HIST 105-02, China's Cultural Revolution, Spring 2009

Abstract

In 1966, what had once seemed the best disciplined and most stable of dictorial states dissolved into anarchy, and those youth who under Chairman Mao's direction turned society upside down became china's "lost generation." Only after the Chairman's death did sweeping reforms allow the chinese people to publicly reflect, recount or even criticize. This opening of the floodgates spawned histories, memoirs, films and novels, but each tells a different story with a different agenda. This course examines the many narratives of China's Cultural Revolution in an effort to better understand how each source engages historical memory while responding to its own times. The goals of this course are twofold: First, because the subject of the course is China's Cultural Revolution, studentws are expected to gain factual knowledge about this event, including names, dates, and an understanding of historical significance. But as a seminar, this course demands student participation, primarily through group discussion and written assignments. Students are therefore expected to practice and develop skills in expressing themselves orally and in writing.