A Shakespeare play is always included, along with a variety of female, minority and international voices. Frequent quizzes and brief in-class essays test reading comprehension. Class discussions and oral presentations help students learn to think and speak clearly, and weekly essays allow them to practice writing accurately and persuasively. Our aim is to teach the joys of curiosity and inquiry, the responsibilities of understanding, the importance of craft and the satisfaction of hard work. Since British gunboats opened China s doors to the West in the early 1800 s, several generations of scholars, missionaries and policy makers have been fascinated by the rebellions, restorations, reforms and revolutions that have marked this process of change.
China continues to capture the world s attention and imagination.
From Mao Zedong s chaotic Cultural Revolution to Deng Xiaoping s bloody crackdown on Beijing protesters in 1989 to capitalist economic adventures and superpower aspirations, China remains in the spotlight of media reporting, academic research and business. This course provides a survey of developments from the late Qing Dynasty to the present. In the first semester, students get an overview of China s earlier history and culture to provide a context for important political, economic and social developments of the 19th and 20th centuries. Students focus on key historical events and highlights of the complex interaction between the Chinese cultural tradition and the internal and external pressures for change that have shaped China s continuing revolution. In the second semester, special topics of contemporary Chinese history are selected for in-depth study.