COURSE INFORMATION
Requirements:
There
will be a "take home" final exam, an ungraded "history
skills" quiz, four graded quizzes, and two 5-7 page (12-point font Times New Roman font, double-spaced, 1”
margins) “think piece” papers. The
first “think piece” paper will be due in class on Thursday, March 6th. The second paper is due in class on Thursday,
April 24th. The due date of the final "take home" exam
is Tuesday, May 8th at 3 p.m. in office at McIver 242. Attendance at all lecture and
discussion sections is expected.
Moreover, the completion of all required written assignments
(including the ungraded quiz) is necessary for a passing grade.
Internet Access:
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.
Please note: No “incompletes” will be
given for this course, so plan ahead!
Grading:
Paper
#1
15%
Paper
#2 15%
Quizzes
40%
Final 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 one quiz,
all subsequent missed quizzes will be graded at 0% credit.
Final Take-home Examination:
There
is a 6 page, typed take-home exam.
I will distribute the exam questions on the last day of class, Tuesday, May 1st.One week
later the exams will be due in my office (242 McIver) no later than 3pm on Tuesday, May 8th. 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.
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 lead
class discussions at times noted in the lecture schedule (usually during the
second half of class on Thursdays).
The first formal discussion will be held during the second half of class
on Thursday, January 23rd. Students must sign up for their
preferred group by Tuesday, January 21st. No one may switch groups without my
prior permission. 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 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. Moreover, I may include additional materials on the
library's Electronic Reserve list.
Please refer to the class Web site periodically for such materials.
Papers:
The two "think piece" papers, to be
written on assigned topics, will be based on your readings, discussions and the
lectures. This paper is not a
research paper; 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.
Required Texts:
The
following books are required reading for this course, and may be purchased at
the UNCG Bookstore or at Addams Bookstore:
1.Spence,
Jonathan. The Search for Modern China
(2nd edition). Norton, 1999.
2. Timothy Weston and Lionel Jensen (Eds.) China
Beyond the Headlines. Rowan &
Littlefield, 2000.
3.
Chang, Jung. Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China. Random House, 1991.