HISTORY OF CHINESE PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIONS

This course studies the history and role of religion in the Chinese cultural sphere (China, Taiwan, and the Diaspora) from the mid-19th century to the present day. We will learn about the impact of religious ideas, practices, and organizations on social, political and economic processes and examine the role of religion in relation to practices of self-making and national identity. The class is discussion-based and is supplemented by lectures, presentations, and documentary films. You will take away from this course a firm understanding of the changes affected by modernity and globalization on ideas of the supernatural and the netherworld. You will also have gained knowledge and understanding of the main themes, approaches and sources on modern Chinese religious and cultural history. This is one of the core courses in the MA Languages and Civilizations of Asia and Africa and contributes to the learning outcomes of the Humanities' CdS.

By the end of this course unit students should normally:

1. Have gained a very good knowledge and critical understanding of the main topics concerning the cultural and religious history of late imperial and modern China;
2. Have gained an understanding of the continuties and discontinuities between modern and with pre-modern Chinese religion and society;
3. Be able to find and use critically a range of materials including books, journals, primary sources, and web-based resources relevant to the topics studied in the course.
4. Write a sustained argumentative essay on the basis of their study of primary and secondary sources.

The course requires a very good knowledge of late imperial and Chinese history and some knowledge of world history.

Secularization and Nationalist Ideologies; the Making of Religion in Modern China; Religious modernisers; the cult of Mao; Post-Mao religious revival; Women and the religious question in modern China; transnational religious movements and the media; Religion in Taiwan; Religion in the Diaspora.

Vincent Goossaert and David A. Palmer. The Religious Question in Modern China, Chicago UP, 2011.
Mayfair Yang, ed. Chinese Religiosities Afflictions of Modernity and State Formation (available as free e-book at: http://escholarship.org/uc/item/3jn4j8cf ).

All additional readings are posted on the website of the course in Moodle.

Students will be expected complete a set of diverse tasks and online assignments in Moodle. Response papers should be uploaded by 8 AM Monday unto the appropriate discussion thread on Moodle. A good response paper will be between 20 to 300 words. These amount to 30% of the final grade.

FINAL RESEARCH PAPER:
For their final project, students must write a research paper on a topic of their choice, relating to religion in the Chinese cultural sphere, from the 19th century to the present. The length of this paper should be 20 pages for graduate students and contain a detailed bibliography (70% of the final grade).

Flipped classroom; experiential learning; fieldwork; digital archives of oral history projects

English

Classes can be delivered in English if required by international students.

written and oral