[Enrollment Update]
Class is FULL. If you are still interested, you can apply by the deadline. We will contact you individually.
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What is contemporary China and how do we characterize it? A nation which achieved an unprecedented economic boom, ending its centuries of humiliation and poverty? A totalitarian state equipped with the most advanced surveillance system ever existed, where activists detained, dissidents suppressed, minorities struggled? Is China communist? Capitalist? Maoist? Fascist? Leninist? Socialist? Revisionist? Is China simply "brainwashing" its citizens with Orwellian doublethink? Or its just that there exists an alternative value system and historical narrative, perhaps with value in its own rights, yet ill-understood and under-appreciated by the West?

The amazing thing about China is: it could be (and had been) argued that all of the above questions admit affirmative answers. How could this be possible? Together as a class, we shall investigate some of the complexities and controversies leading to such a paradoxical claim. Instead of advocating an overarching theory, we will try to suspend our judgement and devote our effort to understanding particular aspects of the Chinese society, politics, history and culture. This means that we will not only compare and contrast grand histories, but also pay attention to under-represented voices and hidden stories.

Due to limitation in scope, we will mainly focus on post-1949 China, with a contemporary emphasis. Participants are expected to attend classes, read class material beforehand, and participate in discussions. There is no paper or exam.

Link to syllabus:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HqKfzV3yHuft76ekvnAUl0sZNV1LBk1f/view?usp=sharing

Link to Course Catalog page:
https://classes.berkeley.edu/content/2021-spring-global-198-001-grp-001

Application is open! Please fill in the form below. If your application is successful, you will receive the enrollment code by Sunday, Jan. 17.