Seminar Series
CCS 501 and 502:
Interdisciplinary Seminars in Chinese Studies
Instructors: CCS Faculty
The Center for Chinese Studies is offering an exciting teaching initiative - a two semester interdisciplinary seminar in Chinese Studies. These courses are mandatory for students in the CCS MA program, but are open to all UM graduate and advanced undergraduate students. Students need permission to enroll in these courses and should contact Carol Stepanchuk for more information.
CCS 501
Social and Scientific Studies of Historical and Contemporary China Crosslisted with: ASIAN 501/HISTORY 549/POLISCI 501/SOC 527
Course Description: CCS 501 introduces advanced undergraduate and graduate students to current issues in social scientific studies of China, emphasizing different methodological approaches drawn from multiple disciplines. The course differentiates between 'objectivities' - stratification, demographic and economic behavior - and 'subjectivities' - gender, ethnicity, personality, identity - and the use of social scientific methods to advance our understanding of all these topics. Each class will discuss one or more disciplinary approaches to a common subject through class discussion of exemplary studies of China as well as the existing state of the field in general .
CCS 502
Humanistic Studies of Historical and Contemporary China Crosslisted with: ASIAN502/ANTHRCUL 502/HISTORY 548/HISTART 504/POLISCI 502
Course Description: CCS 502 will focus on humanistic approaches in Chinese Studies. The course will discuss how knowledge is produced in the field and how different disciplines shape the field in different ways. It will examine the present state of research in selected areas of scholarly inquiry primarily language, literature, history, music, and art history as we interrogate such seemingly commonsense notions as "civilization", "culture", "tradition", "modernity", and, above all, "Chineseness". We will investigate new ways of asking questions about text and context, narrative, gender, subjectivity, identity, and paradigms of knowledge. Our goals are to develop good reading skills, stimulate critical thinking, and inspire imaginative approaches to humanistic problems.
