China's Journey to the Present

Catalog description

This course will trace China's winding path to the present through two radically different periods: the revolutionary changes and upheavals in the middle of the 20th century, and the shift to market reform and rapid economic development after 1980. We will examine the formation of China's first modern nation-state out of a long period of internal war, and how that form of government has evolved in the decades since. The main focus of the first half of the course is on the Mao era, and in particular the two famous upheavals of that period - the Great Leap Forward and subsequent famine, and the decade-long upheavals of the Cultural Revolution. In the second half, we will explore the surprising shift toward market reform and openness to the outside world after 1980, and the economic growth and social changes that followed. In addition to accessible readings, the course will feature documentary films, dramatic productions by Chinese directors, memoirs and fiction by Chinese authors, and classroom discussion. Students will gain an in depth background for understanding China's role in current world affairs, and a good foundation for further coursework on contemporary China.