Homework:

Weeks 1-4 Gina Barnes The Rise of Civilization in East Asia, 1999
First Exam: after Thursday of week 4, on materials from weeks 1-4

Weeks 5-7 China: 7000 Years of Discovery, 1982 Ontario Science Center and assigned readings
Second Exam: after Thursday of week 7, on materials from weeks 5-7

Weeks 7-10 Ju Yunan Understanding China and basic statistical information on-line from the CIA World Factbook 2002
Final Exam: during finals week, on materials from week 8-10 (including class and project presentations and your own project)

Do the assigned readings/watch the assigned videos and attend all classes
Readings are on reserve in the library and available electonically

Project*:

Week 2: Select project/paper topic and write a brief paragraph about the study

Week 5: Outline and references, including major thesis and findings to date

Week 7: Draft of project due

Week 10: Presentation of project to class (using power point, posters, etc.)--this is geared to inform the class about the topic you researched; students will "grade/critique" the content as well as the presentation format.

At the Final: Project due (written paper with references, accompanying materials/presentation)

*Project topics must include information from an anthropological perspective on China during the past 50 years with topics such as

Banking and commerce in China since 1950
Rural and urban life since 1950
Minority people since 1950
Law and judiciary since 1950
Role of the family and lineage since 1950
Population control since 1950
Intellectual property since 1950
Government (central, provincial, prefect, county, village) since 1950
Supernatural beliefs over the past 50 years
Agricultural production since 1950
Public and private ownership since 1950
Infrastructure over the past 50 years
Others that I must approve may tie more closely to your major *
* for example, several women have written about their experiences during and after the Cultural Revolution; Amy Tan's novels relate traditional lives that can be contrasted to those of rural women today, etc.

Recommended readings:

Maps on line: http://nationalgeographic.com/maps

Important statistical information about China today at
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/print/ch.html

Jacques Gernet, Daily Life in China on the Eve of the Mongol Invasion 1250-1276, Macmillan reprint 1967 of the original French transation of 1962, focuses on the Southern Sung capital of Hangzhou

Rudolf P. Hommel, China at Work, MIT Press 1969 edition of the 1937 original, SBN 262-08035, photographs and descriptions of tools and their uses from a 1920s expedition to China

Michael Loewe, Everyday Life in Early Imperial China, Dorset Press, 1988 reprint of the 1968 book, ISBN 0-88029-177X, focuses on life in Han times (200 BC-200AD)

Joseph Needham, Science in Traditional China, 1981, Harvard University Press, ISBN 0-674-79438-9, reviews the Chinese origin and uses of gunpowder, macrobiotics, acupuncture and moxibustion, and attitudes toward time and change (not casual reading)

Joseph Needham (and others), editor, Science and Civilization in China, a massive, impressive and scholarly 7 volume work which by volume IV required several book-sized parts per volume, presents an exhaustive study of Chinese alchemy, chemistry, physics, map making, astronomy, biological studies, medicine, engineering, mathematics, etc. in world perspective (not casual reading)