IAS 130 - China in the Global Context: The Shanghai Experience

Institution:

Washington University in St Louis

Subject:

Description:

The course studies the transformation of political institutions, socioeconomic structure, and cultural forms in modern China in the context of the global flow of people, ideas, and goods. It chooses a local narrative approach and situates the investigation of China's modern transformation in one of China's largest, most complex and dynamic cities-Shanghai. The experience of the city and its people in the 19th and 20th centuries demonstrates that they do not just respond to global currents; they have been playing an active part in taking measure of the world and redefining, reconfiguring, and reshaping global forces such as imperialism, nationalism, consumerism, authoritarianism, liberalism, communism, and capitalism. The interplay between foreign imports and influences on the one hand and local developments on the other shapes the course of modern China and helps China play an important role on the world stage. The historical events and processes the course examines include the 19th-century rebellion, the Opium War, migration, print culture, consumer culture, gender and ethnicity, the Nationalist revolution, social reform and political mobilization, the Communist revolution, and the Post-Mao reform. This course introduces students to the variety of scholarly interpretations of the Shanghai experience and its position in modern Chinese history. No background in Chinese history or Chinese language is required or assumed. But acknowledging the value of the non-Western experience and understanding cultural diversity are important concerns of this course. This course is restricted to freshmen in the program China in the Global Context.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.wustl.edu

Phone Number:

(314) 935-5000

Regional Accreditation:

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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