Penn Global Seminar: Advanced Chinese II

Catalog description

This is a PGS course with a 10-day field study trip to China (Beijing and Qufu in Shandong Province) in mid-May. The linguistic acquisition component of this course is the same as the regular CHIN0800 Advanced Chinese II, aiming to enhance students’ Chinese language skills and cultural literacy in order to communicate directly with their contemporary Chinese peers. Students learn to master more advanced-level vocabulary, structures and expression through topics such as social changes in education and marriage, traditional food culture, Confucius and his philosophy, and geopolitics. With a manageable workload, students will consolidate their interpretive and presentational skills in Chinese at the advanced level. By the end of the semester, students are expected to be able to read and summarize materials written or produced mainly for native speakers in order to conduct college level research and deliver presentations in the target language for academic or professional purposes. In addition, students are expected to share their research in Chinese with local Chinese university students during their field trip.