Course Description:

This course is designed to enhance students’ knowledge of the history and civilization of classical antiquity and the Early Middle Ages through appreciating certain well-known films. In other words, while watching clips of films would remain the essential part of this course during the semester, a survey of a variety of themes of the Greco-Roman world will be provided in due course. Several topics will be addressed in chronological order:

1. The world of Homer
2. Greek city-states (e.g., Athens and Sparta) and Persia
3. Rome: from Republic to Empire
4. The neighbors of the Empire
5. The hegemony of the Romans in the Mediterranean world
6. People and society in the Roman world
7. The decline of the Roman Empire
8. Early Middle Ages

Every topic will be divided into several sessions. Each session will proceed as follows. The first part will be a brief introduction of the films’ historical background and important features/figures. For example, in the first session of the topic “the world of Homer”, the lecturer will provide an outline of both the world of the Late Bronze Age and the genre of epic of the ancient world. In the ensuing session, the lecturer and students will be watching extracts/clips from films or even documentaries. Students will be asked to pay attention to certain features. The lecturer will provide another short lecture in the last 30-50 minutes. The focus here will be the comparison of the films’ scenes and historical facts/reality. For example, did the Romans wear toga in their daily life? Regarding the Roman Forum, the core of ancient Rome, what it would have looked like in classical antiquity?

Course Description:

National Chung Hsing University is located in Taichung City. How much do you know this city’s history and culture, as a NCHU student lives here for four years? How will you introduce this city to foreigners? To answer these questions, students in this course will read history and culture of Taichung in English. This course, especially, will use present historical sites to explain the historical and cultural context. Students also need to use the learned knowledge to practice speaking.

Course Description:

This course offers a multidisciplinary and comparative look at the major topics of food culture. The objective is to give students a thorough overview in the following areas: food production and consumption, food and class, gender and identities, food-related social movements.

Course Description:

This course aims to explore the multicultural and multilingual features of Taiwan by looking at different forms of cultural production. It will not only discuss how different forms of cultural texts, including literature, film, animation, theater, pop music, and others, represent Taiwan’s society and shape its cultural landscape, but also examine how they address the issues of national, cultural, ethnic, linguistic, and other forms of identities. Students will not only have a different understanding of Taiwan’s history, as well as the complicated relationship between history, languages, and cultures, but also be equipped with skills in describing the above issues in English.

Course Description:

This course aims to increase students’ interest in Modern European History, and to cultivate students’ confidence in reading and discussing English materials. The teacher will give an introduction to every topic, before leading students to read and discuss selected English materials (about 1 to 2 pages per topic). Class attendance, participating discussion, four-times assignments, and a brief final exam are requirements for students.