Spring 2009 Courses
Please note: Official Yale College program and course information is found in Yale College Programs of Study, available on line at www.yale.edu/yalecollege/publications/ycps. Because of the varied disciplinary courses offered, East Asian Studies (EAS) and East Asian Languages and Literatures (EALL) credits do not automatically accrue to courses taught in the Peking University-Yale University Joint Program.
Spring 2009 Course Descriptions
Chinese Language:
CHNS 120: "Elementary Modern Chinese"
CHNS 140: "Intermediate Modern Chinese"
CHNS 151: "Advanced Modern Chinese I"
All three courses are 1.5 credit.
Instructor: Xuan Ya Lecturer, International College for Chinese Language Studies, Peking University
The Chinese language program is supervised and coordinated by faculty in the Yale Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures and is led by Peking University faculty member Xuan Ya. Every Yale student will enroll in one Chinese language course; three levels will be offered.
Students at the fourth-year or higher level will study Chinese in no more than one advanced elective course at Peking University's International College for Chinese Language Studies; Yale credit may be awarded as an independent tutorial on early approval by the Resident Director and the Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures.
Students who are fluent in Chinese may be permitted to fulfill the Program's language requirement by auditing a course taught in Chinese at Peking University. This must be arranged in consultation with the Resident Director. No Yale credit will be awarded for auditing a course. However, a student may register for the course as YPKU 470 or 471 Direct Enrollment in Peking University courses (see below), with the approval of the instructor, resident director and the Program’s DUS.
CHNS 125: "Intensive Elementary Modern Chinese" (L1 & L2)
This is a 2 credit course.
Intended for students with no background in Chinese. An intensive immersion course covering CHNS 115a/b in one semester. Emphasis on spoken language and drills, pronunciation, grammatical analysis, conversation practice, and introduction to reading and writing Chinese characters.
ECON 120: "Introduction to Chinese Economy" (So)
Instructor: Dong Chen, Assistant Professor, Economics, Peking University
This course is designed to give students an overview of various aspects of the current Chinese economy, as well as the challenges that it faces. The topics to be covered include the cultural and political background of the Chinese economy, China's market transition, introduction of Chinese manufacturing and financial sectors, foreign trade, FDI, and the reform of SOEs. Study of China's economic policies and institutions will give students a practical understanding of business prospects in China and also offer insight into fundamental economic issues.
EENG 235a and 236b: "Special Projects, Beida-Yale Joint Research Center for Microelectronics and Nanotechnology" (Group IV)
Faculty-supervised individual or small-group projects with emphasis on laboratory experience, engineering design or tutorial study. Consult the DUS and faculty member to arrive at a one- to two-page prospectus for submission before the semester begins.
HIST 235: "Confucianism and Commerce in Chinese Society"
Instructor: Antonia Finnane, Professor of Chinese History, University of Melbourne
This course is designed to introduce students to Confucianism in relationship to Chinese economic culture. The course supposes no prior knowledge of Chinese history or culture: it begins simply with an introduction to the historical figure of Confucius, his writings, historical importance, and present-day relevance. Having grappled with the question, "what is Confucianism?," the class will go on to consider another question: "why has Confucianism both been blamed as the cause of China's 'backwardness' and praised as the secret of China's economic success?" The focus of study is on commerce and its practitioners in the last half-millenium, from the commerical revolution in the late Ming dynasty (16th century) to the consumer revolution of present times; and on the associated ideological environments, from heterodoxy in the late Ming to Confucian revivalism now. The major problem under consideration is the ascribed relationship between culture and the economy in historical and contemporary writings.
The goals of the subject are to expose students to the history of China from early modern times, to invite their intellectual engagement in this history, to develop critical thinking skills in relationship to common categories of analysis such as "culture" and "economy," and to build writing skills through regular written work submitted as part of the assessment.
HIST 305: “China's Greatest Archeological Discoveries to 1275 CE”
Instructor: Valerie Hansen, Professor of History, Yale University
An introduction to Chinese history from ancient times through the end of the Song dynasty in 1275 CE. Emphasis on how historians' understanding has changed because of archeological discoveries since 1899. Particular focus on the archeological exhibits on display in Beijing.
HIST 311: “Beijing Then and Now” (WR)
Instructor: Valerie Hansen, Professor of History, Yale University
An introduction to the history of Beijing in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Primary source readings include memoirs, guidebooks, and social surveys. Emphasis on exploring the legacy of the past in today's Beijing.
INTS 391 and EAST 291: "Chinese Law and Society"
Instructor: Ling Bin, Professor of Law, Peking University
This course attempts to observe the reforms and changes in the fields of economics, politics, and culture from ancient to modern China from a legal perspective, so as to bring the students to a deeper understanding of the historical causes for the status quo and prospects China faces in establishing the rule of law.
The basis for the grade is primarily based on the three parts: Reading Presentation, Class Contribution and Final Exam. The topic of the presentation will be selected from the required reading materials and assigned as a star (*) in the following reading list. The course will discuss about the key cases in historical and recent China. The students’ active and effective participation will be expected. A good performance calls for the preview on the readings before lectures. The final will be an eight hour take home exam.
MCDB 470: "Tutorial, Peking-Yale Center for Plant Molecular Genetics and Agro-biotechnology" (Group IV)
Instructor: Xing Wang Deng, Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University
Individual study for qualified students on the following research topics: plant development mechanism; plant biotechnology and functional genomics; plant defense mechanism and plant evolution; plant development and rice biotechnology; plant defense against virus; plant functional genomics; plant hormone action. The course must include one or more written examinations and/or a term paper. To register, the student must prepare a form, available in the office of the director of undergraduate studies, and a written plan of study with bibliography, approved by Professor Deng. The final paper is required before a grade is given. One term of this course fulfills the senior requirement if taken in the senior year.
MCDB 475: "Directed Research, Peking-Yale Center for Plant Molecular Genetics and Agro-biotechnology" (Group IV)
Instructor: Xing Wang Deng, Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University
Research projects under faculty supervision, ordinarily taken to fulfill the senior requirement. This course may be taken before the senior year, but it cannot substitute for other requirements. Students spend approximately ten hours per week in the laboratory and participate in monthly section meetings. At the beginning of the term the student must submit a written proposal of research approved by the Yale faculty sponsor and the instructor in charge of the course. A final research report is required before a grade is given. Research possibilities include: plant sex determination; plant biotechnology and functional genomics; plant defense mechanism and plant evolution; plant development and rice biotechnology; plant defense against virus; plant functional genomics; rice gene function and biotechnology; self-incompatibility mechanism and rice functional genomics; photosynthesis and proteomics; plant development mechanism; plant hormone action.
PLSC 395: "Selected Topics in Ethnic Politics: Survey of Theories about Nation and How (Not) to Apply Them on China" (So)
Instructor: Zhang Jian, Lecturer, School of Government, Peking University
This course intends to guide the students through the literature on nationalism and nation-building. Particular emphasis will be given to the building of the Chinese nation in the past one and a half centuries, but we will also explore the significance of nationalism in general in the modern world, which hopefully will then help us further and better understand and critically review the efforts of successive Chinese revolutionaries, intellectuals and politicians to build the Chinese nation.
The course begins with an introduction to the mainstream theories of nationalism, nation and nation-building, which are developed by western scholars and based on the experience of western people in the past four or five hundred years. This section is to prepare the students with necessary theoretical acumen for their study of the Chinese nation.
In the second section of the course, we will review the origin, process, dynamics and policies of the Chinese nation building. Should the history of Chinese nation be traced back to ancient myths? Or rather, the Chinese as nation is quite a recent and novel invention in the past century? If Chinese as nation is essentially new, why this new invention started in the first place? Who is/are the main builder(s) of this new nation? What role does the long past of this people play in its reincarnation as a nation? Why the ethnic minority people within China are of particular importance to any successful nation building efforts? This section will be organized along these (and other) questions.
The third section tries to broaden the horizon. Nationalism, nation building efforts and the resistance to such efforts constitute a big chunk of human history and are critical to any serious understanding of the current affairs. If China and the rest of the world will continue to interact and re/shape each other, then what do the experiences of the people who bear political, historical and cultural resemblances mean to the future of the Chinese nation and its role in the world affairs?
YPKU 471 Direct Enrollment in Peking University Courses
Students with very advanced Chinese language skills may enroll directly in at least one Peking University course with the permission of the instructor and the approval of the resident director and the Joint Program’s DUS. Should a student wish to petition for credit to the major, then she would also need to present a syllabus to the departmental DUS. Because students are expected to enroll in program courses, including one that fulfills the Chinese language requirement, requests to enroll in more than one Peking University course will be considered on a case by case basis.
