large amounts of factual information, analytic skills for tracking the movement of "signs" across cultural boundaries and artistic media of expression.

Having practical experience with tea (farming, selling, tea ritual knowledge, love of tea, etc.) can make this a more interesting class but is unlikely to give you a grade advantage. I think you will find most of what we cover is new to you.

(last updated: 19-Aug-2011)

Access to course details

If you are trying to find out about a course that is being taught now, or will be taught within a couple of weeks, try going to the Announcements Page for access to the course schedule, syllabus and so on. Otherwise, use this link to get a sense for the course's structure: EA109 Fall 2011.

(last updated: 05-Oct-2011)

If waitlisted or unable to get onto a waitlist ...

This class is currently (for Spring 2013) scheduled to meet in a room with a capacity for 40 students. Depending on interest and room availability, I am considering increasing the enrollment limit. As policy the department blocks enrollment to this class except for majors and sends everyone else to the waitlist. If you are unable to enroll and are placed on the waitlist or even if you are unable to get on the waitlist, it is still possible, in theory, to join this course. Unlike EA105, I have designed it to handle a larger number of students. So, if you are interested in the course, come to the first few sessions. That is critical. An email to me with the subject line EA109_LASTNAME_firstname gradeissue (substitute your name of course! and note that "gradeissue" is one word) might help. I am the one who determines enrollment for this course; however, I work with Jan Johnson to make sure majors can get a spot. And, in harmony with her own thoughts on this, there is more or less a priority towards minors and Asian Studies majors. I do make a few exceptions to this rule. The strength of your argument really doesn't matter much—this spring 1213 is basically a logistics issue of whether there are enough students beyond the first 40 to make it worth our time to go looking for a room. I don't weigh one argument against another, usually anyway. Your number on the waitlist may or may not matter as well. Read the above description, then make a decision whether you want to continue to pursue the possibility of joining the class. Consider EA105. I will also be teaching EA105 in the summer; it works very nicely as a summer course.

(last updated: 20-Nov-2012)