HIST 4450

Students will critically analyze the mutually influential relationship between China and the West from early medieval contact through to the end of the twentieth century. They will examine and analyze both sides of this 'Great Encounter' through a combination of chronological and thematic perspectives. Students will investigate myths such as China's supposed backwardness or its reputedly 'monolithic, unchanging, and isolationist' attitudes towards other cultures. They will also apply the same critical perspective to the examination of the West's own periodic bouts of Sinomania and Sinophobia. Note: This is a seminar-based course.