Prospectus

nl en

Imperial China II

Course
2024-2025

Admission requirements

There are no official admission requirements for this class. However, it is highly recommended that the students have taken BA1 basic introduction to Chinese history (BA1 Chinese Geschiedenis tot 1911 or equivalent) or basic introduction to history (for non-Chinese majors).

Students that wish to write their BA Thesis in this course will have to receive permission from the programme. Applying for supervision can be done through this form.

Description

Imperial China II: History and Environment

This seminar is intended to broaden the students’ historical knowledge about imperial China by connecting the historiography of an important topic—environment—to multiple aspects of Chinese history and global history: politics, governance, international relations, religion, science and technology, economy, and social organizations. The students deepen their understanding of how these factors intersected with environmental conditions to shape the course and characteristics of imperial China.

Students can choose to write BA thesis in this course. The topic of the thesis can be loosely connected to the central theme; it does not have to focus on environmental history.

Course objectives

  • Broaden and deepen historical knowledge and understanding of imperial China

  • Develop abilities to situate Chinese history in comparative and global contexts

  • Cultivate critical reading skills; develop abilities to evaluate and synthesize information from multiple sources

  • Cultivate skills to communicate ideas and analysis effectively (in writing or digital formats)

  • Improve skills to conduct original research and write research papers

Timetable

The timetables are available through My Timetable.

Mode of instruction

  • Seminar

  • Thesis BA

Assessment method

Assessment

In order to pass this course, the following will be required of participants:

  • Active participation: 20%

  • Weekly assignments: 40%

  • Final assignment: draft (10%); final version (30%)

Regular, punctual attendance, thorough preparation of reading material, and continuous participation in plenary discussions are also expected.

Weighing

See above.

Late submissions will be subject to grade deduction.

Resit

There will be no resit for the course work (participation and weekly assignments), but individual submissions can compensate each other.

For the final essay, only a previous submission for the first attempt qualifies students for the resit, and only if that submission scored a failing grade. First attempts that received a passing mark (5.5 or higher) cannot be improved through further revision.

Inspection and feedback

How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.

Reading list

All required readings will be announced on Brightspace and will be available through the Asian Studies library.

Registration

Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.

General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website.

Registration À la carte education, Contract teaching and Exchange

For the registration of exchange students contact Humanities International Office.

Contact

  • For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.

  • For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: De Vrieshof

Remarks

Note that this seminar is also a thesis course: students who wish to write their thesis in this module will still need to complete the course work, but their final grade will be the thesis grade; see the relevant section on the prospectus for more information about graduate theses.