CHINA
2004 Fulbright-Hays Seminar Abroad
Curriculum Unit
CHINA PERSPECTIVES-A four-week undergraduate course module focusing on several important aspects of China’s emergence as a world power.
Rathin Basu
Ferrum College
Ferrum, VA 24088
January 9, 2005
SUMMARY
China has emerged as a world power, in economic, political, and cultural terms, during the last twenty five years and it seems poised to become even more influential on the world scene in the future. However, the path to greater global importance and influence is not without thorns. The current boom in China has created widening gaps between the “haves and the have-nots” geographically and demographically. In addition, the impact of development on the environment has been severe.
As China continues to tread the road to development and grows into a super power on the world stage, it becomes important to understand the basis for its development and the potential for growth in the future and also the consequences of such growth. As a major trading partner for the U.S.A. it is vital for students in the US to understand China’s history and the basis for its economic growth. This curriculum unit attempts to provide an introduction to some of the many perspectives that are of importance when studying China’s past, present and future.
STUDENT LEVEL: This course module is intended for undergraduate students who have had the Principles courses in Macroeconomics and Microeconomics. It is likely to be most relevant for majors in Economics, International Studies, Political Science and International Business and can be included as part of an appropriate course in these areas. The module can be covered in 4 weeks of a 15 week semester course. The seminar is the recommended format for this course module. Students are expected to complete the readings and the mini-papers before class and discuss the results of their research in the class.
ESSENTIAL TOPICS:
1. An introduction to China’s history.
2. An exploration of China’s current economic development and growth.
3. An exploration of potential dangers on the road to growth.
4. A look into the future.
OBJECTIVES:
This course module is intended to enable students to:
· Understand China’s history and appreciate how that history has influenced current development from economic, social and cultural perspectives.
· Identify and explain the sources of China’s enormous rate of economic growth in the last twenty five years.
· Identify and explain the potential sources of danger to China’s continued success in its economic growth and development.
· Draw on their understanding of the past and present developments in China to present a reasoned outline of possible future scenarios of China’s future development.
1. An introduction to China’s history:
Questions for mini-paper and discussion: What are the major factors in China’s history which have been instrumental in its present growth? What are the major factors which may have prevented China from achieving this growth earlier in its history?
Readings:
i. Angus Maddison, Chinese Economic Performance in the Long Run. Paris: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 1998. 194 pp. ISBN: 92-64-16180-5. Chapters 1-3.
ii. Xiaotong Fei. 1992. From the Soil: The Foundations of Chinese Society. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Chapter 1-6
iii. Kent G. Deng. 2000. “A Critical Survey of Recent Research in Chinese Economic History.” Economic History Review. Vol. 53, No. 1. Pp. 1-28.
iv. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cntoc.html: A Country Study: China. Chapter 5
Internet Links:
Links providing access to timelines of Chinese history and/or maps of China.
http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/time_line.html Provides a timeline of Chinese history.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Chinese_history This site provides an excellent timeline of Chinese history, with embedded links explaining various aspects of the history.
http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/china/timeline.html
http://www.chinapage.com/map/map.html site provides many maps of China
2. An exploration of China’s current economic development and growth.
Questions for mini-paper and discussion: What are the major areas of current growth in the economy? How much of this growth is brought about by external demand? How is indigenous demand developing? What is happening regarding inequality in society: rich vs. poor, urban vs. rural, east vs. west? What is the structure of the financial system and how is it coping with growth?
Readings
i. June Grasso, Jay Corbin, and Michael Kort. 1997. Modernization and Revolution in China. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe. Chapter 7-10
ii. Barry Naughton. 1995. Growing out of the Plan. New York: Cambridge University Press. Chapters 4-9.
iii. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cntoc.html: A Country Study: China. Chapter 6-9.
3. An exploration of potential dangers on the road to growth
Questions for mini-paper and discussion: What are the sources of potential danger to the economy? How is the labor market developing? What are the potential sources of problems from the changing demographics of the country? What potential environmental problems could arise? What are the global implications of problems in China in these areas?
Readings
i. Energy and Environmental Problems behind China’s High Economic Growth– A Comprehensive Study of Medium- and Long-term Problems, Measures and
International Cooperation Li ZhiDong at http://eneken.ieej.or.jp/en/data/pdf/188.pdf
ii. Jasper Becker : “Wrenching environmental problems are plaguing the world's newest industrial powerhouse. Can China clean up its act?” http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0403/feature4/
iii. Meng Jianjun, “China's Challenge: Employment and unemployment” http://www.rieti.go.jp/en/events/bbl/02040501.html
iv. Anita Chan. 2001. China’s Workers Under Assault. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.
v. Joe Studwell. 2002. China Dream. Atlantic Monthly Press
4. A look into the future.
Readings
i. Chang Gordon.2001. The Coming Collapse of China Random House.
ii. Carpenter, Ted and J. A. Dorn. 1999. China's Future: Constructive Partner or Emerging Threat. CATO Institute
iii. “China’s Future”, http://www.theinternetfoundation.org/China/
iv. Stutter, Robert. “China’s Future: Implications for US interests” http://www.cia.gov/nic/confreports_chinafuture.html
ASSESSMENT: Student performance will be assessed on the basis of contributions to the discussions and the quality of the four mini-papers turned in.
ADDITIONAL INTERNET RESOURCES:
http://asnic.utexas.edu/asnic/countries/china/
http://sun.sino.uni-heidelberg.de/igcs/