General Information
China as an Emerging Power in a Global Perspective
Course title
Faculty/Institute
Faculty of Journalism and Politica Science / Institute of
International Relations
Programme for which the
course is offered
BUSINESS LAW & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT OF CHINA
Course ID
Erasmus code
Course group
Didactic cycle
Type/form of class
Combined Workshop
Brief course description
This course is inter-disciplinary in nature and will combine
lectures, discussions, as well as fieldwork. Each week, the
instructor will provide necessary background information and
discussions will pay particular attention understanding the issue
from the perspectives mentioned above. Last, the course will
require students to engage the local culture. You will exploit their
natural advantage of being in China to make friends with locals,
explore lesser-known parts of the city, and even learn from the
perspective of ethnic minorities (via our learning excursion) far
away from—both in terms of location and culture—the centers of
Han Chinese society.
Full course description
Few countries in the modern era have experienced as much
dramatic change and transition as has China. In just over 30
years, China has transformed itself from a revolutionary state with
little contact with the international community to increasingly one
of the most significant actors in the twenty-first century world.
And because of China’s size and integration with the world
community, changes that affect China also affect the world. In
short, China is significant not only because it is breaking and
setting records, but because what happens to China will
undoubtedly in one form or another, impact how we live our lives.
How to understand these changes and challenges facing
China today? The Modern China course addresses some of the
key issues facing contemporary China through a four-fold
approach. In addition to the national perspective (the usual
perspective of a traditional classroom course on China), this
course will take advantage of the study abroad experience to
incorporate local, global, and personal perspectives. We will take
advantage of being located in Dalian to explore how this region, a
central focus of Beijing’s plan to revitalize the entire northeastern
“Increase of EU's economic potential in relations with China”
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region, to explore how local variations are crucial for our
understanding of the complexity and often contentious nature of
change occurring in China today. Furthermore, this course seeks
to integrate the inherently trans-cultural nature of the study abroad
experience with an exploration of how the issues facing China are
intimately tied to the larger global community. Finally, you will
also engage in readings that probe dimensions of one’s personal
encounter with China (i.e. How is your experience of China
shaping your understanding of culture and identity? What is your
personal experience of the issues discussed in the course?). This
type of approach will yield a much more nuanced understanding
of China as it allows us to explore the ways in which this country
looks same/different as we shift perspectives.
This course is inter-disciplinary in nature and will combine
lectures, discussions, as well as fieldwork. Each week, the
instructor will provide necessary background information and
discussions will pay particular attention understanding the issue
from the perspectives mentioned above. Last, the course will
require students to engage the local culture. You will exploit their
natural advantage of being in China to make friends with locals,
explore lesser-known parts of the city, and even learn from the
perspective of ethnic minorities (via our learning excursion) far
away from—both in terms of location and culture—the centers of
Han Chinese society.
Prerquisites
Formal
—
prerequisites
other
prerequisites
Learning outcomes
Basic information about Chinese Political and Economic System.
The objectives of the course are to hone students’ abilities to think
comparatively, over time and across cultural contexts. We will
consider the lessons we can learn from history and their application
to nations and institutions in our own time. Possibility to realize the
role and scope of Chinese influence on political and economic
dimension in the international cooperation.
ECTS credits
Assessment methods and
criteria
1) Attendance. One meeting, three hours a week.
2) Field report presentations. Turn in ppt. and written
presentation (3-5 pages each). Three total (10 % each). Reports
will be evaluated on the following basis: 1) Does the presentation
demonstrate an accurate understanding (i.e. through the type of
questions asked of locals, sites visited, observations made) of the
main issues under discussion? 2) Has there been any effort to
include critical reflection of these issues?
3) Position paper. 7-10 pages (45%). You will select one topic of
interest and write a paper reflecting a particular position or
argument. This will require you to: 1) See clearly the main issues
of concern (close and accurate comprehension of material); 2)
“Increase of EU's economic potential in relations with China”
Leonardo da Vinci – Transfer of Innovation
Evaluate available evidence and decide which argument is most
convincing; 3) Integrate argument and evidence into a coherently
written paper.
4) Personal reflection journal (25%). At the beginning of the
semester, you will choose from a list of recently published
memoirs (see below under course topics, China and Me) written
by Westerners (mostly Americans) to read throughout the
semester. These memoirs are to serve as a springboard for
thought and reflection as you explore issues of culture and identity
encountered during their time in China. The memoirs will also
serve as springboards for discussion in class. The end product,
the reflection journal, will be submitted at the end of the semester.
There is no page-length requirement, you will be required to write
a minimum of 4 entries (think of it as one entry per month). The
main emphasis will be on the quality of the journal entries.
Guidelines for writing a good reflective journal: 1) Have I identified
some key issues raised by the memoir? 2) Have I connected
these issues with my own experience? 3) Have I reflected on
whether my experience conforms to or contradicts that of the
memoir writer? And why this is so?
Type of examination
Exam & Essays
Type of course



Mode of delivery
Language of instruction
Bibliography
The method of teaching is by way of workshops.
E-learning platform content.
Students will be given reading lists in advance of each session
and will be expected to have read the required readings and be
prepared to contribute to a discussion of the
material.
English
Allen Carlson, Mary Gallager, Kenneth Lieberthal and Melanie
Manion, Chinese Politics: New Sources, Methods, and Field
Strategies (Cambridge, 2010)
Kevin J. O’Brien, “Discovery, Research Re(Design) and Theory
Building,” in Maria Heimer and Stig Thogersen eds., Doing
Fieldwork in China (Hawaii, 2006), pp. 27-41
Kevin J. O’Brien, “Studying Chinese Politics in an Age of
Specialization,” Journal of Contemporary China (September
2011): 535-41
Work placement(s)
Course coordinator
Academic teachers
Remarks
Bruce Gilley, “Paradigms of Chinese Politics: Kicking Society Back
Out,” Journal of Contemporary China (June 2011): 517-533
—
 Dr Jakub Zajączkowski
(Institute of International Relations)
 Dr Jakub Zajączkowski
 Visiting Professors
—
“Increase of EU's economic potential in relations with China”
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Detailed Information
Name of the academic teacher
Jakub Zajaczkowski,
practicioners)
Academic degree
PhD & MA& BA
Form of the class
Seminar
Learning outcomes
The objectives of the course are to hone students’ abilities to think
comparatively, over time and across cultural contexts. We will
consider the lessons we can learn from history and their application
to nations and institutions in our own time.
1) Attendance. One meeting, three hours a week.
Assessment methods and
criteria for this course
Ph.D.
(+
invited
scholars
and
2) Field report presentations. Turn in ppt. and written presentation
(3-5 pages each). Three total (10 % each). Reports will be
evaluated on the following basis: 1) Does the presentation
demonstrate an accurate understanding (i.e. through the type of
questions asked of locals, sites visited, observations made) of the
main issues under discussion? 2) Has there been any effort to
include critical reflection of these issues?
3) Position paper. 7-10 pages (45%). You will select one topic of
interest and write a paper reflecting a particular position or
argument. This will require you to: 1) See clearly the main issues
of concern (close and accurate comprehension of material); 2)
Evaluate available evidence and decide which argument is most
convincing; 3) Integrate argument and evidence into a coherently
written paper.
Type of examination
4) Personal reflection journal (25%). At the beginning of the
semester, you will choose from a list of recently published
memoirs (see below under course topics, China and Me) written
by Westerners (mostly Americans) to read throughout the
semester. These memoirs are to serve as a springboard for
thought and reflection as you explore issues of culture and identity
encountered during their time in China. The memoirs will also
serve as springboards for discussion in class. The end product,
the reflection journal, will be submitted at the end of the semester.
There is no page-length requirement, you will be required to write
a minimum of 4 entries (think of it as one entry per month). The
main emphasis will be on the quality of the journal entries.
Guidelines for writing a good reflective journal: 1) Have I identified
some key issues raised by the memoir? 2) Have I connected
these issues with my own experience? 3) Have I reflected on
whether my experience conforms to or contradicts that of the
memoir writer? And why this is so?
o
Exam
A list of topics
The economy
“Increase of EU's economic potential in relations with China”
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Local: Arise, Slaves, Arise! (Philip Pan) [About the fate of SOEs
and unemployment in Liaoning.]
National: Chinese Economic Reforms, 1978-present (lecture by
course instructor)
Global: China Makes, The World Takes (James Fallows)
[Highlights the role of China as the factory of the world, with
special reference to its impact on the U.S.]
Politics and the state (2 weeks)
Local: Preferential Policies, Municipal Leadership, and
Development Strategies: A Comparative Analysis of Qingdao and
Dalian (Jae Ho Chung, in Cities in China: Recipes for Economic
Development in the Reform Era. Routledge, 1999) [Addresses the
question of how local leaders have taken specific approaches to
economic development.]
National: The Red Machine: The Party and the State (Richard
McGregor, The Party: The Secret World of China’s Communist
Rulers. Harper, 2010.) [A lively description of the inner workings
of the Party’s structure.]
Global: The Rise of China and the Future of the West: Can The
Liberal System Survive? (John Ikenberry, in Foreign Affairs,
Jan/Feb 2008) [Addresses the question, is the rise of China a
threat to the West?]
The Environment (2 weeks)
Film screening of Toxic Linfen [Documents the conditions of one
of China’s most heavily polluted cities.]
Local: Economic Globalization and the Environment in China: A
Comparative Case Study of Shenyang and Dalian (Sangbum
Shin, in The Journal of Environment and Development, Sept.
2004)
National: China’s Silver Lining (James Fallows) [Overview of
China’s environmental issues, opportunities to improve.]
Global: China vs. Earth (Elizabeth Economy, in The Nation, April
19, 2007) [In contrast to Fallows, a more negative assessment of
China’s environmental impact on the world.]
Rural-Urban (2 weeks)
Local: Political Struggles of Rural Migrant Hostesses in Dalian
(Tiantian Zheng, in Critical Asian Studies, 39:1, 2007) [Focuses on
a specific group of rural migrants and raises questions about
official state constructions of their identity as second-class
citizens.]
National: film screening of Beijing Bicycle [A representative film of
China’s new urban cinema.]
Global: The Urban Climacteric (Mike Davis) [A global perspective
on the phenomenon of new urban populations in the world’s new
megacities.]
Urban life
Local: student report on exploration of Dalian
National: The Rich Lady (Philip Pan) [China’s urbanization has
resulted in large-rate destruction of entire neighborhoods deemed
“Increase of EU's economic potential in relations with China”
Leonardo da Vinci – Transfer of Innovation
not modern enough. This chapter provides a snapshot of some of
the people caught up in this process.]
Global: Illusions of Self Help (Mike Davis) [Discusses the growth
of slum communities and pockets of poverty that have developed
alongside and within new cities.]
Center/Periphery—minorities (2 weeks)
Local: learning excursion to Nujiang, Yunnan [What is life like on
the Chinese periphery? How do the Lisu people understand their
position within the Chinese nation?]
National: The Yellow Man’s Burden: Chinese Migrants on a
Civilizing Mission (Pal Nyiri, in The China Journal, July 2006)
[What is the mainstream Chinese view of minorities?]
Global: To Hell With Good Intentions (Ivan Illich, originally
presented at the Conference on InterAmerican Student Projects
(CIASP) in Cuernavaca, Mexico, on April 20, 1968) [About the
American “dogooder” attitude in Latin America, but equally
applicable to Americans in China.]
Youth and Education (2 weeks)
Film screening of Senior Year [award winning documentary—but
banned in China—following a year in the life of Chinese high
school seniors.]
Local: Only Hope (Vanessa Fong, Only Hope: Coming of Age
under China’s One-Child Policy. Stanford University Press, 2006)
[Ethnographic account of the single child in Dalian and their quest
for success in education.]
National: Education Without Heart (Yu Jian, in Southern
Weekend, May 5, 2010) [An English translation of a scathing
indictment of the failures of the Chinese education system from a
leading progressive newspaper in China.]
Global: Wanted: World-Class Universities (Ben Wildavsky, The
Great Brain Race: How Global Universities are Reshaping the
World. Princeton University Press, 2010) [Universities
around the world, including China, are seeking world-class status.]
Individual and Society (2 weeks)
Film screening of Young and Restless in China [PBS
documentary, providing snapshots of 10 young individuals in
China.]
Local: student report on interviews with local Chinese
National: Gender Dynamics and the Triumph of Conjugal Power
(Yunxiang Yan, Private Life Under Socialism: Love, Intimacy, and
family Change in a Chinese Village, 1949-1999. Stanford
University Press, 2003) [Discusses the structural transformation of
families in contemporary China.]
Global: The Public Sphere, Civil Society and Moral Community
(Richard Madsen, in Modern China, April 2003) [Places the idea of
civil society, one of the most important and influential ideas in
contemporary social science, and applies it to China with specific
reference to questions of morality and culture in social
transformation.]
China and Me
Summing up and personal reflections
“Increase of EU's economic potential in relations with China”
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Choose one of the following:
Foreign Babes in Beijing (Rachel DeWoskin)
Big in China (Alan Paul)
River Town (Peter Hessler)
Mr. China (Tom Clissold)
Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper (Fuchsia Dunlop)
American Shaolin (Matthew Polly)
Learning activities and
teaching methods
Bibliography
 Short lectures followed by a discussion with students;
 Lectures and debates with Visiting Professors;
 E-learning platform;
 Analysis of statistical data;
 Case studies.
Allen Carlson, Mary Gallager, Kenneth Lieberthal and Melanie
Manion, Chinese Politics: New Sources, Methods, and Field
Strategies (Cambridge, 2010)
Kevin J. O’Brien, “Discovery, Research Re(Design) and Theory
Building,” in Maria Heimer and Stig Thogersen eds., Doing
Fieldwork in China (Hawaii, 2006), pp. 27-41
Kevin J. O’Brien, “Studying Chinese Politics in an Age of
Specialization,” Journal of Contemporary China (September
2011): 535-41
Bruce Gilley, “Paradigms of Chinese Politics: Kicking Society Back
Out,” Journal of Contemporary China (June 2011): 517-533
Limit of places available
Time
Place
“Increase of EU's economic potential in relations with China”
Leonardo da Vinci – Transfer of Innovation