Cultural History of China's Relations with the United States

Catalog description

International relations are often conceptualized as power rivalry, stressing conflicts and collaboration among nations in international politics and political economy. In this course the Chinese-American relations are viewed as a history of people and cultural exchange, not just a top-down history of diplomacy and politics. Using culture rather than politics or economics as a reference point, this course exams China-US relations since the 19th century to the present from the interaction of cultural exchanges between the Chinese and Americans. Topics include: Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, Messengers of the 19th century from both, China and United States, The Internationalization of China and United States: Educators of the 1920s, the Journalists of the 1930s and 1940s, Literature Imagination in China and United Sates, and Popular Culture and Sino-American Relations. The format of the course includes lectures, group discussions, debates and audio-visual presentations.