Change and Tradition, Summer II 2003                                                                 Dr. James F. McGrath

 

Syllabus – China and The Islamic Middle East

 

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 (The latter page is formatted for the normal Fall course schedule, but the content covered is the same as that for the Summer version of the C&T course)

 

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) Illustrate the elements of change/development and preservation of tradition between Confucius and any two other writers studied this semester.

2) Discuss the different views of the sage and learning in Confucianism and Taoism.

3) “Knowledge is power.” Discuss how this is illustrated in both Chinese society and in the Chinese philosophies of Confucianism and Taoism.

 

Quizzes and overnight writes:

Quizzes will be taken through blackboard.com. 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:

Craig, Albert, The Heritage of Chinese Civilization

Tao Te Ching

Ha Jin, The Bridegroom

 

Additional textbooks required for the Islam unit:

Armstrong, Karen, Islam

The Qur’an

Rifaat, A Distant View of the Minaret

 

 

 

 

Provisional C & T class schedule  (to be updated at http://blue.butler.edu/~jfmcgrat/cnt_summer_2003.htm)

 

Note: Homework (= HW) readings are from the C&T Reader unless otherwise noted. Readings are to be done before the class where they are mentioned.

Week	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday
1	Introduction: Study of Other Cultures  Read Yin and Yang; Ode to King Wen (pp.64-70) HOMEWORK	Confucius and Confucianism Read: pp.84-120	Taoism: Read Tao Te Ching; Selections from Chuang Tzu (pp.121-129)	Politics; Challenges to Tradition
2	Communist China – Read: Cowboy Chicken, Flame		Introduction to Islam Muhammad	The Quran; The Five Pillars
3	Hadith; Sunni and Shia	Sufism; Rumi;  Layla & Majnun	Contemporary Egypt – Distant View, Bahiyya's Eyes, Telephone Call, My World of the Unknown; etc.; Women in Islam	Review; Unit Exam; Final Exam