Approaches to History (393-0-22)
Topic
Xi's 'New Era': China Today
Instructors
Peter J Carroll
847/491-2753
Harris Hall - Room 216
Meeting Info
Harris Hall L06: Tues, Thurs 3:30PM - 4:50PM
Overview of class
This seminar explores Chinese contemporary history by examining shifting notions of China, its place in the world, its unlimited future, and its prosperous present. Like the celebration of the "China Dream" and the injunction to tell the "China Story," these ideals both reflect and result from significant shifts in Chinese politics and society, which are subject to influence by a rejuvenated Chinese Communist Party and "Xi Jinping Thought with Chinese Characteristics for the New Era." We will begin by considering China's place in the world by discussing the 2017 box office hit "Wolf Warrior 2" (China's "Rambo: First Blood II") and end by considering popular Chinese science fiction. In between we will consider notions of gender, socialism, and citizenship, among other topics. Students can petition to take the class as a 395.
Learning Objectives
1. Students will gain an understanding of the general pattern of 21st century Chinese history and knowledge of key particular events. 2. The course provides opportunities for students to improve their capacity to discuss and analyze key events and course themes in speech and writing. What techniques can make writing more rhetorically powerful? What constitutes a good thesis/argument/point, and how might it be improved? 3. Students will consider how a complex understanding of recent Chinese history might alter their received sense of World history and modernity, as well as the histories of China, Taiwan, the USA, and other countries. 4. The course will underscore the resonance of the past (recent, modern, early modern, and ancient) on 21st century Chinese society, culture, and politics.
Evaluation Method
Short essay (30%), Long essay (40%), Participation (30%)
Class Notes
Area of concentration: Asia/Middle East
Class Attributes
Historical Studies Distro Area