EAC170L                                                                                            Prof. CharlesHartman

China: Its Heritage and Culture                                                            HU-245 (442-4219)

Fall 2003 (call #7397)                                                                         Office Hours: MW 11-12

TTH 9:45-11:05, HU-128

 

EAC170L is a basic introduction to the history and culture of China. It does not presume prior knowledge of China or the Chinese language. This course counts as a "Humanities" course under the General Education Program. A review of "learning objectives" for such courses is appended below. This course adheres to these objectives.

 

Course Outline and Reading Assignments

 

 

9/2, 4               Introduction: China and the Chinese, Social Organization    

 

9/9, 11             Origins of Chinese Civilization                                                        pp. 3-26

 

9/16, 18            Confucianism, Taoism, Legalism                                                           pp. 27-49

 

9/23, 25            The First Empire, Evolution of the Political System                                    pp. 50-75

 

9/30, 10/2, 9            Early Medieval China, Buddhism                                                         pp. 78-129

 

10/14, 16            Review and Mid-term               Mid-term: 10/16

 

10/21, 23            Late Medieval China, Neo-Confucianism, The Mongols                pp. 132-181

 

10/28, 30            Early Modern China, The Ming                                                          pp. 182-208

 

11/4, 6             The Coming of the West, The Manchus                                              pp. 209-250

 

11/11, 13            China in the Nineteenth Century                                                            pp. 253-307

 

11/18, 20            The Republican Era                                                                         pp. 310-350

 

12/2, 4, 9            Communism in China, China Today                                                     pp. 351-383

 

 

Final: Friday, Dec. 19, 2003; 8:00-10:00AM.

 

Textbook: Conrad Schirokauer, A Brief History of Chinese Civilization. 2nd ed. Harcourt Brace, 1989.

 

 

Things to do for this class:

 

            1) come to class every day; see attendance policy below

            2) read the assignments in the textbook by the first day of the week that they are due; for example, come to class on Tuesday, Sept. 9 having read pp. 3-26 in the textbook. If you wish, take notes on assigned readings

            3) take notes during lecture

            4) ask questions during lecture; relevant questions are ALWAYS welcome

            5) review the reading and your notes for the mid-term and final

 

Grading: Mid-term 33%, Final 33%, class attendance and participation, 34%.  There will be no arrangement for missed tests. Numerical scores will be converted to course grades according to the following scale: A=96-100; A-=92-95; B+=89-91; B=86-88; B-=83-85; C+=80-82; C=77-79; C-=74-76; D+=71-73; D=68-70; D-=65-67; E=64-.

 

Class attendance policy:  Attendance will be monitored at each of the twenty-six class meetings. Undocumented absences, at the rate of 1 point per cut, will be deduced from the 33% of the grade devoted to class attendance.

 

 

POLICY ON ACADEMIC HONESTY AND CLASS ETIQUETTE:  1) Cheating will result in automatic dismissal from class with course grade of "E". 2) Students are expected to come to class on time, to remain for the duration of the period, and to comport themselves in a quiet and dignified manner at every class session. Class disruptions are a violation of university policy and constitute rude behavior toward the instructor and other class members. Examples of class disruptions include repeatedly leaving and entering the classroom without authorization, making loud or distracting noises, persisting in speaking-without being recognized, or resorting to physical threats or personal insults.

 

 

 

 

Learning Objectives for General Education Humanities Courses

 

 

Humanities courses teach students to analyze and interpret texts, ideas, artifacts, and discourse systems, and the human values, traditions, and beliefs that they reflect.

  1. Humanities courses enable students to demonstrate knowledge of the assumptions, methods of study, and theories of at least one of the disciplines within the humanities.

Depending on the discipline, humanities courses will enable students to demonstrate some or all of the following:

  1. an understanding of the objects of study as expressions of the cultural contexts of the people who created them
  2. an understanding of the continuing relevance of the objects of study to the present and to the world outside the university
  3. an ability to employ the terms and understand the conventions particular to the discipline
  4. an ability to analyze and assess the strengths and weaknesses of ideas and positions along with the reasons or arguments that can be given for and against them
  5. an understanding of the nature of the texts, artifacts, ideas, or discourse of the discipline and of the assumptions that underlie this understanding, including those relating to issues of tradition and canon