Preliminary Syllabus

HISTORY 379
Special Topic: Aspects of Asian Civilization 3 semester hours
Instructor: Gordon Knutson

I. Content:

A study of selected topics in Asian Civilization with a special emphasis on China and its neighbors. The course will deal with selected topics related to our visits to museums and sites in Shanghai, Nanjing, Beijing, and Xian. The topics will range from ancient history to the present with an emphasis on 19^th and 20^th century political and cultural development and interactions with China and its neighbors and the West.

II. Required Books: You may find some of these books at a local bookstore, but look early. You will probably need to purchase some or all of them on the internet. If you are on a tight budget, you should be able to get used copies of all of these books.

Fairbank, J. K., China: A New History. Cambridge: Harvard University Press,1992 or the expanded version co-authored by Merle Goldman in 1998.

Snow, Edgar. Red Star Over China. Grove Press, 1968. ISBN: 0802150934

Chang, Jung. Wild Swans. New York: Anchor Books, 1992. ISBN: 0-385-42547-3 Or any other edition.

III. Required Articles: The instructor will tell you later how to get these articles on the web.

Huntington, S. P. "The Clash of Civilizations?" Foreign Affairs (Summer 1993), pp. 22-49. Click here

Marx, K. "Manifesto of the Communist Party. " Read the Introduction and Parts I (Bourgeoisie and Proletarians) and Part II (Proletarians and Communists). Click here

Kahn, Harold L. "A Matter of Taste: The Monumental and Exotic in Qianlong Reign: The Elegant Brush: Chinese Painting under the Qianlong Emperors, 1735-1795, eds.Ju-his Chou and Claudia Brown. Phoenix Art Museum, 1985.

Other reading will be added later.

IV. Attendance:

Please note that attendance is required at all tour museums, art galleries, religious and historical sites, performances, and concerts unless they are specifically made optional by the tour director. Unexcused absences may result in a lower grade for this class.

V. Class Presentation:

Each student must do a class presentation on a topic related to the course theme selected in consultation with the instructor. It must be carefully researched. The requirements for the Presentation are listed below.

VII. Grading:

Core Program.......................................................... 10%

Quizzes...................................................................... 35%

Class Presentation.................................................. 20%

Final Examination............................... .....................35%

The presentation topic must have my approval. It should be between 20-30 minutes long and must be completed during the program in China on a day agreed upon by the student and me. The presentation must be carefully researched and must demonstrate that you have consulted a variety of sources in order to examine the subject matter from different perspectives and draw on various types of source material. In order to do a good presentation you will probably need do some of the work prior to beginning the program. A one page preliminary outline of the presentation is due on May 17.

Four days prior to the presentation you must turn in a 2-4 page detailed outline or summary of the presentation along with an annotated bibliography. This will allow time for the instructor to make suggestions.

The annotated bibliography must include the usual bibliographic information: the author(s), title, and date of publication. It must also include an evaluation of each source in which you ask questions such as: Who is the author of the source and why did she/he write it?. Thus, you should try to include information about the author, the method of research used, the footnoting, and bibliography in the source. and any obvious bias. You must also indicate how you used the source in your report and the value of the source to your report. You should include sources that you consulted even if you did not use them in the report. It is your obligation to prove that you have done good research.

Here is a hypothetical example of an annotated entry:

www.emich.edu/programs.abroad

The site describes the “Cultural History Tours” run by Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan. It describes the itinerary, costs, and other details from each “tour,” along with pictures from past trips. The site’s author seems to be the staff at EMU’s Programs Abroad Office. It is written from a promotional point of view. I used it to get itinerary and program details. It did not have a very good description of how we would get meals in China.

The grade for the report will be based on the following criteria:

(1) creativity in finding good sources of information and in evaluating these sources;

(2) relationship to theme, organization of material, and logical development of the report;

(3) effectiveness of the presentation as a learning experience for the other students;

(4) content of the report.

Students will be penalized for failure to meet deadlines for consultation with the instructor, outline and bibliography completion, and the presentation date.