HIST-­‐UA 690, S16 [Updated 10/1/15, Tentative], 1 Masato Hasegawa Office: KJCC 526 Phone: (212) 998-­‐8645 Email: masato.hasegawa@nyu.edu Office Hours: Wed 11 am or by appointment Spring 2016 Time: Wed 2:00-­‐4:45 pm Location: 12WV L114 Seminar HIST-­‐UA 690 GENDER AND MORALITY IN CHINESE SOCIETY TENTATIVE SYLLABUS: SUBJECT TO CHANGE DESCRIPTION: Often attributed to Mao Zedong, “Women Can Hold Up Half the Sky” was a political slogan in China in the 1950s and 1960s. It was popularized in an effort to underscore the essential role that women were expected to play in China's economic production. This was by no means the first time, however, that the question of gender equality had been raised in the public sphere in Chinese history. Nor was it the first time that gender ideals and expectations in China had come under close scrutiny. This seminar aims to situate the continuing debate over gender equality in Chinese society in a broader historical context and examines China's historical processes of the production and interpretation of gender ideals from the pre-­‐modern period to the modern era. Particular emphasis will be placed on assessing the manner in which ideas about gender and sexuality converged with the notion of morality in Chinese historical sources. The general course format combines critical reading of texts and active discussion. Readings will include both contemporary historical scholarship on gender and sexuality in China and an array of primary source materials in English or in English translation. There are no prerequisites. This course is open to all students. GOALS: The goals of the course are threefold. First, this course seeks to provide an overview of the current scholarship on the question of women and gender in Chinese history. Proceeding both chronologically and thematically, we will discuss major concepts and questions concerning gender and morality in Chinese society. Second, this course emphasizes the importance of critically assessing not only primary sources but also scholars’ historical arguments and methodological approaches. Paper assignments and oral presentations in this course are designed to help hone skills in effectively articulating ideas and opinions in both written and oral format. Third, this course addresses the issue of identifying and locating primary sources in historical research. We will examine the nature of primary sources employed by scholars in their studies of gender issues in Chinese history. You will also be introduced to a wide range of primary source materials and reference works that are available for use in the NYU Libraries to aid your future research involving primary sources. REQUIREMENTS: Ÿ Class Participation: Students are expected to come to class regularly, complete all reading assignments before class, and actively participate in in-­‐class discussions. HIST-­‐UA 690, S16 [Updated 10/1/15, Tentative], 2 Ÿ Weekly Web Postings: As part of class participation, each week you should submit to the course website a reflection of no more than a paragraph on your reading of the assigned material. Postings need not be in polished form, and you are welcome to focus on one or two of the week’s readings. Possible postings may take the form of a question about the reading, a comparison with other or previous readings, or a response to another student’s posting. These postings are designed to start a dialogue about the readings before class and facilitate our discussion and analysis during class. Postings should be submitted online no later than 12 noon each Monday, and everyone is expected to look them over before arriving in class. Ÿ Two Oral Presentations: On a rotating basis, students will present on selected readings to the class and lead discussion, with particular attention to the author’s analysis of evidence or, in the case of presentations on primary sources, to the material’s value as historical evidence. Each presentation should be no more than 10 minutes. No additional research is required for these presentations. Ÿ Informal Reports on Contemporary Events: Over the course of the semester, check news reports on the question of gender roles and expectations in China regularly (e.g. in The New York Times or The Economist magazine) and consider connections between our readings and developments in contemporary China. On two designated days, select one news story and bring to class a printed copy of your story. We will share everyone’s news story in small and large groups. Ÿ Map Quiz: We will hold a map quiz on the geography of contemporary China in class. Ÿ Short Paper (1000 words): Ÿ Final Paper (2500-­‐3000 words): GRADING: Grades for the course will be based on class participation, weekly web postings, and presentations (20%), a map quiz (5%), a short paper (25%), and a final paper (50%). ACADEMIC WRITING & REFERENCING: For the purpose of facilitating discussion of source materials, citations should be provided in footnotes in accordance with the format recommended by The Chicago Manual of Style. The Chicago Manual (16th ed.) is available online via BobCat (http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html) and in Bobst Library’s Reference Collection on the 1st floor. Writing advice is also available at the Writing Center (http://ewp.cas.nyu.edu/page/writing.center) located at 411 Lafayette St. You can schedule an appointment online to discuss a draft of your paper with a writing consultant. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: Academic integrity and honesty are our most fundamental commitment and responsibility as members of the NYU community. Academic dishonesty of any kind will be penalized according to university policy. The guidelines on academic integrity are outlined at HIST-­‐UA 690, S16 [Updated 10/1/15, Tentative], 3 http://cas.nyu.edu/page/ug.academicintegrity. It is your responsibility to read and understand the guidelines before submitting your assignments. Papers should be submitted in both paper and electronic format. Make sure that you provide a full and accurate citation whenever you include the words or ideas of others in your written work. If you have any questions about how to cite sources or how to avoid unintentional plagiarism, please consult the instructor. BOOKS: The book listed below is available for purchase at the NYU Bookstore (marked as “Bookstore”) and also placed on reserve in Bobst Library. Books that are available as e-­‐books linked from BobCat are marked as “E-­‐book.” Other assigned materials will be posted on NYU Classes at least one week before class (marked as “NYU Classes”). If you have any problems locating any of these materials, contact the instructor as soon as possible. LIST OF READINGS (TENTATIVE) Bernhardt, Katherine. “A Ming-­‐Qing Transition in Chinese Women’s History? The Perspective from Law.” In Remapping China: Fissures in Historical Terrain. Edited by Gail Hershatter, Kathryn Bernhardt, James H. Cole, et al., 42–58. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1996. Bossler, Beverly. Courtesans, Concubines, and the Cult of Female Fidelity: Gender and Social Change in China, 1000–1400. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2013. Bray, Francesca. Technology and Gender: Fabrics of Power in Late Imperial China. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997. Cutter, Robert Joe, and William Gordon Crowell, eds., and trans. Empresses and Consorts: Selections from Chen Shou’s “Records of the Three States” with Pei Songzhi’s Commentary. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 1999. Ebrey, Patricia. The Inner Quarters: Marriage and the Lives of Chinese Women in the Sung Period. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993. Ebrey, Patricia. “Women, Marriage, and the Family in Chinese History.” In Heritage of China: Contemporary Perspectives on Chinese Civilization. Edited by Paul S. Ropp, 197–223. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990. Hershatter, Gail. Women in China's Long Twentieth Century. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007. Ho, Clara Wing-­‐chung, ed. Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women. Vol. 1, The Qing Period, 1644–1911. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 1998. Honig, Emil and Gail Hershatter. Personal voices: Chinese Women in the 1980’s. Stanford, Calif. : Stanford University Press, 1988. Idema, Wilt, and Beata Grant. The Red Brush: Writing Women of Imperial China. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2004. Johnson, Linda Cooke. Women of the Conquest Dynasties: Gender and Identity in Liao and Jin China. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2011. Keightley, David. “At the Beginning: The Status of Women in Neolithic and Shang China.” Nan Nü: Men, Women and Gender in Early and Imperial China 1.1 (1999): 1–63. Ko, Dorothy. Teachers of the Inner Chambers: Women and Culture in Seventeenth-­‐Century China. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1994. HIST-­‐UA 690, S16 [Updated 10/1/15, Tentative], 4 Lee, Lily Xiao Hong, A. D. Stefanowska, and Sue Wiles, eds. Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: Antiquity through Sui, 1600 B.C.E.–618 C.E. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2007. Lee, Lily Xiao Hong, and Sue Wiles, eds. Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: Tang through Ming, 618-­‐1644. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2014. Mann, Susan, and Yu-­‐yin Cheng, eds. Under Confucian Eyes: Writings on Gender in Chinese History. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001. Mann, Susan. Gender and Sexuality in Modern Chinese History. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2011. Mann, Susan. Precious Records: Women in China’s Long Eighteenth-­‐Century. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1997. Mann, Susan. The Talented Women of the Zhang Family. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007. Mann, Susan. “Women, Families, and Gender Relations.” In The Cambridge History of China. Vol. 9, The Ch’ing Empire to 1800, Part 1. Edited by Willard J. Peterson, 428–472. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Martin-­‐Liao, Tienchi. “Traditional Handbooks of Women’s Education.” In Women and Literature in China. Edited by Anna Gerstlacher, 165–189. Bochum, Germany: Studienverlag Brockmeyer, 1985. Peterson, Barbara Bennett, ed. Notable Women of China: Shang Dynasty to the Early Twentieth Century. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2000. Pomeranz, Kenneth. “Women’s Work and the Economics of Responsibility.” In Gender in Motion: Divisions of Labor and Cultural Change in Late Imperial and Modern China. Edited by Bryna Goodman and Wendy Larson, 239–263. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2005. Ropp, Paul. “Women in Late Imperial China: A Review of Recent English-­‐Language Scholarship.” Women’s History Review 3.3 (1994): 347–383. Teng, Emma. “The Construction of the ‘Traditional Chinese Woman’ in the Western Academy: A Critical Review.” Journal of Women in Culture and Society 22.1 (Autumn 1996): 115–151. Wang, Robin. Images of Women in Chinese Thought and Culture: Writings from the Pre-­‐Qin Period through the Song Dynasty. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2003. Yan, Yunxiang. Private Life under Socialism: Love, Intimacy, and Family Change in a Chinese Village. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2003.