Topics in Chinese Literature, Philosophy, Media, and Art
Postgraduate course
- ECTS credits
- 10
- Teaching semesters
- Spring
- Course code
- KIN304
- Number of semesters
- 1
- Teaching language
- English and Chinese
- Resources
- Schedule
Course description
Objectives and Content
The primary objective of this course is to enable students to gain insight into the Chinese and global views of emerging social, cultural, and political events. Interaction between native and non-native speakers are encouraged and guided.
The optimal way to serve this purpose is to explore the culture of contemporary China. Subjects of the course include:
- Chinese and comparative literature and philosophy
- Chinese and comparative theater, film (both documentary and feature films), and TV programmes (news, drama, talk show, reality show, etc..)
- Chinese and comparative politics of social media (WeChat, Weibo, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, etc..)
- Social Influence of Chinese popular culture, esp. pop music
- New media and digital humanities in China
- Education and textbooks (from Kindergarten through University) in China
- Transdisciplinary Art in China
- Classical Chinese calligraphy and its current and future relevance
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course:
Knowledge
The student
- will demonstrate knowledge of Chinese language, literature, and philosophy, which aids in effective cross-cultural communication
- will demonstrate insight into additional disciplines such as anthropology, economics, history, international business, media studies, political science, and translation studies, which deepens cross-cultural comprehension
Skills
The student
- will be able to analyse the Chinese and global views of emerging social, cultural, and political events, such as microblog posts on national and international issues, Chinese internet or the virtual world, and textbooks, films and TV programmes from Chinese-speaking areas
- will be able to integrate varied disciplines in order to explore current China-related issues
General competence
The student
- will write and present clearly, practicing the skills of effective communication across the curriculum
- will recognize ethical dilemmas and determine how best to respond to them
- will apply knowledge and talents to identify and address real world problems in the local or global community
ECTS Credits
Level of Study
Semester of Instruction
Place of Instruction
Required Previous Knowledge
Recommended Previous Knowledge
Credit Reduction due to Course Overlap
Access to the Course
Teaching and learning methods
The main teaching methods include lectures and seminars (altogether 12 weeks, 24 hours). The students' learning involves preview, group homework, oral presentation, individual research project, etc.
The course is taught in English, with considerable examples of written and audio-visual Chinese material, such as journal and newspaper articles, book excerpts, film clips, and social media posts. The instructor uses innovative pedagogical tools and techniques to enable students to explore the culture of contemporary China and to analyse the Chinese and global views of emerging social, cultural, and political events. The instructor also supervises research projects on an individual basis.
Students are required to prepare for class by reading the literature outlined in the syllabus, fulfilling small assignments at home, and acquiring new vocabulary to understand Chinese written and audio-visual material used in class. Based on this, student-centered approaches such as group assignments or presentations will be organized with an aim to train students¿ skills in oral articulation and public speech. Moreover, each student must conduct an individual research project on a self-chosen topic related to the main themes covered in the course. The project must be developed into a full report and submitted for final assessment.
Compulsory Assignments and Attendance
The students must attend at least 75 % of the classes.
Each student must carry out independent research on a self-chosen, instructor-approved topic and deliver an oral presentation before submitting the term paper. Supervision is mandatory for the term paper.
The oral presentation includes a speech on the individual research project conducted during the course, and a Q-and-A session of about 10 minutes. In the presentation, the student must prepare a handout about the main points and use PPT or other digital tools (Prezi, Google Slides, etc.) to facilitate the delivery. The instructor helps the student sharpen their abilities to present subject contents in a well-thought-out, well organized, and effective manner as well as their skills to develop, defend, or improve arguments.
Reassessment in the subsequent semester is offered to students who fulfill all the compulsory requirements for the course. Compulsory assignments are valid for one semester following the semester of instruction. In such cases, no supervision will be given.
Forms of Assessment
Course assessment consists of a supervised term paper in English of about 2500 words (+/- 10 %), excluding references, bibliography and appendices.
The topic of the term paper is chosen by the student and approved/supervised by the instructor on an individual basis. The content can be an insightful summary or a critical review of a specific topic related to the topics explored in the course.
The student must familiarize themselves with the rules that apply to the use of sources and citations in the written essay. If the rules are violated, the student may be suspected of cheating or attempted cheating.
Grading Scale
Assessment Semester
Reading List
A tailored collection of state-of-the-art articles in the field will be provided digitally.
Content may vary slightly from semester to semester, in accordance with the development of the core discipline and its academic circles in different geographical-cultural contexts.
The reading list will be available by 1 December for the Spring semester.