Module HIST3953: Gender, Society and Cultural Change in China’s Long Twentieth Century

Department: History

HIST3953: Gender, Society and Cultural Change in China’s Long Twentieth Century

Prerequisites

• • A pass mark in at least TWO level two modules in History.

Corequisites

• • None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• • None.

Aims

• To explore the lives, experiences, and roles of Chinese women during China’s ‘long’ twentieth century of turbulent and dramatic political, social and cultural transformations (from the last years of the nineteenth century to the turn of the twenty-first).
• To analyse how shifting definitions of femininity and masculinity have impacted upon, and in turn been influenced by, social, cultural and political change.
• To introduce students to the importance of both discursive and visual representations of women (and of gender relations in general), and how such representations change over time.

Content

• The module will draw upon a variety of disciplines that will include history, literature, social and cultural anthropology. It will also make use of Chinese cinema (from the 1950s to the early 21st century) to illustrate changing gender practices and shifting notions of masculinity and femininity.
• After ‘deconstructing’ conventional assumptions and stereotypes concerning women in ‘traditional’ China, the module analyses the origins, evolution and nature of modern Chinese feminism, and how it was intertwined with (or imbricated in) nationalism/patriotism, class revolution, and developmental priorities. In particular, the module will explore the experiences of urban and rural women and how their social and political status was affected by their own actions (agency), successive government and party policies, and the persistence of patriarchal norms/values and practice in society.
• Particular topics will include:
• nationalism, feminism and the ‘public visibility’ of women in the late Qing;
• gender discourses in the early republic (1910s and 1920s);
• women and the early Chinese Communist party (CCP);
• the social and cultural significance of prostitution in pre-1949 China;
• the lives and impact of female factory workers in China’s industrialisation of the 1920s and 1930s;
• the impact of the CCP’s Marriage Law of 1950 on women;
• women in the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution;
• how the post-Mao market reform era (from the 1980s on) has both affected the lives, images and status of women, and contributed to changing notions of masculinity.

Learning Outcomes

• An appreciation of the importance of gender history
• Familiarity with broad social and cultural change in 20th century China, and how it affected women’s lives, gender relations, and notions of femininity and masculinity.
• An understanding of the historical importance of discursive and visual representations of gender relations and practice over time.
• An appreciation of the importance of literature (both fiction and memoir), popular and visual culture (cinema, periodical illustrations, propaganda posters), and social and cultural anthropology in contributing to historical knowledge

• Subject specific skills for this module can be viewed at:
• http://www.dur.ac.uk/History/ugrads/ModuleProformaMap/;
• In addition students will be able to marshal an argument in written form, drawing on an appreciation of propaganda as an historical source.

• Key skills for this module can be viewed at:
• http://www.dur.ac.uk/History/ugrads/ModuleProformaMap/

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• seminars to allow students to present and critically reflect upon the acquired subject-specific knowledge, methodologies and theories, and to identify and debate a range of issues and differing opinions. The seminar is the forum in which students are given the opportunity to communicate ideas, jointly exploring themes and arguments. Seminars are structured to develop understanding and designed to maximise student participation related to prior independent preparation. Seminars give students the opportunity to develop oral communication skills, encourage critical and tolerant approaches to reasoned argument and historical discussion, build the students' ability to marshal historical evidence, and facilitate the development of the ability to summarise historical arguments, think in a rapidly changing environment and communicate in a persuasive and articulate manner, whilst recognising the value of working with others and, occasionally, towards shared goals;
• tutorials either individually or in groups to discuss topics arising from prepared work, allowing students the opportunity to reflect upon their personal learning with the tutor.
• Assessment:
• Unseen Examinations test students' ability to work under pressure under timed conditions, to prepare for examinations and direct their own programme of revision and learning, and develop key time management skills. The unseen examination gives students the opportunity to develop relevant life skills such as the ability to produce coherent, reasoned and supported arguments under pressure. Students will be examined on subject specific knowledge;
• Summative essays remain a central component of assessment in history, due to the integrative high-order skills they develop. Essays allow students the opportunity to recognise, represent and critically reflect upon ideas, concepts and problems; students can demonstrate awareness of, and the ability to use and evaluate, a diverse range of resources and identify, represent and debate a range of subject-specific issues and opinions. Through the essay, students can synthesise information, adopt critical appraisals and develop reasoned argument based on individual research; they should be able to communicate ideas in writing, with clarity and coherence; and to show the ability to integrate and critically assess material from a wide range of sources;
• Assessment of Primary Source Handling Students are assessed on their understanding of original primary sources, usually in print, their character varying according to the nature of the subject, and the students' ability to bring that knowledge to bear on 'cutting edge'research-based monographs and articles. Students are given the opportunity to discuss and articulate an understanding of changing interpretations and approaches to historical problems, drawing evidence from a body of primary source materials. Students are required to demonstrate skills associated with the evaluation of a variety of primary source materials, using documentary analysis for a critical assessment of existing historical interpretations.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

One formative essay of not more than 2500 words (not including footnotes and bibliography), submitted in Term 1. This will be returned with written comments and a standard departmental feedback sheet. Coursework essays are formative as well as summative. They are to be submitted in two copies, of which one will be returned with written comments and a standard departmental feedback sheet. Preparation to participate in seminars and tutorials. At least one oral presentation in each term, and at least two practice gobbets in each term.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University