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Thread: Coolest college course ever

  1. #1
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    Coolest college course ever

    I just happened upon the syllabus for a course on east Asian martial arts history at Cornell University. Why don't they have neat stuff like this at my college?

    http://www.arts.cornell.edu/history/...20Hinrichs.pdf

  2. #2
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    I helped teach such a course at Stanford once.

    We covered it in Graduate Kung Fu: Stanford University Offers Division Course in Chinese Martial Arts in our 2004 July/August. I was assisting Professor Meir Shahar who was visiting faculty for a year there.
    Gene Ching
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  3. #3
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    I've corresponded with Prof. Shahar many times over the years. It would be awesome to take such a class with him. I think similar classes would be very popular in colleges around the country.

  4. #4
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    Holy cow that sounds like a cool class
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  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by ghostexorcist View Post
    I've corresponded with Prof. Shahar many times over the years. It would be awesome to take such a class with him. I think similar classes would be very popular in colleges around the country.
    Or you could just read his book.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Scott R. Brown View Post
    Or you could just read his book.
    I have; many times in fact. But that doesn't mean that he couldn't share some of his most current research in a class.

  7. #7
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    Heh, I'm in Ithaca NY right now...home of Cornell
    "The true meaning of a given movement in a form is not its application, but rather the unlimited potential of the mind to provide muscular and skeletal support for that movement." Gregory Fong

  8. #8
    Dunno bout that class, but it's an awesome school overall.

  9. #9
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    I just found out that my college is offering a similar class. The school of comparative religion is hosting a class on Japanese martial arts history in the spring.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Scott R. Brown View Post
    Or you could just read his book.
    Seeing as the book is at least 1/4 citations. I think the course would offer access to a lot more than what is in that book by Dr. Shahar.

    It is a good book though. Very enlightening and useful to anyone interested in Shaolin monastery and it's 3 treasures particularly the martial arts.
    Kung Fu is good for you.

  11. #11
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    Noticed a very important concept:

    "invented tradition"

    Finally, an academic martial arts class taught correctly.

  12. #12
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    Dr. Shahar's class was a one-off

    When you are a visiting scholar, the University that you are visiting often requires that you teach a graduate level class. It was true Shaolin yuanfen that brought Dr. Shahar to Stanford and I was delighted to get to know him and his research on a face-to-face basis, but he was only visiting for that one year. The class basically went behind-the-scenes on his research, so while his book was the spine of that class, it was more about the peripheral work he did to develop that book. And in all honestly, I'm still milking the notes I took in that class.

    What was most significant about that class was that it was graduate level and at Stanford. That being said, I'm hearing of more collegiate course on martial arts lately, which is very encouraging. I hope you take that course, ghostexorcist. Let us know how it goes.
    Gene Ching
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    Author of Shaolin Trips
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  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by GeneChing View Post
    [...] I hope you take that course, ghostexorcist. Let us know how it goes.
    I certainly plan on taking it. There are only 20 slots open, and thankfully I'm a senior, so I get to register earlier than underclassmen. I've spoken with the professor and the class includes western boxing and Chinese warefare on top of the Japanese stuff. I sent him a PDF of Shahar's book. He was really glad to receive it. I'm hoping he will try to incorporate some of the material. He may also include arts associated with Islam. I helped him locate a PDF of the book Shadows of the Prophet: Martial Arts and Sufi Mysticism (2009), which deals with an Islamic Sufi sect that practices Silat in Malaysia.

  14. #14
    If more people received real academic instruction in Chinese and Chinese martial arts history, less would believe the nonsense being peddled by the charlatans
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    Quote Originally Posted by lkfmdc View Post
    If more people received real academic instruction in Chinese and Chinese martial arts history, less would believe the nonsense being peddled by the charlatans
    you should do it

    u have the degree

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