Approaches to History (393-0-28)

Topic

Sex and Gender in Revolution

Instructors

Peter J Carroll
847/491-2753
Harris Hall - Room 216

Meeting Info

Harris Hall L05: Mon, Wed 4:00PM - 5:20PM

Overview of class

This course explores the cultural, social, and political significance of systems of gender in 20th and 21st century China. Themes include the roles of women and men in Confucian hierarchies, modern concepts of biology and health, reform of the family and marriage, desire, and deviance. In addition to analyzing how the "revolution of the heart" and other heteronormative, family-focused ideals have transformed, we will discuss shifting attitudes towards male and female same-sex relations and the debate regarding current #MeToo feminist concerns.

Learning Objectives

1. Students will have a nuanced appreciation as to how reformation of the gender system has been at the heart of modernization, nationalism, and revolution in 20th and 21st century China. 2. 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 practice working with historical evidence, primary and secondary, to craft arguments, while also considering the evaluation and deployment of sources. 4. Students will consider how a complex understanding of Chinese history might alter their received sense of modern global history, as well as the histories of countries in South, East, and Southeast Asia and Europe.

Evaluation Method

Papers (30%, 35%), discussion participation, and on-line discussion board (35%)

Class Notes

Concentration: Asia/Middle East

Class Attributes

Historical Studies Distro Area