Instructor
Course Requirements
I will require that all students establish e-mail accounts with Internet access. This course will occasionally involve interaction between the instructor and students outside of the lecture period. Please set up these accounts as soon as possible. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Grading
“Half-hourly” quizzes 40% (8% each)
Map Quiz Ungraded "practice quiz"
Paper #1 15%
Paper #2 15%
Final Exam 15%
“Half-hourly” Quizzes
The quizzes will cover materials from the assigned readings, lectures, films, and other in-class presentations. I will go over all assigned readings, either during lectures or during discussion sections. You are responsible for anything that is covered in class, whether or not you were present for a given class period.
No Make-up Quizzes
No make-up quizzes will be offered for this class. Instead, you may drop one of your five graded quizzes, only if you have taken the ungraded skills quiz at the beginning of the semester. Once you have missed one quiz, all subsequent missed quizzes will be graded at 0% credit.
Final Take-home Examination
There is a four (4)- page, typed take-home exam. I will distribute the questions two days before the exam due date. The exam will be due in class on Thursday, December 2nd. We’ll talk more about this exam later in the course.
Classroom Discussions
Discussion and the exchange of ideas are very important components of this course, especially this semester. Everyone will be required to participate, and you should feel free to ask questions in every class during lecture. When a film is shown in class, we will follow the presentation with a short discussion. Due to the size of the class, students will be divided into four (4) formal discussion groups (Groups A-D). These groups will usually lead class discussions on Thursdays.
Each week’s group will submit five (5) questions to the class for discussion. Following class each discussion group member will also submit their own two (2) questions to me. The first formal discussion will be held on Thursday, August 26th. Students must sign up for their preferred group by Tuesday, August 24th. I will take attendance for each discussion group, and students may not switch groups without my prior permission. General instructions regarding the classroom discussion format may also be found at the course web site.
Students will be graded on their contribution to the formal discussion groups and on their participation in informal class discussions. Each student will come to class having read the texts and prepared to discuss them. I will not hesitate to call on all students to participate. However, you should feel free to speak with me before class, if you find it difficult to speak in a public setting. In that case, you may submit your questions before each class in writing. Any student with more than five unexcused absences from their discussion group will receive "0%" for the class participation portion of their final grade.
Short Discussion Response Exercises
Following discussions led by student discussion groups, I will require that you submit a two (2)-paragraph response to the five questions posed by that week's discussion group. One (1) paragraph will be a response to one of the five questions submitted by the group. One (1) paragraph will be a personal reflection on the whole classroom discussion that week. Was anything left out of the general discussion? Do you have an observation that you wish to offer in greater detail? These exercises will be graded on a check, check-plus, or check-minus scale. If you receive straight “checks” for all exercises, you will have earned a “B” for this part of the course. To earn a "check-plus" you need to demonstrate that you have thought imaginatively about the question and have put some genuine effort into your answer. The purpose of these exercises is to gain experience in writing, and they should therefore help prepare you for the paper and the take-home exam. Please include your name with each submission. You will be required to submit at least five (5) responses this semester.
Web-site
I have created a Web site for this classroom, which I will continue to expand as the semester progresses. Students can access course information, such as scheduled events (i.e. the syllabus you now hold in your hand), as well as terms mentioned in lecture. I will also list links to web sites of interest to our class. I will also include additional materials on the library's Electronic Reserve list. Please refer to the class Web site periodically for such materials.
“Think Piece” Paper
The “think piece” paper, to be written on assigned topics, will be based on your readings, section discussions, and the lectures. The first paper will be based on the Waley reading, and the second paper will be based on the Hinsch and Mann books. These papers are not research papers; therefore, no outside reading is required. However, the quality of your writing, particularly the clarity and persuasiveness of your argument, will factor into the final grading. Late papers will be penalized half a letter grade for each day beyond the original due date.
During the first week of class I will ask you to visit the web site Chinese Festival & Holidays Index at http://chineseculture.miningco.com/library/weekly/topicsub_festival.htm. In a short three-sentence response, please indicate the festival you would most like to attend and why. Use the e-mail address you will most often access during the semester, and send the responses to jamie_anderson@uncg.edu.
1. Ebrey, Patricia B. Cambridge Illustrated History of China. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996. ISBN: 0521435196.
2. Ivanhoe, Philip J. and Bryan W. Van Norden (eds.). Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy Indianapolis: Hackett Pub Co Inc; Reprint edition, 2003. ISBN: 087220703X.
3. Hinsch, Bret. Women in Early Imperial China. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002. ISBN: 0742518728.
4. Mann, Susan and Yu-Yin Cheng (Editors). Under Confucian Eyes:
Writings on Gender in Chinese History. Berkeley: University of California
Press, 2001. ISBN: 0520222768.