Change and Tradition, Fall 2003                                                                  Dr. James F. McGrath

Syllabus – China and Islam

For additional information see the C&T web page http://butler.edu/cnt/ and my own C&T page at http://blue.butler.edu/~jfmcgrat/cnt.htm

Final grade will be made up of:

30%  Two required papers (one on China – 15%; one on Islam – 15%)

30%  Two unit exams (one on China – 15%; one on Islam – 15%)

20%  Final exam

10%  Quizzes and ‘overnight writes’

 5%   News journal

 5%   Attendance and participation

100%

Required papers:

These are essentially short term papers. You may write on any subject that interests you provided you can justify a link to the subject matter – e.g. influence of Taoism on Chinese business ethics, Taoism and the arts in China, etc. However, you must get approval from me before choosing your own topic, and you must show detailed interaction with the primary literature that you have read this semester. If you simply want to choose from a list of subjects I have already come up with, you can write on one of the following:

1) "China's ancient philosophers are more suited to our modern secular age than the great thinkers of the Western tradition". Discuss and evaluate this statement.

2) "Although the Communists have fought a long war against Confucianism, Chinese society even today remains more Confucian than anything else". Discuss and evaluate this statement.

3) To what extent have literacy and education in China been a key factor in the development of its major traditions, both in the ancient world and today?

And for the Islam unit...

1) What factors made the Islamic faith so attractive to so many in Arabia in the time of its origin? Do the same or different factors contribute to its popularity today?

2) "The conflicts between the Arabs and the Byzantines from the time of Muhammad onward were determined by socio-economic and political factors rather than religious ones."  Discuss and evaluate this statement.

3) Compare the teachings of the Bible and the Qur'an on either (a) the person of Jesus or (b) Mary the mother of Jesus or (c) the nature and character of God or (d) rewards, judgment and the afterlife.

Quizzes and overnight writes:

Quizzes will be taken through http://blackboard.butler.edu. As a rule, you can take a quiz as many times as you like. When answering essay-type questions, I recommend that you answer in a separate document first, then cut and paste your answers into blackboard. Otherwise, you might lose your work due to a computer error. Overnight writes simply means an assignment to write a page summarizing a given topic. Whether short essay questions in a quiz or an overnight write, you are to bring these to class with you the next time we meet: they will serve as the basis for class discussions, and will be collected (via e-mail) and made available to your colleagues to help with revision for the exams. Needless to say, all such work should be typed.

News Journal:

This project is just what it sounds like: You are to create a collection of ‘clippings’ from newspapers about news events relating to China and Islam. You may collect on both subjects throughout the semester, but it is expected that you will maintain a balance between the two subjects in the journal in its final form. You should aim to find at least one story every day, or if this is impossible then every other day. Simply collect the articles (whether in printed or electronic format) and at the end of the semester, submit the collection together with your reflections on the following topics/questions:

1)      What have you learned about current events and issues in the countries in question?

2)      What are they key topics being discussed locally? Internationally? Was there any difference between the two, and if so why?

3)      What connections were you able to make between current events and what you studied in class?

The news journal may focus on a particular area that interests you: e.g. the arts, business, health care, politics, etc.

Textbooks:

Change and Tradition Reader

Additional textbooks required for the China unit:
Albert M. Craig, The Heritage of Chinese Civilization
Tao Te Ching
Ha Jin, The Bridegroom


Additional textbooks required for the Islam unit:
Karen Armstrong, Islam: A Short History
The Qur’an
Alifa Rifaat, A Distant View of the Minaret
Samia Serageldin, Cairo House

Provisional C & T class schedule

Note: Homework (= HW) readings are from the C&T Reader unless otherwise noted. N.B. The homework listed here (unlike on the printed syllabus) represents the reading/work to be done prior to the class in question!

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