Re: Suggestions for China syllabus

[David Davies <ddavies@gw.hamline.edu>]

Hi Joel,

I can highly recommend a book by one of our fellow list members, Mobo 
Gao. I have used his book _Gao Village_ in many undergraduate courses on 
China and one on rural development. It is an excellent book written in a 
nice descriptive way that students have all described as very engaging. 
In a class last semester students voted it their favorite book to read.

As an instructor I enjoy it because Mobo clearly frames his work in 
contemporary debates about inequity in the reform era, as well as other 
"village studies. In this way he opens up his own work to discussions of 
collective agriculture, the impact of the GLF/CR, the floating 
population of reform, and even "meta" discussions about the role of 
intellectuals/urbanites and foreign researchers in framing questions 
about "China."

So how is that for a plug. The only downside is that it is not available 
in paperback.

--David

Joel Andreas wrote:

> Dear colleagues:
>
> I’m putting together a syllabus for a course I’ll be teaching next 
> fall about social inequality in China since 1949. I’d appreciate it if 
> you can recommend any readings or forward any syllabi that might 
> include readings (and films) appropriate for the course. I am pasting 
> the brief course description below. Also, if you’d like to see the 
> syllabus after I have a draft (this summer), please tell me and I’ll 
> send you a copy.
>
> Take care,
>
> Joel Andreas
>
>
>   **
>
>
>   ****
>
> Revolution, Reform and Social Inequality in China
>
> This course explores several aspects of social inequality in China 
> during the Mao Zedong era and the post-Mao reform era. We will examine 
> inequality within villages, the rural/urban divide, urban inequality, 
> education and health policies, and gender and ethnic relations. Each 
> of these issue areas will be tackled analytically, but the aim is also 
> to understand what it was/is like to live in China during and after 
> the Mao era.
>