CET's Beijing Chinese Studies Program is designed to provide students with a broad understanding of Chinese culture, history and issues of contemporary significance, while allowing them the flexibility to focus on specific topics of their choosing. The program accommodates all students, with varying degrees of Chinese background, by offering core courses in Chinese history, politics, environmental issues and the capstone course, 21st Century Beijing, which centers on issues of critical importance in today's Beijing (this course is required for all students with no background coursework in Chinese studies). Also, electives in philosophy, Chinese cinema, anthropology and literature may be offered as well. In addition to these area studies courses, up to five levels of Chinese language may be offered: beginning through advanced (heritage learners can be accommodated as well). All Chinese language courses are taught in Chinese, and area courses are taught in English.
The Chinese Studies program offers all students multiple service-learning opportunities with NGOs and organizations around Beijing. Students may volunteer to work with children of migrant workers, differently-abled adults and children, a local community center or with a local environmental NGO. An optional service-learning course taught by local faculty complements the volunteer experience.
Each area studies course includes, as a part of its curriculum, faculty-led field trips in and around Beijing. Field trips include lectures by local experts or visits to local museums, temples or other sites of historical and cultural significance. These excursions are designed to enhance students' learning experiences beyond the walls of the classroom.
All students take daily Chinese language classes, including one hour of one-on-one tutorial per week. Classes use an integrated approach to language learning, placing equal emphasis on the basic areas of language competency: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Vocabulary and topics link with the 21st Century Beijing class syllabus. One-on-one tutorials supplement group class work and provide students the chance to practice and refine sentence production.
Time: 10 hours/week in fall or spring, 2010; 5 hours/week in summer, 2010
Enrollment limit: Class size averages 6 students per class. Students are placed into appropriate levels upon arrival in Beijing.
Instructors: Language faculty come from CET's Beijing Chinese Language program. For more information, visit the Language Program's Faculty & Staff page.
Recommended Credits: 9 in fall or spring, 2010; 2 in summer, 2010
For Chinese language course listings and syllabi, please click here.
This course examines some of the major social, political and economic issues facing China in the 21st century, through the lens of Beijing as political and cultural capital of the country. From the decline of imperial rule, foreign invasions, the May Fifth Movement, the Communist Revolution, and post-Deng economic reforms, Beijing has been the key locus of the historic upheavals and transformations that have formed modern China. Thus the class will serve as a broad survey course for the most important issues affecting the country: Beijing as a physical space will serve as a jumping off point for an examination of topics such as the evolution of Chinese economy and society after reform, China under globalization, the content and control of the Chinese mass media, the assimilation of Western influences, China in the Information Age, and even the search for meaning and values in contemporary China. As much as possible, the class will draw upon the resources of Beijing itself, focusing on the important locales and historical sites of the city. Students will also be able to see China through the eyes of key local figures, benefiting from direct contact and interaction with the capital's diverse pool of academics, artists, scholars, business professionals and foreign experts.
Time: 3 hours/week (5 hours/week in summer)
Enrollment limit: This course is required of students with no previous coursework in Chinese studies. When enrollment exceeds 20 students, multiple sections of the course may be offered.
Suggested cross listings: East Asian Studies, Chinese Language and Literature, Cultural Studies
Instructor: David Moser, Academic Director
Recommended Credits: 3
Elective courses
One or two area studies electives (fall or spring). Course options include Chinese history, politics and environmental studies. Other electives may vary from term to term.
3 hours per week (fall and spring); 5 hours per week (summer)
Service-Learning elective course
4.5 hours per week (1.5 hours of classwork + 3 hours in service-learning placement).
Students who choose to enroll in an additional term at the Beijing Chinese Studies program may take an Independent Study in lieu of one elective course (pending faculty resources). All research projects are student-designed and completed under the direction of an advising member of CET's faculty. Projects can be on any topic of interest to the student, but must make use of Beijing as a learning environment. At the end of the term, students submit a final paper and give a formal presentation on their research findings to their teachers and peers. Independent Study guidelines can be found here.
Credits and Transcripts Each area studies course is intended to be worth the equivalent of one semester-long course taken at the home institution. Fall and spring Chinese language classes are intended to cover the equivalent of one semester of college-level Chinese, and summer Chinese language classes are intended to cover one quarter of college-level Chinese. However, as CET does not award credit for its classes, these are recommendations only. Students are issued transcripts and must apply for credit at their home institution. For more information about transcripts and credits, click here.
Advisory Board for Beijing Chinese Studies and Shanghai Programs Beijing Chinese Studies and Globalization in Shanghai program area studies courses are monitored by CET's Chinese Studies and Shanghai Programs Advisory Board. The board offers expertise in faculty selection, course offerings, experiential learning and the maintenance of high academic standards.
The assistance provided by CET's Advisory Board includes:
Meeting at least once annually to discuss the current state of CET's Chinese Studies and Shanghai programs and offering advice on specific curriculum, teaching and program issues.
Visiting CET's Chinese Studies and Shanghai programs in order to evaluate the area studies curricula and suggest improvements.
Serving as Chinese Studies or Shanghai program faculty during any given term and acting as mentors to other instructors while on site.
Current advisory board members, all of whom are experts in various China-related academic fields, are:
Dr. Rebecca Clothey, Drexel University School of Education Assistant Professor
Dr. Dorothy Borei, Guilford College Professor of History Dr. Ken Hammond, New Mexico State University Associate Professor of History and Department Head
Dr. Scott Kennedy, Indiana University Assistant Professor of Political Science
Elizabeth D. Knup, Kamsky Associates, Inc. Former American Co-Director, Hopkins-Nanjing Center for Chinese and American Studies
Dr. Nancy Riley, Bowdoin College Professor of Sociology
Dr. Helen Schneider, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Assistant Professor of History
Dr. Yan Sun, Gettysburg College Assistant Professor of Visual Arts
Chinese Language Teacher Training Chinese language faculty at the Chinese Studies program are trained in conjunction with their counterparts at the Beijing Chinese Language program. For more information, click here.
Previously Offered Elective Courses Because elective courses are taught by rotating faculty, course options vary from term to term. While CET makes every effort to provide students a wide array of courses and fields of study each term, final course options are determined by the faculty selected to teach in the program. In other words, academic standards and course quality are of primary concern.
The following is a list of some of the elective courses CET has offered in the past.
China's Modern Revolution, 1842-2006--Taught by Ken and Elvira Hammond, Summer 2006 Resistance and Reform: Social Issues of Contemporary China--Taught by Rebecca Clothey, Fall 2005 and Spring 2006 Sino-Japanese Relations--Taught by Liang Zhanjun, Fall 2005, Spring 2006 and Summer 2006 Chinese Literature in Translation--Taught by Elvira Hammond, Summer 2006 Chinese History through the Lens of Beijing--Taught by Ken Hammond, Summer 2006 Chinese 'Stand Up' Comedy--Taught by David Moser, Fall 2006 Chinese Culture, Chinese Mind, Chinese Worldview--Taught by Jason Patent, Fall 2006 Chinese Buddhism--Taught by An Yanming, Fall 2006 Material Culture in Imperial China--Taught by Ma Zhao, Spring 2007 China's Environment: History, Politics and Possibilities--Taught by W. Chad Futrell, Spring 2007 Republican Era Beijing and Shanghai, 1912-1949--Taught by Andrew Field, Summer 2007 China's Economic Transition and Development--Taught by Marica Frost, Summer 2007 Chinese Popular Culture and Media--Taught by David Moser, Fall 2007, Spring 2007 and Summer 2007 The US and China: Past, Present and Future--Taught by Shawn Hsieh, Fall 2007 Chinese Music--Taught by Michael Saffle, Fall 2007 China's Economic Transition and Development--Taught by Brian Murray, Fall 2007 Science and Tradition, China and the West-- Taught by Tian Song, Spring 2008 Environments of China--Taught by Janice Swab, Spring 2008 Philosophical Texts of China--Taught by Deng Xiaosong, Spring 2008 History of Beijing-- Taught by Jim Hevia, Summer 2008 History of Physical Culture in China-- Taught by Judith Farquhar, Summer 2008 Urban Design and Public Space in Beijing-- Taught by Ken Hammond, Summer 2008 China in Revolution: the Rise of Nationalism-- Taught by Elvira Hammond, Summer 2008 Topics in Transnational Chinese Cinema-- Taught by Shuqin Cui, Summer 2008
1920 N Street, NW, Suite 200 - Washington, DC 20036 - (800) 225-4262 - cet@academic-travel.com
