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Special Note on Creating a
Virtual Community: In order to minimize the spread of Covid-19, this course
will be taught online via Zoom, a high-quality video conferencing platform that
will allow us to create a virtual classroom that closely approximates the
experience of meeting in a physical space. One way to contribute to the success
of our virtual classroom is to keep your camera turned on during class
sessions. While this may be a little uncomfortable at first, our willingness to
be “present” for each other will help us establish a learning community that is
based on mutual trust and respect. If you have any concerns about this policy,
please reach out to me as soon as possible so that we can discuss your
situation and develop an alternate strategy if necessary. Cardinal Operation Hope and Help: A community begins when a group of people come together to pursue a common interest, but to truly flourish there must be a shared sense of concern for the well-being of all its members. Toward this end, the North Central community has established Cardinal Operation Hope and Help to provide emergency financial support for students with basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter, transportation, and educational supplies. To explore details of the program as well as eligibility requirements, please click the above link — and feel free to let me know how I can help you overcome any challenges you are facing. Zoom Recordings: Class sessions in this course may be recorded in order to provide increased accessibility to course content for all students, including those who have been granted permission to record or require temporary or ongoing remote access. Recorded content may be used like class notes to support learning outcomes for the course, but may not be shared with anyone who is not a registered student in this class. Students may not upload recorded content to file-sharing sites, post them to the web or on social media, provide them to journalists, or use them in any way that has not been specifically approved above. |
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Introduction
An examination of China’s transformation from
the “traditional” society of the dynastic period (c. 2000 BCE to 1911) into the
“modern” nation that has emerged in the twenty-first century.
Blackboard Quests In
order to encourage you to keep up with the
readings and periodically review the material that we’ve covered, there
will be seven “quests” (somewhere between a quiz and a test) spread
throughout the
semester. The quests are worth 5% each (up to a maximum of 30%) and
will include a variety of questions
(multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, true/false, short
answer, etc.) to be completed on Blackboard within a two-day period (see
syllabus for dates). Each quest will have a 20-minute time limit, which should
be long enough to search for some of the answers in the readings or on
the course web pages … but once your quest begins there’s no turning back — so be
ye prepared lest your time runneth out!
Writing Assignments
In 210 BCE, the Second Qin Emperor (Qin Er Shi)
was enthroned at the age of twenty-one following the death of his father, the
First Emperor of China (Qin Shihuangdi). According to the Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian), the Second Emperor was
placed on the throne by the Prime Minister Li Si and the Chief Eunuch Zhao Gao,
who manipulated the line of succession for their own benefit and in the process
destabilized the dynasty and contributed to its collapse a few years later.
However, what if Li Si and Zhao Gao had been challenged by a brilliant official
with the capacity to teach the Second Emperor the proper Way of the Ruler and
thereby stabilize the dynasty? For your first assignment, you will be that
brilliant official, writing a detailed “memorial” to the Second Emperor that
(i) identifies the causes of the Zhou dynasty’s failure; (ii) explains the
reasons for the First Emperor’s success; and (iii) establishes a new ideology
that will secure the dynasty for ten thousand generations. Since the First
Emperor implemented a Legalist polity, you will need to decide whether to
advocate for continuing this approach without modification or to temper/replace
it with one of the other political solutions of the period, such as
Confucianism or Daoism. You should also indicate whether you would maintain the
centralized rule of the First Emperor or restore (partially or fully) the type
of “feudalism” that prevailed during the Zhou dynasty. For grading details, see
the Essay 1 Rubric below.
There are three essays in this course, each of
which must be a minimum of 1500 words (approximately six pages) with references
to at least five academic/peer-reviewed sources using Chicago Style footnotes. Papers should be submitted to
Blackboard/Assignments before class on the assigned due date; late
papers will be penalized a full grade (e.g. from A to B) for the first day and
one degree (e.g. from B to B-) thereafter. Papers that contain significant
instances of plagiarism will receive a 0 and be reported to the Office
of Academic Affairs. All submitted work may be randomly selected for program assessment
(with names removed); although this will in no way impact your course grade,
you may opt out of program assessment by notifying Professor Hoffert by email.
Memorial to the Second Qin Emperor
Essay 2
Although China has one of the richest historical
traditions in the world, history textbooks typically focus on the major
historical figures and the events with which they are associated — the so-called
“Great Tradition”. In A Daughter of Han, however, we get a fascinating
glimpse of the “Small Tradition” through the oral autobiography of Mrs. Ning (as
recounted by Ida Pruitt), an ordinary, low-income urban woman who lived during
the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. For your second essay you will
explore one of the prominent themes in A Daughter of Han by using
“secondary sources” (i.e. works that interpret and analyze information that was
originally presented elsewhere, such as in “primary sources” like A Daughter
of Han) to augment Mrs. Ning’s first-person accounts. Some of the themes
you may wish to focus on include missionaries, Chinese religion and/or folk
beliefs, opium, medicine, the Japanese, government, marriage, and gender. Since
A Daughter of Han does not have an index, you should take careful notes
as you read through the book, especially on the theme that you intend to focus
on. For grading details, see the Essay 2 Rubric below.A Daughter of Han
Essay 3
Son of the Revolution The Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) represents a
pivotal era in the history of modern China. On the one hand, it was the most
radical of Mao Zedong’s attempts to radically transform Chinese society, while
on the other, it was immediately followed by Deng Xiaoping’s economic reforms,
which transformed China just as deeply by ushering in decades of rapid economic
growth. Your third paper will use Liang Heng’s autobiography, Son of the
Revolution, together with appropriate secondary sources, to explore an aspect
of the Cultural Revolution and its impact on China’s subsequent development. Some
of the themes you may wish to focus on include Mao’s rejection of capitalism
(in contrast to Deng Xiaoping’s promotion of “socialism with Chinese
characteristics”), Mao Zedong Thought, Quotations
from Chairman Mao Tse-tung (a.k.a. the Little
Red Book), the Cult of Mao, People’s Communes, the People’s Liberation
Army, Red Guards, the Four Olds (old customs, culture, habits, and ideas), Big
Character Posters, class struggle (directed primarily against the bourgeoisie),
self-criticism and public ridicule, the “Down to the Countryside” movement,
propaganda, corruption, and education. For grading details, see the Essay 3
Rubric below.
Virtual Office Hours/Contact Info
I will be available online (via Zoom) at the following times: Monday 4:30-5:30 ● Tuesday 3:30-5:00 ● Thursday 3:30-5:00 ● Friday (Tea): 4:30-5:00 Phone: 630-637-5619 E-Mail: bhoffert@noctrl.edu Home Page: bhoffert.faculty.noctrl.edu Required Texts
Essay 1 Rubric
Memorial to the Second Qin Emperor
Essay 2 Rubric
A Daughter of Han
Essay 3 Rubric
Son of the Revolution
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