History
G485/G585
Modern
Professor: Xin Zhang
Office: CA 503B
Phone: (317) 274-4898
The Tiananmen
Massacre of 1989 ended the largest spontaneous demonstration of the
chinese
students since the founding of the People's Republic. We are confronted with an
important
question: why did the democratic movement fail in
collapsed in
movement even
as the rest of the world was moving in that direction. Given these questions and
puzzlement, this
course offers an opportunity to examine Chinese society and history in modern
times for
possible answers.
Although the course will cover the events
and figures of a modern Chinese history course,
its
approach to the study of modern
of modern
Chinese history in its entirety from the late Qing search for wealth and power by intellectuals
such as Liang Qichao and Kang Youwei, to the failure of the present political leader Deng
Xiaoping to respond positively
to the general Chinese desire for democracy. In the course of
ninety years
of Chinese effort to modernize their society, each political and social
upheaval, such
as the
Republican Revolution, the May Fourth Movement, the rise of Communism, the
civil war
between the nationalists
and communists, and the Cultural
Revolution, have represented a
distinct period
for the Chinese in their search for a strong and modernized country.
To understand the
issue of democracy in
embedded in the
tradition, culture and society of the country.
In order to analyze the present
development in the
Chinese political arena, one must follow the social changes that have been
going on
since
a
dynamic picture of modern
power of
local elites and the reshaping of the balance between the state and society.
In order to allow
students exposure to the recent achievements in the study of modern
Field' in last 50 years. During the lectures, major theories developed
in recent years as well as
the
contributions made by the leading scholars in the field will be presented. Students taking the
class are
encouraged to read scholarly works, such as "Cities and the Hierarchy of
Local System"
Studies in Chinese Society, ed. Arthur P. Wolf (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1978) and
Prasenjit Duara's Culture, Power, and the State: Rural
Stanford University Press, 1988) on `cultural nexus of power,'
which represent the achievements
of the
field.
Further,
this course is designed to encourage the development of IUPUI’s
Principles of Undergraduate Learning in the following ways: Communication and Quantitative Skills are
developed through writing a researched paper and taking essay exams enabling
the student to develop skills targeted at expressing ideas and facts in a
variety of written formats, understanding and interpreting texts, and applying
these ideas in order to answer questions.
Critical Thinking: By reading
text, doing research, and listening to lecture the student gains the ability to
take information from a variety of sources, combine and synthesize sources in
order to use this knowledge to evaluate and understand different
perspectives. Understanding Society and Culture: By studying the Chinese history, the student
is exposed to a variety of diverse cultural perspectives and required to
evaluate history within a different culture perspective of not only time but
place. This ability will assist the
student in understanding complex cultural questions in today’s world.
Students taking the course are
required to take two written exams, a midterm and a final, and to write one
term paper on a subject related to Modern Asia.
The midterm exam is scheduled for _____, and the final exam for______. The final exam will include only the
materials covered since midterm.
Paper Assignment: The paper will be ten pages long and use at
least two books as reference material.
These books should be history books, not textbooks, and on the subject
of your paper. You may use additional
books to help fill in material as necessary.
Additional material can come from texts or web pages. Cautionary note: web sites must be of sufficient academic
quality that they are reliable for research purposes. If you have a question about a site, have it
checked first by the instructor.
Papers will be graded on content and
quality of research, but also on grammar and punctuation. All papers should have a well-developed
introduction and conclusion. Any papers
turned in with inadequate editing will receive a lower grade. Papers meeting the minimum requirements will
receive an average grade: C.
The papers can be on any topic of
interest so long as the subject meets the following guidelines: the main area of research must be before the
year 1950, although conclusion may take you past 1950. The topic must also lie inside
The course will primarily be
lecture. Slide presentations, video
displaying and student discussion will supplement the format.
Attendance Policy: An attendance sheet will be passed around at each
lecture. You may miss 4 lectures without any excuses needed. Any subsequent absences will result in the
loss of a letter grade. Be no later than 10 minutes to class, you will
be counted absent after 10 minutes. You will also be marked absent if you
should leave class early. It is your
responsibility to make sure you sign the attendance sheet. It is our only record of your presence. Later protests that you were in class on a
given day but failed to sign in will not result in a forgiveness of the missing
class. It is imperative that you sign
the attendance sheet each day!
Additional
requirements for graduate students:
Graduate students will do more reading
and
writing than undergraduates, and will be expected to demonstrate a higher level
of
proficiency on
written work and in discussion. Graduate
students' research papers should be 20-
30 pages in length. There will be several extra meetings of the
professor and graduate students
in order
to more fully discuss matters of bibliography and historiography relevant to
this course.
Assessment
Methods: mid-term (30), final exam (40), and paper (30%).
Required Texts/References:
Jonathan Spence,
The Search for
Modern
Xin Zhang,
Social Transformation
in Modern
2000)
Lectures & Readings
1. Issues, Questions,
and Historical Background
Spence,
Chapter 1-3
Reform as an
Alternative, 1898-1912
2. The Reform Movement
of 1898
Spence,
Chapter 3-5
3. Boxer Uprising
Skinner,
Chapter 1-3
3. Reform and
Constitutionalism at the End of the Qing Period
Skinner,
Chapter 3-5
4. Late Qing Intellectual, Social and Economic Changes, with
Special Reference to 1895-
1911
Spence, Chapter 7-9
5. The 1911 Revolution
Skocpol, Chapter 1-3
6. The Early Republic
and Warlordism
Duara, Chapter 1-3
Ideological Awakening,
1917-1937
7. The May Fourth
Movement
Spence, Chapter 12-15
8. National Unification
and Anti-imperialistic Agitation
Eastman,
(Abortive) Chapter 1-2
9. The Nationalist
Government: A Decade of Challenges
Eastman,
(Abortive) Chapter 3-rest
The Communist
Revolution, 1921-1949
10. The Rise of the
Communist
Duara, Chapter 3-5
11. The Civil War
Skocpol, Chapter 3-5
12. The Founding of the
People's Republic
Nathan,
Chapter 5-7
Totalitarianism
versus Democracy
13. The First Decade
14. The Anti-Rightist
Campaign
15. The Cultural
Revolution
Policy concerning plagiarism
Plagiarism is the
offering of the work of someone else as one's own. Honesty requires
that any
ideas or materials taken from another source from either written or oral use
must be
fully
acknowledged. The language or ideas
taken from another may range from isolated
formulas,
sentences, or paragraphs to entire articles copies from books, periodicals,
speeches,
or the
writings of other students. The offering
of materials assembled or collected by others in
the form
of projects or collections without acknowledgment is also considered
plagiarism. Any
student who
fails to give credit for ideas or materials taken from another source is guilty
of
plagiarism.
A faculty member who
has evidence that a students is guilty of cheating or plagiarism
shall
initiate the process of determining the students' guilt or innocence. No penalty shall be
imposed until
the student has been informed of the charge and of the evidence on which it is
based and
has been given an opportunity to present a defense. If the faculty member assesses
a
penalty within the course and promptly reports and the case in writing to the
dean of the school
or comparable
head of the academic unit. The report
should included the names of any other
students who
may be involved in the incident and recommendations for further action. The dean,
in
consultation with the faculty member if the latter so desires, will initiate
any further
disciplinary
proceeding s and inform the faculty member of any action taken. In every case, a
record of the
offenses remains on file in the Office of the Dean.