HIST 223
Spring 2020
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
CEAS 223, ENVS 223, WLIT 224 |
| Certificates: Environmental Studies, Environmental Studies Minor, International Relations, International Relations Minor |
| Course Cluster: Sustainability and Environmental Justice |
This course introduces students to the history of China from ancient times to the middle of the Ming Dynasty circa 1450. This is a period when China invented and reshaped its cultural identity by moving into new frontiers and creatively incorporating foreign ideas with indigenous practices. It is also a period when the natural environment was drastically transformed by agrarian civilizations and nomadic neighbors.
The course places concepts of sustainability in the center of the history of traditional China. We will draw on translations of Chinese literary texts including poetry, classical prose, and novels to explore the relationship between power and social inequities as we explore the everyday politics of agrarian civilizations through China's transformation from feudal ages to the imperial period. Did competing regimes/dynasties create a sustainable political and economic system? Did bureaucrats improve the well-being of the population and maintain the balance of the ecosystem? Or did they deplete natural resources to meet their short-term needs? How did Confucian, Legalist, Buddhist, and Daoist teachings alter the dynamics of production and consumption? To what extent did traditional Chinese philosophies promote the ethos of ecojustice? |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS HIST |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Student Option |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (CEAS-MN)(CEAS)(CEAS-Arcp/Hist)(ENVS-MN)(ENVS)(HIST-MN)(HIST)(MDST-MN)(STS) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: 90% or above |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Robert Marks, CHINA: ITS ENVIRONMENT AND HISTORY (Rowman & Littlefield, 2012) ISBN: 978-1442277885
(Other readings will be posted on Moodle)
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Examinations and Assignments:
One quiz
One midterm exam
Bi-weekly problem sets
One 4-page paper
One in-class final exam |
| Instructor(s): Tan,Ying Jia Times: ..T.R.. 02:50PM-04:10PM; Location: FISK404; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 25 | | SR major: 3 | JR major: 3 | | |
| Seats Available: 3 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 5 | JR non-major: 5 | SO: 5 | FR: 4 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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