Instructor: Dr. Daniel Skubik, PhD JD MDiv
Voice: 909.343.4288 / Fax: 909.343.4437
Web: http://www.calbaptist.edu/dskubik
E-Mail: dskubik@calbaptist.edu

This course covers the culture and history of non-western civilizations, and helps satisfy the non-western component required in the liberal studies programs. The specific focus offered is on a rotating basis, so students may repeat the course for additional credit provided the civilization being studied is different. The focus of this offering is China.

By the end of the term, students should grasp the rudiments of Chinese culture and history, developing from First Unification through the post-Mao modern era. Students should be able to identify and discuss key persons and epochs, as well as be able analytically to evaluate various historical and philosophical trends. While much of the class' historical focus will be given to developments in the 19th-20th centuries, appreciation of early cultural developments will be addressed so that the modern periods are placed in proper context.

Required Texts

John Fairbank & Merle Goldman, China: A New History (Belknap Press, Enlarged Edition, 1998)

Jung Chang, Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China (Anchor World Views, Reprint edition, 1992)

Fairbank & Goldman (F&G) is available in the CBU Bookstore, or online at shops like Amazon (www.amazon.com) and Barnes & Noble (www.bn.com). Jung Chang is available online, or can be found in local bookshops like B. Dalton's and Barnes & Noble, but is not available from the CBU Bookstore.

Assessment & Grading Scale

Five (5) quizzes are scheduled throughout the term, as noted in our calendar. Each quiz is worth 7%, cumulatively comprising 28% of your final grade for the course. I will drop your lowest quiz grade from the calculation, but will award an extra 2% if you do take all 5 quizzes during the term, for a possible total of 30% towards your final grade.

Quizzes are objective in nature, with questions being phrased as true/false, multiple choice, fill-in the blank, short answer, and matching type questions. Content will cover whatever chapter(s) we most recently discussed.

There will be a final examination our last evening, as noted in the schedule. The exam constitutes 25% of your final grade for the course; and it is cumulative. The exam is closed book, open notes. Meaning of open notes: You are permitted to bring 1 (one) 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper with notes written on it for use during the exam. The notes may be in your own handwriting, or produced by a computer printer, of any size writing or font, front and back, without regard for margins.

Along with our main text by Fairbank & Goldman, you are to read the work by Jung Chang, and then write one (1) Book Study for the instructor. The Study is due no later than the beginning of our class, Week #7, Oct 17th, and constitutes 25% of your final grade for the course. No late papers will be accepted. No exceptions. Early submissions are both encouraged and rewarded: 5% bonus if your Study is submitted to me by the beginning of class, Week #6, Oct 10th.

Select any portion of the book for your focus, from one chapter to the work as a whole. (N.B. A selected portion, like one chapter or one section, usually works better than trying to tackle the work as a whole. Choose wisely.) You should then adopt either of the following approaches to composing your Study:

1. Relate what you have learned in this class with what is happening in the book to/with the characters, especially addressing the issue of how your view of the world and your life have/have not been affected by what you have read and learned. This is a personal, reflection-oriented paper, but should still be informed by class materials and discussions. You may even fairly claim not to have been affected by or learned anything in this class whatsoever, but you must still explain that claim with some detail.



2. Based on your selection, address two main queries: (a) what is happening in this part of the book? (that is, provide a brief review of what you deem to be the salient events/lessons in this portion of the text); and (b) what linkages can be drawn between the themes or occurrences in this part of the book with the topics of our main text and class discussions? In short, you are to demonstrate that you have been reading the book, and that you have given some considered thought to integrating the book's events and lessons with our other class materials and discussions about Chinese history and culture. This can be more objectively oriented, and need contain no personal reflections or revelations. Such content is permitted, but not required to complete the assignment.

Suggested length: the paper should run ~1250-1600 words (= 5-6 pages of standard size print and margins), and should be typed or computer-generated. No handwritten work will be accepted. Longer essays are fine; shorter essays are likely too short satisfactorily to complete the Study as outlined.

Although speaking in class, publicly putting and defending a position, can be daunting, you are strongly encouraged to learn to think through your own and others' experiences and insights within the context our discussions. In short, you are encouraged to demonstrate your internalization of our material for application in the real world. In this context, you are not being evaluated for reaching "right" conclusions, but for demonstrating your facility in forming arguments for any conclusions put, given the material we will cover in class.

To give direct incentive to so engage, 22% of your mark for the course will be comprised of my assessment of your overall participation during the semester: 12% for regular in-class discussion participation; 10% for regular online participation. Web contributions should be made on a consistent basis: for example, read your classmates contributions and post a comment yourself at least once each week during the term. Don't post 10 comments all at once when the term is coming to an end.

This syllabus is composed in good faith, with a schedule of readings, assignments and discussions which will guide us throughout the term. Still, the instructor reserves the right to make adjustments to this schedule as deemed necessary for the overall enterprise of the course. Any changes will be communicated as far in advance as feasible, and you are responsible for knowing if and when any changes have been made.

Quizzes -- you must arrange a make-up with me before the quiz is given, not after. No exceptions.

Final Examination -- no make-ups will be arranged for the final exam. No exceptions.

Book Study -- no late work will be accepted for marking. No exceptions.