Università Roma Tre

The course analyzes the historical evolution of China and its relations with the surrounding region, focusing on the main processes that occurred in the Far East. The course will discuss specific aspects of the history of the Chinese continent, and then focus on the recent transformation of the People's Republic of China. That transformation will be discussed in-depth, to understand the political, economic, social and cultural processes it produced, and its global and regional impact.

By the end of the course, students:

1. will master the fundamental turning points in the history of China from 1911 to 2020
2. will be aware that to understand historical phenomena and historical figures it is necessary to place them in their respective temporal and spatial contexts
3. will be able to reason about the causal relationships that link the different periods of the history of contemporary China, and which juxtapose the different realities of Sinic civilization
4. will be aware of the factors that have led and still lead to the existence of often widely divergent narrations, interpretations and perceptions

ABILITY TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

By the end of the course, students:

1. will be able to use their knowledge of Chinese history to identify the root of different narratives, representations and arguments
2. will be able to independently organize the study of a period, a phenomenon, a figure linked to the history of contemporary China
3. will be able to use the history of China to enrich their arguments and the knowledge acquired through attendance of other courses
4. will be able to undertake a course of specialized studies in the field of area, historical or international studies

Autonomy of judgement

By the end the course, students:

1. will be able to compare even very divergent interpretations of the same period, phenomenon, historical figure and evaluate them, arriving at their own opinion
2. will be able to identify narratives and representations of Chinese history inspired by different historiographical approaches and currents

Communication skills:

By the end of the course, students:

1. will be able to take part in a discussion regarding controversial or highly divisive issues by supporting their point of view through a calm and reasoned argument, formed on the basis of their readings
2. will be able to listen to the reasons of those who hold very different points of view, arriving at their own evaluation and expressing their opinion in a manner that respects the opinion of others
3. will be able to communicate in a clear and well-organized way, using a linguistic register appropriate to an academic context

1. Guido Samarani, La Cina contemporanea. Dalla fine dell’Impero ad oggi, Torino, Einaudi, 2017
2. (alternatively or in addition to the former textbook) R. Keith Schoppa, Revolution and its Past. Fourth Edition. New York and London: Routledge, 2020.