What You’ll Study in the Chinese Minor
Gain training in spoken and written Chinese, and learn critical approaches to classical and modern literature, film, and popular culture with a Chinese minor at Reed College. Take language courses in modern Chinese—offered at the beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels—and enroll in a semester course in Classical Chinese to learn classical grammar and vocabulary as well as how to read, analyze, and translate premodern texts.
Why Take Chinese Courses at Reed College?
Interdisciplinary Analysis
Our courses in Chinese literature, media, and film help you become proficient at research, problem-solving, critical thinking, and communication through engaging in interdisciplinary, cross-linguistic, cross-cultural, and comparative literary and historical analyses of works from major genres and traditions spanning the last 3,000 years of China's cultural history. Engage with a wide range of canonical and non-canonical works, and emerge as a better thinker and writer—and an informed participant in our global community.
Chinese Humanities
Our department participates in the interdisciplinary humanities course Foundations of Chinese Civilization. Guided by specialists from diverse disciplines, students in Chinese humanities at Reed study both The Qin-Han Unification, which sets the benchmark against which all later dynasties measure themselves, and The Great Song Transition, which many argue gave modern China its distinctive cultural heritage.
Live in the Chinese House
Reed’s Chinese House, an on-campus Chinese language residence hall, is the center of extracurricular activities for students interested in Chinese culture. Student residents converse primarily in Chinese and are aided by a Chinese language scholar. The Chinese House hosts a number of cultural events to which all interested students are invited. These range from campus-wide cultural events like the Mid-Autumn Festival and Lunar New Year celebrations to smaller gatherings such as film screenings, conversation tables, poetry readings, and tea tastings, which provide unique opportunities for Reed students to practice their Chinese skills and enjoy art, meals, and good company.
