Undergraduate - UnitATS2039 - Understanding modern China

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2013 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

print version

6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

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Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Organisational Unit	Chinese Studies
Offered	Not offered in 2013
Coordinator(s)	Robert Irving

Notes

Previously coded CHI2430

Synopsis

This unit will introduce students to the Chinese language as it is used in academic writing within the Chinese humanities. It will cover a range of key topics in the disciplines of literature, politics, history and cultural studies, as these are discussed and written about in English and Chinese. It will also examine and compare Chinese and Western styles of academic writing and research methods. Questions of translation, both linguistic and cultural, will be central to this subject.

Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this unit, students will be expected to have acquired:

A basic understanding of key features of modern Chinese intellectual history with reference to: East-West perspectives on Chinese Studies; May Fourth concepts of enlightenment, democracy, science and nationalism; the Cultural Revolution and the renewal of humanist values in post-Mao China
Library and web-based research skills relevant to modern Chinese studies
Translation skills (appropriate to the Chinese language ability of individual students) and an understanding of aspects of translation theory relevant to modern Chinese studies
A good knowledge of the socio-political contexts of the evolution of modern Chinese thought in the twentieth century
Skills of analysis and interpretation in the study of China through exposure to the textual sources used in this unit.