Courses - Spring 2013

Introductory course in modern Chinese using Lin’s College Chinese. Covers both spoken and written aspects of the language. Open to students who have had no training in Chinese, the course includes translation from and into Chinese and a basic study of elementary Chinese grammar.

Sample Syllabus

Continuation of Elementary Chinese I using Lin’s College Chinese. Covers both spoken and written aspects of the language. The course includes translation from and into Chinese and a basic study of elementary Chinese grammar.

Sample Syllabus

A continuing study of Chinese at the intermediate level. In addition to the reading of pai-hua (colloquial) texts, the course provides enough wen-yen (classical) syntax and vocabulary to aid in reading contemporary belles lettres and journalistic and documentary materials in the original.

Sample Syllabus

A continuation of Intermediate Chinese I. In addition to the reading of pai-hua (colloquial) texts, the course provides enough wen-yen (classical) syntax and vocabulary to aid in reading contemporary belles lettres and journalistic and documentary materials in the original.

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Reading and translation of wen-yen or pai-hua texts in the humanities and literature. The course is intended to develop reading speed and comprehension of more advanced syntax and styles. Text: Introduction to Literary Chinese.

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Continuation of EAST-UA 9205, with greater emphasis on wen-yen and a gradual introduction of ku-wen (classical Chinese). Designed to help students learn to use original sources in research.

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This course is designed for students who have Chinese-speaking background and who can understand and speak conversational Chinese related to daily life situations.  It aims to develop students' correct pronunciation, grammatical accuracy and overall competence in reading and writing.

Sample Syllabus

Students will work with traditional and digital photographic practices to engage with the people, art, and traditions of China. The class will include field trips to museums, galleries and studios, allowing students to interact with outstanding local photographers, media based artists, and the city's creative community. Assigned readings will help students understand the historical and theoretical context of photographic work, and deepen the meaning of critiques and discussions. Experimentation will be encouraged, and students will respond to the experiences, ideas, and influences they encounter abroad through the work they create. Projects may range from classical photographs to digital prints, performance, and installation.

Sample Syllabus

The contemporary art scene in China has fast over the past three decades. The massive political, economic, and social changes the country has undergone since the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976 have dramatically altered the country’s cultural landscape. In this seminar course, the course will survey the main development areas in Chinese contemporary art from the end of the 1920s to the present day. Dedicated to responding to the new textures of China’s metropolitan culture, it will look at the relationship between visual arts, new media, architecture, and performance in the mega-city of Shanghai, often regarded as the cradle of Chinese modernity.  The class will be complemented by guest lectures and visits to public museums, galleries and artists’ studios in and around Shanghai. Students will have the opportunity to meet leading figures from the art world in China as well as the international art community, including artists, museum directors, curators, art critics, and art dealers.

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In this course, students learn how to increase their communication effectiveness for business and professional goals. During the semester, students focus on the strategic implications of communication for modern organizations. A variety of assignments are given to stress the following communication competencies: written, spoken and nonverbal communication basics for business; effective team communication strategies; informative, persuasive and collaborative presentations; communication techniques for required junior and senior year projects. Students regularly receive personal feedback about their writing and their oral presentations from instructors and staff.

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Every professional business person must be aware of how legal systems work and effect business decisions. Furthermore, the interaction between Law and Business is multidimensional involving international, ethical, and technological considerations. In this course, students examine how key areas of business law, including contracts, torts, and business organizations, influence the structure of domestic and international business relationships. Students actively participate in legal studies designed to enhance business skills such as analytical thinking, written communication, oral presentation, conflict resolution, and team work problem-solving. 

Sample Syllabus

This course will operate as a 7 week intensive during the second half of the semester in Shanghai for Spring 2013

This course explores the field of marketing by introducing and developing central concepts and philosophies of marketing, and exploring the relationship of marketing with other business disciplines. Keeping in mind the perspectives of both producer and consumer, the course examines the planning required for the efficient use of marketing tools in the development and expansion of markets. The course concentrates on the principles, functions, and tools of marketing, including quantitative methods. Ethical issues in marketing are also addressed. In addition to lecture, the course uses case studies and student projects as methods for student learning.

Sample Syllabus

Prerequisite: Foundations of Finance (FINC-UB 2) or equivalent.

This course will operate as a 7 week intensive during the second half of the semester in Shanghai for Spring 2013

This course covers the theoretical and practical aspects of futures, options, and other derivative instruments, which have become some of the most important tools of modern finance. While the primary focus is on financial derivatives, contracts based on commodities, credit risk, and other nonfinancial variables are also covered. Topics include market institutions and trading practices, valuation models, hedging, and other risk management techniques. The course requires relatively extensive use of quantitative methods and theoretical reasoning.

This course investigates the nature, functions, and responsibilities of the management of organizations. The course develops an analytical approach to the identification, structuring, analysis, and solution of organizational problems, and introduces students to organizational policies and structures, functional areas, and production processes (including resource allocation, measurement and evaluation, and control), leadership style, and organizational adaptation and evolution. Teaching methodologies include lectures, case analysis and class discussion.

Sample Syllabus

This course, in its treatment of mythic images in narratives of China and the West, will grapple with the philosophical, psychological, religious and cultural issues underpinning perceived differences in the mythic traditions of China and the West, and the ramifications of those mythic traditions in literary genres of various types. Through a close analysis of the syllabus’ diverse, rich texts, ancient and modern, seminar participants will build sufficient critical tools to invigorate their own path to coming to terms with, and maybe even bridging, these differences.

Sample Syllabus coming soon.

Shanghai is a city in radical flux, an historical East-West hybrid that is reinventing itself daily on an epic scale in the 21st century. Home now to some 18 million, counting the “floating population” of migrants, it is an easy place to “lose” oneself. Our exploration of Shanghai’s contemporary self-reinvention sets the scene for a visceral encounter with our rapidly changing world, selves, and places in it. If, like Shanghai, we reinvent ourselves in our season here—as writer, traveler, critic, perhaps even as cultural voyeur—what might we find? In this course, we will explore what it means to “lose” and then “find” oneself anew in this city—primarily as a writer, but also as a traveler from the West, an outsider inhabiting, and shifting among, different cultural identities. This investigation will bring us to look closely at Chinese and West¬ern writers’ works—fiction, creative nonfiction, travel writing, poetry, film and other genres—that use the city, and the experience of being “alien” or “other,” as a vital site of exploration of self, culture, identity and society.

Sample Syllabus

This course examines Chinese films in their social, cultural and political context. Spanning the history of Chinese film, from “Street Angel” to “Cell Phone,” this course traces the stylistic development of Chinese cinema, and the political and social movements that shaped film content and aesthetics as well as the structure of film production.

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In this course we will select a number of critical issues in modern Chinese history to examine the political, social and cultural transformations of modern China. Topics of lectures include Confucianism and its modern fate, popular movements, the Great Leap Forward Movement, the role of Shanghai in modern China, Tiananmen Movement and the prospect of Chinese political reforms. The course will be approached through lectures, guest lectures, site visits, class discussions, and a number of small group projects.

Sample Syllabus

This course explores the environmental situation in China by examining both the very serious environmental challenges that China faces and the governance system(s) that exist in China for dealing with those challenges. In order to assess these challenges and systems, the course introduces a comparative dimension – looking at not only the Chinese system, but the American system as well, examining the environmental challenges and governance system of the United States, as well as the broader context within which China and the U.S. together constitute the two primary sources of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Is it possible to compare the American and Chinese systems? Can concepts of governance and assessment be translated between the two systems? What can China learn from the U.S.? What can America learn from China? Will the profound differences in our political and economic systems make environmental cooperation impossible, leading inevitably to conflict? Will globalization and technological innovation lead to healthy competition and cooperation to address common problems?

Sample Syllabus

This course covers China’s history from 1700 to the late 20th century. It has a gender angle, which discusses Chinese women’s issues, their role and engagement within the historical period. The course first explores the High Qing era, the Manchu court and the talented women poet tradition; then follows chronologically the politically unstable late Qing with the disappearance of the talented women. By introducing the Republican dreams, the course will move forward to discuss the creation of “new women” and the problematic “modern girls.” Westernization, urbanization, and colonialism are large themes that run through the above focuses. The course also calls our attention to women in the Communist revolution, starting from the Yan’an period, to the early P.R.C, till the Cultural Revolution and the Opening Policy era.

"Orientalism" is a concept made famous by Edward Said's book of the same name. What the concept refers to is, however, less clear. This course starts by looking at the debate initiated by Said's work, but goes quickly on to consider a long series of cases of European encounters with, and interpretations, of "the East." The material is roughly chronologically ordered: we start by following medieval European monks and merchants to China, study the rise of the idea of “Oriental despotism,” the fascination for tea and opium, the impact of chinoiserie and Chinese garden art in Europe, the British in India, and the impact of the Orient on European Romanticism. We conclude by two contemporary topics: the Orient as a site of spiritual experiences and as a place of sex tourism. 

Sample Syllabus

This course will examine stories in their many different manifestations. Its objective is to give students a critical appreciation of how stories are told through different mediums and to serve different agendas – be it art or advertising, journalism or national history. Guest lecturers using real-world examples from different disciplines will play a significant role in helping students understand how stories are told. Students will be expected to produce stories of their own through mediums of their choosing.

Sample Syllabus

This course will study China’s governance in the context of America’s own governance system. We will consider how to compare American and Chinese governance systems, and whether and how concepts can be translated between them—so that the countries, and their citizens can learn from, and cooperate with, one another. In the process, we hope to learn about China, but also to reflect—in the light of 911 and Iraq-- more deeply on our own understanding of how American governance works—and how it is seen by the world.

Sample Syllabus

This course is designed to introduce contemporary media industries in China, involving print, broadcasting, film, PR, advertising, and new media. This course reviews the structures, functions, and influences of various forms of media industries. Practical media work is emphasized. Additionally, it analyzes existing issues on these media industries from historical, regulatory, social, and technological perspectives.

Sample Syllabus

Requires departmental approval prior to registration. Open only to NYU Media, Culture, & Communication students. Interested MCC students should contact Jonathan Martinez jm4599@nyu.edu

The main aim of this course is to facilitate a rich engagement with Shanghai. The underlying premise is that the city is a critical site of globalization. Rather than view globalization as an external force acting on Shanghai, this course aims instead to show how globalization is inherent in the city and that an investigation of the distinctive features of Shanghai -- from the abandoned factories now revived as creative clusters, to the lilong architecture, luxury malls and street peddlers -- sheds light on both the past and future of globalization.

Sample Syllabus

Enrollment by permission only. Application required. Application information available here. Course includes weekly seminar and minimum of 10 hours fieldwork/ week at approved internship fieldsite. 

Sample Syllabus

This course focuses on China’s political and economic development over the last century and a half with particular attention to the last 33 years, the so-called Reform Period. Our three primary objectives are to (1) understand the historical trajectory of China’s development path; (2) consider in what ways and to what degree the growth experiences of East Asia’s high-performing economies helped inform China’s economic policymakers decisions and shed light on the prospects for the long-term success of reforms in China; (3) assess the state of China’s contemporary political economy and the current role of the government in generating or inhibiting economic activity.  

Sample Syllabus

This course combines two parts: (1) introduction to theories of international politics and, (2) their applications to the understanding of US-China relations. The first part examines competing approaches to international politics, explains their basic concepts and rationales, and evaluates their explanatory insights. The principal objective of this part is for students to develop an appreciation of the ways in which various theoretical perspectives lead to different understandings of the structures and practices of world politics. The second part offers students an advanced understanding of US-China relations, focusing on the post-Cold War period, with a special emphasis on issues of security, human rights and economy. This part is intended to provide the means for students to develop their own theoretically informed analyses of major issues in US-China relations, such us how China’s membership in the WTO affects American economy, including the quality of employment opportunities in the United States.

Sample Syllabus

This course is a survey of the major historical and contemporary currents of China's religious thought and practice, including Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism and “popular religion”. It will focus on the interactions between such teachings and practices, as well as on the contributions of all four to Chinese culture. You will study various topics including divination, visual culture, ritual, ancestor worship, morality, longevity techniques, healing practices and meditation. A selected number of primary and secondary sources will be discussed in each lecture; documentary films and visits to sacred spaces will be also key constituents of the course.

Sample Syllabus

The main aim of this course is to facilitate a rich engagement with Shanghai. The underlying premise is that the city is a critical site of globalization. Rather than view globalization as an external force acting on Shanghai, this course aims instead to show how globalization is inherent in the city and that an investigation of the distinctive features of Shanghai -- from the abandoned factories now revived as creative clusters, to the lilong architecture, luxury malls and street peddlers -- sheds light on both the past and future of globalization.

Sample Syllabus