This seminar is an introduction to some dimension of the history of a nation, region, people, culture, institution, or historical phenomenon selected by the respective instructor. Students will come to understand, and develop an appreciation for: the origins and evolution of the people, cultures, and/or political, economic, and/or social institutions of a particular region(s) of the world. They may explore how human encounters shaped individual and collective identities and the political, economic, and social orders of the region/nation/communities under study. Instructors prioritize critical reading, engaged participation, and focused writing assignments.

This seminar considers what it meant to live with the economy in twentieth-century China. In the past, the study of the Chinese economy was largely synonymous with the investigation of the causes of poverty and backwardness. By the start of the twenty-first century, economists had turned their sophisticated statistical methods toward solving the mystery of the Chinese growth miracle. This course introduces students to the alternative approaches to the study of economic life that can be found in the work of social, cultural, and political historians. Topics include the emergence of a national-macro economy; the role of the state in economic development; the transnational lives of peoples, ideas, and goods; the gendered organization of production; and the persistent gap between city and countryside. Most of the semester will be devoted to reading and discussing books. The course will culminate with a short research paper.

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Requirements class fulfills