GOG 160/EAC 160 Instructors: C.J.
Smith AS 219
Call
#’s 7656; 7772 2-3249; E-mail: cjsmith@albany.edu
LC
25: T/Th 10.15 - 11.35am Office
hours: T & Th 12noon –
Mary Van Ullen: LI 328
2-3559;E-mail: mvanullen@uamail.albany.edu
Office hours by appointment
TA’s: Maria Chau:
Sandy Shei:
This course satisfies
the ‘Social Sciences’ (SS), ‘Information Literacy’ (IL), and ‘Regions
Beyond
REQUIRED
John
Bryan Starr. 2001. Understanding
Suzanne
Ogden. (ed). 2005. Global
Studies:
(paper)
WORK
ASSIGNMENTS:
Three
Examinations, each worth 15% of the total grade (45% in total)
Class
Attendance (10%)
4 Film Quizzes, worth 5% each (20% in total)
3 Information Literacy-Related Projects
(25% of total):
·
Periodical
Article Assignment (10%)
·
3
Library-based electronic Tutorials (5% for completing all three, 0 for less
than 3)
Extra Credit Paper option, 4000 words, maximum of 10%, added after
the overall grades are assigned
CHINA/USA, GEOGRAPHICALLY compared
OBJECTIVES AND GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS
GOG
160/EAC160 fulfills the
“Information Literacy” category of the UAlbany
General Education requirements. An important component of the course will be
the integration of library research methods and information evaluation of the
course contents and assignments. After taking the course, students should:
·
know how to find,
evaluate and cite multiple sources of information, using the University
Libraries, the Internet, electronic databases, and other sources;
·
understand
questions concerning the ethical use of information, privacy, plagiarism,
copyright and other related issues that promote critical reflection;
·
apply knowledge of the APA (American Psychological
Association) style by compiling bibliographies for research papers and projects.
GOG 160/Eac 160 fulfills the “Social Sciences”
category of the UAlbany General Education
requirements. After taking the course,
students should:
·
be able to
understand various social and political institutions in
·
be knowledgeable about the interactions between economic, social,
geographic and political forces, and how they shape Chinese society;
·
be able to understand graphic presentation of
statistical information commonly used in the social sciences.
GOG/EAC
160 satisfies the “Other World Civilizations (Regions Beyond
·
be familiar with
the most significant events and patterns in the history of China, especially
during the 20th century, and most significantly focusing on China’s
socialist revolution (in 1949), and its current transition away from socialism
(into what is referred to in this course as the ‘post-utopian age’);
·
be able to
identify and describe some of the important geographical ideas and concepts
that are appropriate for studying contemporary
·
understand the
nature and ramifications of
·
be familiar with
the causes and the geographical and social patterns of inequality, poverty, and
unemployment in contemporary
·
be aware of some
the ways that Westerners have traditionally perceived
·
be able to
illustrate some of the ways in which Chinese cultural values and practices
differ from our own, and to identify the major cultural changes that have occurred
in China during the ‘post-utopian’ age;
·
be aware of the
way the political system in contemporary China works; be cognizant of the
changes (reforms) that have been made; and aware of the most important changes
that still need to be made;
·
be aware of the
recurrence of sexually-transmitted diseases (STD’s) and the rising threat of
HIV/AIDS in China, as well as some of the forces that seem to be correlated
with the rising prevalence of such diseases;
·
be knowledgeable
about the history of
·
be able to
appreciate and evaluate the nature of the China/Taiwan relationship, especially
the regime’s views on re-unification and Taiwan’s responses, as well as
understanding the importance of this issue in other parts of the world;
·
be familiar with
the causes and consequences of the rapid urbanization that has occurred in contemporary
·
be able to assess
the environmental implications and global consequences of
·
understand the
importance of contemporary efforts being made by various ‘subaltern’ groups
within China to identify themselves, to protect themselves against the state,
and to resist the potentially destructive forces of advanced capitalism; this
will include an appreciation of the status and treatment of women, the
infringement of human rights involved in the ‘one-child’ policy, the treatment
of political dissidents, and policies towards minority groups;
·
be familiar with
some of the major developments that have occurred in Chinese literature and the
Chinese film industry since the beginning of the reform era (in the PRC as well
as in Hong Kong and Taiwan); and able to understand and critique the
representations of China that are being made in the literature and films that
are released in the West.
EXPLANATION OF WORK ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING SYSTEM
A. Three Examinations (in
class), each worth 15% (45% in total)
All
three examinations will consist of multiple choice questions (with four
options). The questions will be based on the readings, the content of the
lectures, and the Mapping project (see below). The second and third
examinations are non-cumulative, with the exception of the geographical data from
your Mapping project.
Note:
make-up exams are only possible if you have a valid excuse for not being in
class on the day the exam is scheduled. If you have such an excuse, you must
either bring it to me (the Instructor), or contact me (by phone or by Email) at
least one day before the exam.
The only exception to this (one
day before) rule would be an extreme emergency situation which prevents you
from being able to contact me. See item #1 in the Important Notes
section at the end of the syllabus for situations that will be accepted as
valid excuses in such cases.
B. Class Attendance, worth 10%
of the total grade (1 percentage point for each class)
Because the two exams are based mainly on the content of the lectures,
you need to attend class frequently. As an incentive, attendance credit
will be given. The procedure is as follows: attendance will be taken fifteen times
throughout the semester. Sometimes attendance will be taken in the form of a
mini-quiz, based on the content of that day’s lecture; other times it will
require you to write a paragraph on a specific topic related to the lecture material.
You will be assigned ½ point for being in class, and another ½ point for
completing the assignment correctly. Note: students who come to class at or close to the end, or who leave
part-way through will not be credited for attendance. If you have a
valid excuse for not attending class on the day of an attendance quiz, you need
to bring it to me (the Instructor) before the day of the lecture; unless
it is an emergency situation (see item #1 in the Important Notes section
at the end of the syllabus).
C. Information Literacy-Related
Projects (25% of total):
1. Library-based Information Literacy Tutorials (5% if you do all three, 0 if less than 3)
As part of information literacy component of this course,
you are required to complete three interactive tutorials, which can be accessed
through the website of the university library (see the URLs provided below). At
the end of each tutorial there is an option for you to identify yourself and
your Instructor (Christopher Smith).
You must enter this information to receive credit for completing the
tutorials. You will then automatically be sent an email confirming your
completion of each tutorial. Please save the email until you have
confirmation from the instructor that you have received credit for the tutorials.
The three tutorials you must complete are:
Researching 101:
a guide to information formats, searching the library's online catalogs, and
effectively searching article databases (see: http://library.albany.edu/usered/tut/index.html);
Evaluating Internet
Sites 101: developed to help users evaluate Internet sites (see: http://library.albany.edu/usered/webeval/index.html);
Plagiarism 101:
a tutorial designed to help students identify and avoid plagiarism in their
work (see: http://library.albany.edu/usered/plagiarism/index.html).
The tutorial
project is assigned on the first day of class (
2. Mapping Project (10%)
All students will produce a map of China with the following
features clearly identified: a) the names and correct locations of all the Provinces,
Autonomous Regions, and Special Administrative Regions; b) the major
cities (those with populations in excess of 3 million); c) the major
rivers and mountain ranges; d) the surrounding seas and oceans; and
e) the names of the countries that are directly bordering China. Blank
maps for this project will be handed out in class, but the information must be
collected on your own, using at least eight sources, including atlases,
books, printed encyclopedias, and the Internet. At least three different types
of materials must be used; for example, you could obtain information from four
web sites, two atlases, and two printed encyclopedias .
You must build a bibliography (on a separate typed page) of all of the sources
you have used in constructing your map, using the APA style, as discussed in
class. To get full points you must have all of the above information
shown legibly on your map.
The mapping
exercise is assigned on the first day of class (
3.
Periodical Article Assignment
(10%)
Select a topic from
the following list to be covered in the course: rural economic reform; housing
reform; population growth; and migration.
Using the Ebsco Academic Search Premier
database, locate two scholarly journal articles (not including book reviews)
and one article from either a newspaper or a magazine. The two journal articles
you select for this assignment must have a bibliography to be considered
scholarly.
For each of the
three articles, briefly describe, in your own words: a) the content of the article;
b) why you think it would benefit students taking this class to read this
article; and c) which lecture in GOG/EAC 160 could this article be assigned to,
and which reading could it either supplement or replace?
Please make note of
the following:
·
make
sure you identify which topic you have selected for this exercise;
·
each of your
summaries should be printed and be no more than 250 words (provide an exact
word-count).
·
Note that your summary must be different from the
abstract provided by the journal;
·
for each of the
three articles, attach a print-out of the brief citation and abstract from the Ebsco database to your own written description.
The periodical exercise
is assigned on the first day of class (
D. Film
Exercises (20%)
During the semester five films will be shown in class,
accompanied by a short quiz requiring brief (one sentence or one paragraph)
answers, in which students are asked to interpret and evaluate the films, and
to discuss their significance in relation to the readings and the lecture
materials for the course. You must do at least four of the five film quizzes,
each of which is worth a maximum of 5% points. If you complete all five film quizzes, your best four grades will
be recorded; or you may choose to skip one of the five.
Please make note of the following:
·
to get a good grade on these exercises you must
supplement your own knowledge and ideas with material from print and electronic
sources, to augment your understanding and interpretation of the films. There
are numerous China-based sites that discuss and evaluate films, as well as
regular film criticism websites; and many academic books and research articles
dealing with Chinese films, some of which are online;
·
you must be in class to see the film and to collect the original
version of the assignment sheet. Only
answers submitted with the original version of the quiz sheet will be graded;
·
your answers to the questions must be printed on a separate page and
stapled to the quiz sheet;
·
make sure your name and
·
you are limited to one printed page for your answers, using no smaller
than an 11point font, with half-inch margins;
·
you must provide full references to
all of the sources you use in your answers (either the URL of the websites, or
a full citation to the library sources), and each item or point you make that
is not your own idea must be referenced, using the APA style;
·
it is not possible to make-up any of the film quizzes,
so you must make every effort to do at least four of them.
The film quizzes
are assigned as indicated on the syllabus, and each one must be submitted exactly one
week after the date the film was shown (in class)
E. Extra Credit Paper (10% maximum)
Students have the option of writing an essay
as an Extra Credit project in this course. The maximum score for this paper is 10,
which will be added as percentage points to your final score after the
grades have been assigned (in other words, the extra credit score does not
influence the overall grades for the class, or the ‘curve’). Students choosing
this option need to select a recently published book about contemporary
- students wishing to write an Extra Credit paper must submit a printed proposal (one page maximum) by March 2nd (3/2), either in class or sent as an Email attachment to the Instructor: cjsmith@albany.edu. The proposal must include a brief description of the proposed book and the reasons why you think it is an appropriate choice for this assignment;
- the book you
select for this paper must be submitted with your review essay,
which means you must either borrow or buy a copy of the book, or check one
out from a library (it will be returned to you within one week);
- 10% is the maximum
score you can receive for this paper; if it is poorly written, a poor
choice, or if you do not follow the rules, you could receive a significantly
lower grade;
- the maximum
length of the paper is 4000 words. You must provide an exact word count,
and papers that are more than 10% too long or 10% too short will not be
graded;
- the paper must be word-processed, fully referenced (APA style) and written in clear and concise English prose;
- if you do not submit the
proposal by the due date (
The extra credit paper is assigned on the first day of class (
Important
Notes:
1. You will not be allowed to do make-ups of any of the exams unless
you receive specific permission from the Instructor, in advance (at
least one day before the exam in question). Only major illnesses, personal or
family emergencies, sporting or military commitments, and having two or more
exams on the same day are acceptable as excuses. In all cases appropriate
and/or official documentation is required. The film quizzes cannot be
made-up.
2. Assignments submitted after the due dates will not
be graded, unless arrangements have been made with the Instructor, in
advance (see item #1 above for acceptable excuses).
syllabus: china
Part
1 CHINA
dates Topic
1.
1/24 Introduction: Western perceptions, Chinese realities
2.
1/26
3.
1/31 Information Literacy A; and
4.
2/2 Raising the red flag: revolutionary
5.
2/7 Film #1: Yellow Earth
(Dir: Chen Kaige)
None assigned
6.
2/9 Political and economic transformations,
post-1978 Starr 54-71; Ogden 24-8; 34-8;
158-163
7.
2/14 Information
Literacy B; and
8.
2/16
No classes
2/21; 2/23
PART II
dates Topic
9. 2/28
Exam #1 (in class)
10. 3/2
11. 3/7
Film #2:
12. 3/9
13.
3/14
120-124
14. 3/16 Film
#3: Durian, Durian (Dir: Fruit
Chan) None
assigned
15. 3/21
16. 3/23
219-230
17. 3/28 Global environmental consequences of
18. 3/30 Film
#4: The River (Dir: Tsai Ming-liang) None assigned
19. 4/4 Death and disease:
20. 4/6
PART III
dates Topic
No classes
4/11; 4/13
21. 4/18 Exam
#2 (in class)
22. 4/20 The threat of chaos and social unrest
23. 4/25 Film #5: Blind Shaft (Dir: Yang Li) None assigned
24. 4/27 Consumption
patterns and new cultural trends
25. 5/2 Political and literary resistance
None
assigned
26. 5/4 The evolution
of filmmaking in the new China None assigned
27. 5/9 Exam #3 (in class)