Chinese Culture and Society

Catalog description

FALL 2026: Modern China This course will introduce students to important developments in China's culture and language since the end of the nineteenth century focusing on the interactions between Chinese and Western cultural traditions and the historical, social, and political contexts in which these interactions evolved. The following questions will motivate discussion: What is Chinese culture in the modern world? What is "modern" and what "traditional" Chinese culture? How does high culture interact with folk culture and popular culture? How have education and language policies shaped Chinese cultural identities over the last century? What does it mean to be Chinese in a diaspora context? This course is conducted in English with no requirement of prior knowledge of Chinese language.