Unit information: Internationalising Modern China 1850s - 1950 (Level H Special Subject) in 2020/21

Unit name	Internationalising Modern China 1850s - 1950 (Level H Special Subject)
Unit code	HIST37016
Credit points	20
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Dr. Lopes
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Department of History (Historical Studies)
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

This unit explores the city that lay at the heart of China's interaction with foreign power after 1843, examining the history of Shanghai down to 1949. Tens of thousands of foreign nationals lived amongst the ever-growing Chinese population of this important city, a site in which ordinary people and the state to renegotiate China’s relationship with the world beyond its domains. The overall aim in studying the city’s history is to help us understand key issues in China's modern history, and its place in a relentlessly globalising world. The unit allows for a study of such issues as international diplomacy, technology transfer, the circulation of knowledge, imperialism and nationalism, as well as the experiences and views of individuals. The resources relating to this unit are rich and easily accessible, including memoirs, private and official archives, Customs and other publications, newspapers, travel accounts, trade, medical, and educational reports, and visual documents.

Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of the unit students should have:

• Developed an in depth understanding of the internationalisation of modern China

• Become more experienced and competent in working with an increasingly specialist range of primary sources

• Become more adept at contributing to and learning from a small-group environment

• Acquired a firm knowledge of key issues in the history of modern Chinas foreign relations

• Developed an advanced understanding of the literature generated by and about the Chinese Maritime Customs.

Teaching Information

Seminars - 3 hours per week

Assessment Information

1 x 3500 word essay (50%) and 1 x 2 hour exam (50%)

Reading and References

<font  face="Calibri" size="3">J.G. Ballard, Empire of the Sun (1984) </font> <font  face="Calibri" size="3">Robert Bickers, The Scramble for China: Foreign devils in the Qing empire, 1832-1914 (2011) </font> <font  face="Calibri" size="3">Isabella Jackson, Shaping Modern Shanghai: Colonialism in China&rsquo;s Global City (2017) </font> <font  face="Calibri" size="3">Marcia Ristaino, Port of Last Resort: The diaspora Communities of Shanghai (2001) </font> <font  face="Calibri" size="3">Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom, Global Shanghai, 1850-2010: A History in Fragments (2009) </font> <font  face="Calibri" size="3">Xiaoqing Ye, The Dianshizhai Pictorial Shanghai Urban Life, 1884-1898 (Ann Arbor, 2003)</font>