Discussion Leaders

CHOOSE A DATE

Please sign up for one week in which you (and the co-discussion leader) will be responsible for leading that week's discussion. To sign-up you can use the Facebook Group function, e-mail me or sign up in class.

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RESPONSIBILITIES

Obviously the entire class is suppose to read all the documents for each class. The discussion leaders' job is to facilitate the discussion by asking questions, offering summaries of the documents and generally to keep the discussion going.

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DISCUSSION GRADE

Your discussion grade is given twice during the semester. The half in which you serve as discussion leader your grade will be more heavily weighted on that performance. However, you will still be graded each and every week.

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PARTICIPATION

Participating in class discussion is an important skill. Those who talk too much will be asked to contribute less (but more substantively); and those who talk too little will be encouraged to contribute more.

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STRATEGIES

1) You will quickly learn that there are certain questions I will always ask about documents (the author, the audience, the type of document, etc.). Some students find this a good way to begin to speak up on a more consistent basis.

 

2) With a minimum of five documents per week, you should find it easy to see the contrasts, similarities, and larger historical context that shaped the documents. Learn to write such thoughts in the margins of your documents so you will remember to say them during the discussion.

additional links

Prof. david g. atwill

OFFICE: Weaver 413a
EMAIL: dgatwill@psu.edu
PHONE: 865-1218

OFFICE HOURS: T 9-11 a.m

Week 1

Jan 12 (MON): Introduction to Course
Jan 14 (WED): Sun Zhongshan, Yuan Shikai & the Revolution of 1911
Reading : 136-42 (all page numbers are for Revolution and Its Past textbook)

Week 2

Jan 19 (MON): MLK Day (No class)
Jan 21 (WED): DISCUSSION TOPIC: China's Choices in 1912
Discussant 1 :______Liz Mertz_________________________________
Discussant 2 :______Chris Bova_______________________________

Week 3

Jan 26 (MON): May Fourth Movement & China's New Cultural Identity
Jan 28 (WED): DISCUSSION TOPIC: Power of the Pen (and Intellect)
Discussant 1 :_____Dongkuen Lee______________________________
Discussant 2 :_____Jessica Lin_________________________________

Week 4

Feb 2 (MON): In Search of Political Unity: The Guomindang (Nationalists)
Feb 4 (WED): DISCUSSION TOPIC: Schoppa's Bloody Road
Discussant 1 :__________Marc Fisher ______________________________
Discussant 2 :__________Bill Mulligan______________________________

Week 5

Feb 9 (MON): Looking for Alternatives: The Chinese Communists
Feb 11 (WED): DISCUSSION TOPIC: Who & What Were the CCP?
Discussant 1 :__________Heather Parks______________________________
Discussant 2 :__________Brandon Taylor_____________________________

Week 6

Feb 16 (MON): Struggling to Survive: The Xi'an Incident, Yan'an & Occupied China
Feb 18 (WED): DISCUSSION TOPIC: The Blame Game
Discussant 1 :__________Amanda Fellmeth __________________________
Discussant 2 :__________Patrick Chung _____________________________

Week 7

Feb 23 (MON): China at War with Itself
Feb 25 (WED): BOOK DISCUSSION: Westad's Decisive Encounters
Discussant 1 :__________Chris Lang _____________________________
Discussant 2 :__________Barak Kassutto__________________________

Week 8

March 2 (MON): The Bastion of National Recovery: Taiwan and the R.O.C
March 4 (WED): DISCUSSION TOPIC: The Taiwan "Miracle"

Discussant 1 :___Chris O'Day________________________________
Discussant 2 :___Anne Davidson _____________________________

Week 9

March 9-13:SPRING BREAK

Week 10

March 16 (MON): DISCUSSION TOPIC: Internal Challenges of a New China
Reading:        326-337
Discussant 1 :___Tom Kaczkowski_____________________________
Discussant 2 :___Katie Stoebe _______________________________

March 18 (WED): DISCUSSION TOPIC: External Challenges of a New China
Discussant 1 :___Justin Uratani _____________________________
Discussant 2 :___Soham Pandit _____________________________

Week 11

March 23 (MON): Tibet & China
March 25 (WED): DISCUSSION TOPIC: Goldstein's Tibetan Revolutionary
Discussant 1 :___Tim Stapleton ______________________________
Discussant 2 :___Emily Seligman _____________________________

Week 12

March 30 (MON): The Cultural Revolution: A False Dawn
April 1 (WED): DISCUSSION TOPIC: Understanding the Cultural Revolution
Discussant 1 :___Ariel Marguet _____________________________
Discussant 2 :___Angie DeWit_____________________________

Week 13

April 6 (MON): China Re-Emerges: The End of Mao
April 8 (WED): DISCUSSION TOPIC: Understanding China in the 1970s
Discussant 1 :___Michael Spink _____________________________
Discussant 2 :___Andrew Mallinger _____________________________
Discussant 3 :___Jiabin Ren _____________________________

Week 14

April 13 (MON): Socialism with Chinese Characteristics: Deng Xiaoping
April 15 (WED): DISCUSSION TOPIC: Evaluating Deng
Discussant 1 :___Albert Sun_____________________________
Discussant 2 :___Patrick Heisel _____________________________

Week 15

April 20 (MON): China in the 21st Century
April 22 (WED): DISCUSSION TOPIC: Chang's Factory Girls
Discussant 1 :_______________________________________
Discussant 2 :_______________________________________

Week 16

April 27 (MON): DISCUSSION TOPIC: Political Currents in the 21st Century
Discussant 1 :_______________________________________
Discussant 2 :_______________________________________


April 29 (WED): DISCUSSION TOPIC: Facing the Future
Discussant 1 :_______________________________________
Discussant 2 :_______________________________________