Postgraduate Courses
MGCS
Global China Studies
Courses marked with a [C] in the course description are not taught in Chinese but may require students to read materials in Chinese. Students who have difficulty reading materials in Chinese should consult the instructor concerned prior to enrolling in these courses.
- MGCS 5001Understanding China, 1700-2000: A Data-Analytic Approach[3-0-0:3]Reading Material[C] Require Chinese readingDescriptionThis seminar aims to summarize some of the new directions in Chinese history during the last two decades. The course adopts an analytic approach that distinguishes measurement, ‘objectivities,’ from ‘ subjectivities,’ which emphasize interpretation: cultural representation and categorization of values, construction of identity, and the relationship between individual actions and the transformation and transmission of such social, political, and cultural subjectivities.
- MGCS 5002The Economy and Society in Imperial China[3-0-0:3]Prerequisite(s)MGCS 5001Exclusion(s)HUMA 6002MDescriptionThe purpose of this course is to review the economic and social history of traditional China. The time frame covered ranges from the late third century BCE to the mid-nineteenth century CE. The main focus is on changes in Chinese economy and society.
- MGCS 5003The Political Economy of State-formation[3-0-0:3]Reading Material[C] Require Chinese readingDescriptionThis course integrates the social scientific study of the state with concrete historical research on state formation to examine several important themes in social science and comparative history, such as the autonomy of the state, institutionalization of the state and its political significance, and the interplays between state legitimation and rightful resistance of the citizens.
- MGCS 5004Economic History of East Asia - From Tributary Trade to Maritime Customs Networks[3-0-0:3]Prerequisite(s)MGCS 5001DescriptionThis course discusses East Asian Economic History with careful attention on regional and long-term economic history with special attention on statistical data on flows of main commodities such as pepper, tea, silk, cotton textile and rice together with precious metal such as copper and silver. In order to discuss East Asia, we will follow historical transformation on regional economy which has been characterized as tributary trade system of East Asia with China as a center. Then we will trace the historical transformation and change of this tributary trade system to maritime custom networks after mid-19th century.
- MGCS 5005Narratives on China’s Legal Past and Present[3-0-0:3]Exclusion(s)HUMA 5650DescriptionThis course explores the prospect of the rule of law in Chinese cultural context by critically examining various narratives on Chinese legal tradition and its modern transformation from the beginning of the last century. Main themes may include jurisprudential ideas and values, constitutional order, legal institutions, criminal justice system, civil and commercial laws, legal profession and education, customary law and mediation, and the interplay among politics, society and economy in the legal context. Discussions will focus on legal theories and categories. This course is a reflective theoretical discourse rather than a factual and descriptive account of Chinese legal history.
- MGCS 5010Quantitative Methods in Social Science[2-1-0:3]Co-list withSSMA 5020Exclusion(s)SOSC 4610, SOSC 5090, SSMA 5020Backgroundelementary statisticsDescriptionThis course teaches basic concepts and skills required to conduct quantitative research in social science. Students will learn to design and conduct statistical analyses to test hypotheses. They will acquire experience in the use of statistical software such as STATA to carry out analysis of social data.
- MGCS 5011Quantitative Studies of China[3-0-0:3]Prerequisite(s)MGCS 5010Exclusion(s)SOSC 5340, SSMA 5110Reading Material[C] Require Chinese readingDescriptionThis course aims to assist students in taking an initial step to develop research hypotheses about an important social issue in China by connecting between theory and data, and how to design and conduct a statistical analysis to examine the hypotheses. At the end of this course, students will be able to apply basic statistical tools to social data and interpret the results. Students also gain hands-on experience of designing a quantitative analysis by writing a research proposal.
- MGCS 5012Quantitative Data Analysis[2-1-0:3]Prerequisite(s)MGCS 5010 OR SOSC 5090 OR SSMA 5020Exclusion(s)SSMA 5110DescriptionThis course provides students with hands-on training on how to use statistical software to analyze non-experimental quantitative data from the real world, to draw sensible conclusions, to convey results, and write a research report.
- MGCS 5020Chinese Social Stratification in Comparative Perspective[3-0-0:3]Exclusion(s)SOSC 5710, SSMA 5030DescriptionThis is a graduate seminar for reading and discussing scholarly works on inequality and stratification in China, with a focus on changes in the post-Mao era. The general materials on social stratification and mobility, when relevant, will also be discussed to stimulate ideas and finally lead to empirical research papers on China.
- MGCS 5021Reform and Social Conflicts in Contemporary China[3-0-0:3]Exclusion(s)SOSC 5480, SSMA 5060DescriptionThis course discusses political participation and political changes in contemporary China by focusing on popular contention. It addresses the rise, development, and consequences of social protests in China by referring to existing theories on contentious politics and collective action.
- MGCS 5022Political Economy of China[3-0-0:3]Exclusion(s)SOSC 5140, SOSC 5210 (prior to 2014-15), SOSC 5430, SOSC 5480, SOSC 5720DescriptionThis course provides an overview of the trajectory of China’s political and economic development since 1949 and examines the driving forces behind pivotal events/developments (e.g., the socialist transformation in the 1950s, the Cultural Revolution spanning 1966-1976, and the start of economic reforms in 1978) and fundamentals trends of change (e.g., post-revolution industrialization, and post-Mao marketization, internationalization, and privatization).
- MGCS 5023China's Innovation System: Domestic and International Dimensions[3-0-0:3]Exclusion(s)MALS 5410 (prior to 2015-16)Reading Material[C] Require Chinese readingDescriptionThis course provides an analytical perspective on the role of science and technology in China, making the quest for indigenous innovation one of the most important aims for the current Chinese leadership. With a background of theories about scientific research and technological innovation in social and economic development, the course will review key policies for promotion of innovation in their historical and contemporary contexts. The course will give the students a fundamental framework for understanding the structures of the Chinese innovation system and its international linkages.
- MGCS 5024China in Comparative Perspective[3-0-0:3]Exclusion(s)SOSC 6030EReading Material[C] Require Chinese readingDescriptionThis course explores the empirical and analytic value of studying China in comparative perspective. General comparative method and approaches that have been used to explain politics in modern China will be reviewed. The course also considers how the study of China can contribute to concept formation and broader debates in social science.
- MGCS 5030Social Theory and World History[3-0-0:3]DescriptionThis course examines how five classical social theorists – G.W.F. Hegel, Jacob Burckhardt, Karl Marx, Max Weber and Talcott Parsons – attempted to understand the development of the modern West in its relation to China and world history more broadly. We will explore how contemporary scholars have engaged with these thinkers’ claims, with the aim of testing the utility of their concepts and categories for understanding Western as well as non-Western societies.
- MGCS 5031An Introduction to Socio-cultural History of China[3-0-0:3]Exclusion(s)HMMA 5006, HUMA 5700, HUMA 5770BackgroundBasis of general History of ChinaReading Material[C] Require Chinese readingDescriptionThis course will give students a general introduction to the perspective, methods, special interests of socio-cultural history of China. It will involve the rise of the socio-cultural history both in the West and in China, the idea and the practice of the socio-cultural history, and the anthropological orientation of the socio-cultural history. This course will combine the theory, methodology and the cases of the study.
- MGCS 5032Ethnicity in Chinese Context[3-0-0:3]Reading Material[C] Require Chinese readingDescriptionThis course explores the issue of ethnicity in China in the context of a nation-state. Issues of nationalism, ethnic identities, and ethnic diversity will be examined from anthropological perspectives. Ethnicity has become an important socio-cultural institution in China. This course explores issues of identity construction, ethnic classification system and local reactions in Chinese society. Historical changes and contemporary development of the phenomenon of ethnicity will be examined in anthropological perspectives.
- MGCS 6000Special Topics[3-0-0:3]DescriptionCoherent collection of topics selected from Global China Studies. The course may be repeated for credit if the topics studied are different. (Some of the Special Topic courses may require students to read materials in Chinese. Students who have difficulty reading materials in Chinese should consult the instructor concerned prior to enrolling in these courses.)
- MGCS 6980Research Project in Global China Studies[3-6 credits]DescriptionThis course provides a skill-based training in an independent research project on chosen topic conducted under the supervision of a faculty of the School of Humanities and Social Science. The student is required to produce a substantial research paper at the end of the project.
