CAPS 4502 - Becoming a China Hand

(crosslisted) GOVT 4503
(GB) (CA-AS)

Spring. 4 credits. Student option grading.

Intended for: junior CAPS students.

Rotating: A. Carlson, J. Chen, A. Mertha, J. Wallace.

China’s prominence in the news cycle and policy discourse reflects the immense and growing tension in China’s relations with the United States and other countries around the world. Substantively, there is hardly a profession or sector where what happens inside China does not touch upon or impact what happens outside China. Throughout this course, we will grapple with ongoing debates over China’s rise and whether policies of engagement with China have succeeded or failed. These debates are unfolding in many different communities and idea marketplaces, across many different modes and styles of analysis and writing. Each of the reading and writing assignments are aimed at developing literacy and proficiency in three different modes of analysis and writing about China: academic, policy, and journalistic. While many courses provide introductions to different aspects of China, and many seminars examine more specialized questions at even deeper levels, there are few that directly invite students to examine and explore the different ways in which scholars and professionals have written about and come to understand China.