Time Schedule:
Karil Kucera
HSTAS 211
Seattle Campus
Intensive survey of Chinese civilization from earliest times to today. Introduces all students, including East Asian history majors, to the general sweep of Chinese history. Social, cultural, and intellectual developments.
Class description
Beginning with a brief look at contemporary China, this course will then proceed to look back at Chinese civilization, moving from the earliest times up to the present in an effort to gain a broad understanding of China's development over time. Themes essential to such an understanding include the religious and philosophical traditions of China, its social and political structures, and China's vast wealth of material culture. The desired result is a knowledge of broad factual content along with an ability to utilize a variety of primary source materials in synthesizing a view of what is meant by "China" and "Chinese civilization" today.
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
This course will utilize both textual and visual sources in a schedule of three lectures and two discussion sections a week. Students will be expected to faithfully attend lectures as well as carefully read assigned texts. Required textbooks are Patricia Buckley Ebrey's "Cambridge Illustrated History of China" and Ebrey's "Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook" [2nd ed.].
Recommended preparation
No prerequisites.
Class assignments and grading
Midterm and final exams along with a number of short writing assignments and presentations involving the use of primary sources to be completed in discussion sections.
Midterm 30% Final 30% Writing assignments 25% Presentations/Discussion participation 15%
