Fall 2006 Advance Course Information

This information effective for Fall 2006. Check with instructor the first day of class for any changes.

History

[HIS-12] [HIS-74] [HIS-80K] [HIS-103] [HIS-124] [HIS-150B] [HIS-194F]

12. World History of Science.

Instructor: Minghui Hu
Instruction: TTh 12:00-1:45, Cowell 131
Office: Merrill 31
Office Hours: Tuesday 2:00-3:00, or by appointment
E-mail: mhu@ucsc.edu
Phone: 831-459-5270
Teaching Assistant: Urmi Engineer
TA sections: 1A Monday 12:30-1:40, Merrill Acad 132
                     01B Thursday 8:30-9:40 a.m., Steven Acad 152

Course Description

This course searches for a common ground in which historians and scientists can communicate with each other from a global perspective.  To do so, we will first situate the modern world in a long span of human history to reveal our time as a distinct stage of global development.  Science and technology, the focus of this course, play a crucial role in the formation of the modern world.  We will discuss Jared Diamond's explanation as to why Eurasia became more advanced materially than other continents and figure out how environment and human intervention reciprocally shape the trajectories of different societies in different continents.  We will then examine how and why three major civilizations, China, Islam, and Western Europe in Eurasia, advanced and stagnated in different paces.  Max Weber and his American followers championed an explanation by privileging the West with all the right elements to develop modern science.  Given this backdrop, we will investigate scientific curiosity and technological innovation in Islam and China carefully and reconsider Weber’s explanation.  This long historical framework will help us situate the global mobility and science and technology today and challenge our contemporary narrative of globalization and modernization.

Course Requirements:

• Attendance
• Reading of all required assignments and participating in class discussion.
• Satisfactory completion of four written assignments (four pages double-spaced) on the date specified, and satisfactory completion of three in-class quizzes.  The written assignments each count 20%, in-class quizzes each count 5%, and attendance counts 5% of the final grade.
• Participation in the discussion section is also mandatory.  Your teaching assistant (TA) will review the questions in each written assignment and brainstorm with you possible ways of addressing the questions.  Your TA will also evaluate your written assignments.

Books Recommended for Purchase :

• Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, Norton, 2nd Edition, [1997], 2003.
• Toby Huff, The Rise of Early Modern Science: Islam, China, and the West, Cambridge, 2nd Edition, [1993], 2003.
• Benjamin Elman, On Their Own Terms: Science in China, 1550-1900, Harvard, 2005.
• Robert Marks, The Origins of the Modern World: A Global and Ecological Narrative, Rowman & Littlefield, 2002.
• Michael Adas, Machines as the Measure of Men: Science, Technology, and Ideologies of Western Dominance, Cornell, 1989.

Schedule of Classes and Assignments

*Assignment 4 is due on June 16.

[top of page]

74. Introduction to Modern Jewish History

Instructor: Bruce Thompson
Office: Stevenson 276
Office hours: MW 9:30–11:00 a.m., and by appointment
Phone: 459-2467
E-Mail: brucet@ucsc.edu
Teaching assistant: Amanda Jenkins (ajenkins@ucsc.edu)

Please note: what follows is the syllabus from the 2004 edition of the course.  There will be some changes in the readings for the 2006 version, but the major themes of the course will remain the same.

This course examines major turning points in Jewish history from the early modern period through the twentieth century: the expulsion from Spain, the development of Jewish mystical and messianic movements, the challenge of modernity, the rise of political anti-Semitism, the flowering of Yiddish literature and culture, the migration of European Jews to America, the nearly total destruction of European Jewry in the twentieth century, and the origins and development of the conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbors.  It will emphasize the diversity of Jewish cultures and their creative responses to the challenges (and catastrophes) they have encountered during the five centuries that extend from 1492 to the present.    

Course Requirements

• a midterm
• a 6-page paper
• and a final examination

1.  The Jewish Diaspora: Exile and Dispersion (September 24–October 1)
Topics: Cultures of the Jews—The Sephardic Dispersion—The Jews and Capitalism
Reading:

• Allan Levine, Scattered Among the Peoples: The Jewish Diaspora in Twelve Portraits, Introduction, chapters 1-2, 4
• Glückel of Hameln, Memoirs, Books 1-5
• Menasseh Ben Israel, “How Profitable the Nations of the Jews Are,” (1655), in The Jew in the Modern World: A Documentary History, ed. Paul Mendes-Flohr & Jehuda Reinharz

2.  The False Messiah: Catastrophe and Convulsion (October 4–8)
Topics: The Polish Catastrophe—Kabbalah and History—The Sabbatian Movement
Reading:

• Levine, Scattered Among the Peoples, chapter 3
• Isaac Bashevis Singer, Satan in Goray

3.  The Enlightenment and the Jews (October 11–15)
Topics: Court Jews and Port Jews—The German Enlightenment and the Jews—Paths of Emancipation
Reading:

• Levine, Scattered Among the Peoples, ch. 5
• Selections in The Jew in the Modern World: A Documentary History, ed. Paul Mendes-Flohr & Jehuda Reinharz:
  • Baruch Spinoza, “Letter to Albert Burgh” (1675)
  • John Toland, “Reasons for Naturalizing the Jews in Great Britain and Ireland” (1714)
  • Christian Wilhelm von Dohm, “Concerning the Amelioration of the Civil Status of the Jews” (1781)
  • Johann David Michaelis, “Arguments Against Dohm” (1782)
  • Moses Mendelssohn, “Response to Dohm” (1782); “Remarks Concerning Michaelis’Response to Dohm” (1783); “The Right to Be Different” (1783); and “Judaism Is the Cornerstone of Christianity” (1783)
  • Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, “The Jews” (1754) and “A Parable of Toleration” (1779)
  • Abbé Grégoire, “An Essay on the Physical, Moral and Political Reformation of the Jews” (1789)

4.  Emancipation and Assimilation: The German-Jewish "Symbiosis" (October 18–22)
Topics: Reformers and Apostates—Hasidism—1848
Reading:

• Levine, Scattered Among the Peoples, chapter 6
• In Mendes-Flohr and Reinharz, The Jew in the Modern World:
  • Solomon Maimon, “My Emergence from Talmudic Darkness” (1793) and “The New Hasidim” (1793)
  • Rahel Varnhagen, “O How Painful to Have Been Born a Jewess!” (1795)
  • Abraham Mendelssohn, “Why I Have Raised You as a Christian: A Letter to His Daughter” (1820)
  • Heinrich Heine, “A Ticket of Admission to European Culture” (1823)
  • Ludwig Boerne, “Because I Am a Jew I Love Freedom” (1832)
  • Zecharias Frankel, “On Changes in Judaism” (1845)
  • Samson Raphael Hirsch, “Religion Allied to Progress” (1854)

5.  The Pale of Settlement: The Jews of Eastern Europe (October 25–29)
Topics:  The Jews of Poland—The Jews of Russia—The Flowering of Yiddish Literature
Reading:

• Levine, Scattered Among the Peoples, chapter 7
• I. L. Peretz: 
  • "Impressions of a Journey through the Tomaszow Region in the Year 1890"
  • "What Is the Soul?"
  • "Bryna's Mendl"
  • "The Golem"
  • "The Shabbes Goy"
  • "Bontshe Shvayg"
  • "Kabbalists"
  • "If Not Higher" 

Midterm Examination (November 1)

6. Antisemitism and Philosemitism (November 1-5)
Topics: European Anti-Semitism from Voltaire to Wagner—The Dreyfus Affair—Philosemitism: From Rebecca of York to Rachel of the Comedie-Francaise
Reading:

• Levine, Scattered Among the Peoples, chapter 8
• In Mendes-Flohr and Reinharz:
  • Voltaire, “Jews” (1756) and “Reply to de Pinto” (1762)
  • Karl Marx, “On the Jewish Problem” (1844)
  • Richard Wagner, “Jewry in Music” (1850)
  • Wilhelm Marr, “The Victory of Judaism over Germandom” (1879)
  • Alphonse Toussenel, “The Jews: Kings of the Epoch”
  • Fyodor Dostoevsky, “The Jews: Oppressed or Oppressors?” (1877)
  • Edouard Drumont, “Jewish France” (1886)
  • Adolf Stoecker, “What We Demand of Our Jewry” (1879)
  • Heinrich von Treitschke, “A Word About Our Jewry” (1880)
  • Theodor Mommsen, “Another Word About Our Jewry” (1880)
  • Emile Zola, “J’accuse” (1898)

7.  The Golden Land (November 8–12)
Topics: The Great Migration—The Lower East Side—American Dreams
Reading:

• Levine, Scattered Among the Peoples, chapter 9
• Abraham Cahan, Yekl and the Imported Bridegroom and Other Tales of Yiddish New York

8.  Between the Wars (November 15–19)
Topics: Weimar—The Jews of Hungary—Poland Between the Wars
Reading: Levine, Scattered Among the Peoples, chapter 10

Paper Due: November 21

9.  The War Against the Jews (November 21–23)
Topics: Hitler and the Holocaust—The Holocaust in Western Europe—The Holocaust in Eastern Europe
Reading:

• Levine, Scattered Among the Peoples, chapter 11
• Primo Levi, Moments of Reprieve: A Memoir of Auschwitz
• In Mendes-Flohr and Reinharz:
  • Hitler, Mein Kampf (1923) and “A Prophecy of Jewry’s Annihilation” (1939)
  • Chaim Kaplan, “A Warsaw Ghetto Diary” (1940)
  • Janusz, “Warsaw Ghetto Memoirs” (1942)
  • Mordecai Anielwicz, “His Last Communication as Ghetto Revolt Commander” (1943)
  • Emanuel Ringelblum, “Last Letter from Warsaw”
  • Shmuel Zygelboym, “Where Is the World’s Conscience?”

10.  Israel (November 29–December 3)
Topics: Zionism—The Birth of Modern Israel—Israel and the Palestinians
Reading:

• In Mendes-Flohr and Reinharz:
  • Vladimir Jabotinsky, "Jewish Needs vs. Arab Claims"
  • Michael Oren, Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East (especially "The Context," "Aftershocks," "Afterword," and "A Conversation with Michael B. Oren")

Final Examination: Wednesday, December 8, 8:00–11:00 a.m.

Midterm Study Questions:

1. The great German sociologist Max Weber famously posited a connection between "the Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism."  Is there, as many observers have suspected, a similar connection between the Jews and capitalism?  How do you account for the apparently disproportionate contribution of Jews to the development of modern commerce and finance?


2. A common theme of many of the texts we have read is that of a community whose circumstances are so dire that they threaten its very existence.  Compare and contrast any three analyses of the crisis of the Jewish community, and place them in their historical contexts.


3. Several of the texts we have read feature portraits of strong Jewish women.  Compare and contrast any two of these women, and consider why they dominate the narratives in which they appear.  What do their roles tell us about the communities of which they are members?

Final Examination Study Questions:

1. How did the Israelis win such an impressive and swift victory in the war of 1967?  What were the consequences of that war for the making of the modern Middle East?


2. In 1800 the Jewish populations of the United States and what is now the state of Israel were less than the current student population of UCSC.  How do you account for the fact that the United States and Israel became the major centers of Jewish life in the twentieth century, with populations numbering in the millions?  What have been the principal threats to the flourishing of Jewish communities in those two countries?
   
   

[top of page]

80K. History of Espionage and Intelligence

Instructor: Bruce Thompson

The syllabus for History 80K is not complete, but the first week of instruction is included here to give students a sense of what the course will entail.

Week 1: Spy Fever: Invasion Scares, Spy Fiction, and the Birth of British Intelligence

"The real activities of British Intelligence have, since the Second World War, given rise to a wild and implausible fictional literature.  But, before the First World War, things happened the other way about: a wild and implausible fictional literature gave rise to the modern British secret service."—Christopher Andrew, "Gentlemen into Players," The Listener, October 5, 1978.

You think that a wall as solid as the earth separates civilisation from Barbarism.  I tell you the division is a thread, a sheet of glass…."
—John Buchan, The Power House, 1913

The pace of espionage activity in Europe began to quicken at the beginning of the 20th century—a period in which war scares became regular events among the great powers. The disruptive trend in international relations was the burgeoning power of Germany, combined with a destabilizing competition for imperialist prizes. 

Since Germany's victory in the Franco-Prussian War, technological developments had raised the stakes in military confrontations. Railways made possible the rapid concentration of huge numbers of troops, and larger and more accurate guns made their firepower more lethal. The fear of "strategic surprise"—of a stunning knockout blow at the beginning of hostilities—put a premium on reliable information about the war plans, alliances, and technological capabilities of the great powers. Hence the increased importance of intelligence and espionage.

In Britain, there was anxiety about the possibility of a German invasion, for the Germans had committed themselves to the construction of a powerful fleet of battleships to rival Britain's. In 1907, the Germans announced the acceleration of their naval program, and influential editors, journalists, and novelists began to speculate that the threat from without might be accompanied by a threat from within—a network of German agents gathering information about Britain's defenses. The novelist William Le Queux was among those who were convinced that German agents, masquerading as waiters, clerks, barbers, and bakers, had infiltrated Britain in large numbers. His influence on public opinion in Britain, and, indirectly, on government policy, was extraordinary.

Here, then, is a rare case in which fiction had a considerable influence on the course of events.  Phillip Knightley and Christopher Andrew, two of our best historians of intelligence, have called attention to the interplay between fiction and espionage at the dawn of the 20th century. That relationship is the theme of our readings this week.

The first story about a German invasion of Britain, Sir George Chesney's "The Battle of Dorking," appeared in Blackwood's Magazine as early as 1871, in the wake of the Franco-Prussian War. Erskine Childers's The Riddle of the Sands (1903) was the first classic of the genre: here amateur British yachtsmen foil a German invasion plot. But the most influential of the early spy novels was John Buchan's The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915). Why is this novel the prototype of so much subsequent spy fiction?

Buchan was a versatile civil servant as well as a prolific man of letters, the author of 29 novels, five books of short stories, nine biographies, and hundreds of articles and essays. His spy fiction married the detective genre of Arthur Conan Doyle, with its emphasis on the unraveling of a mystery on the basis of fragmentary clues, with the heroic adventure plots of Robert Louis Stevenson. The central intuition of this kind of fiction is the sense of menace or evil that lurks behind or beneath the surface of everyday life—a fascination with clandestinity and subversion. Diplomacy has become occult; history proceeds by conspiracy. Swept up in a vortex of intrigue, the hero must undertake a dangerous journey in pursuit of the enemy. But at the same time, the enemy pursues him, and the authorities at first refuse to believe his story. The situation is essentially paranoid: the amateur agent possesses dangerous secrets that no one, except the implacable enemy who is trying to kill him, will believe. He must improvise, invent identities, postpone or escape captivity, until he can persuade the authorities to believe that the threat is real. Here is the germ, not only of many subsequent spy fictions, but also of the cinema of Alfred Hitchcock.

Every commentator on Buchan notes the importance of his Calvinist background. Buchan loved Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, and recapitulated its structure in the perilous journey of his hero and the providential outcome of his plot. Could one write an essay entitled "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Espionage"? 

To Read This Week:

Christopher Andrew, "Gentlemen into Players," The Listener, 5 October 1978 (handout)

William Le Queux, "The Brass Butterfly," from The Oxford Book of Spy Stories, pp. 30-40 (handout)

John Buchan, The 39 Steps

Christopher Harvie, introduction to the Oxford World Classics edition of The 39 Steps.

Discussion Points:

1. William Le Queux's "The Brass Butterfly" is a typical product of the espionage literature of the period before the First World War. In what respects does the story remind you of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories? What is the significance of Le Queux's decision to begin the story with an evocation of Renaissance Italy?  What is the significance of the "brass butterfly" of the story's title? Why should the secret contained within the butterfly involve Austria's decision to repudiate the Treaty of Berlin and to annex Bosnia and Herzogovina? Is Jack Devrill a sufficiently attractive model of the spy-hero? How are the Germans portrayed here? Are there any surprises in the portrait of Donna Stella?
   
   
2. Is Buchan a better writer than Le Queux? How does his hero, Richard Hannay, differ from Le Queux's Jack Devrill? What is the significance of his South African experience, his "veldcraft"? What is the relationship between empire and espionage in Buchan's fiction? What are Hannay's principal virtues? How does Buchan's German villain compare with Le Queux's?
   
   
3. Alas, poor Scudder! He doesn't last long, but he sets the plot in motion, and provides a foil for Hannay. Scudder's version of history is not only conspiratorial but also anti-Semitic. To what extent do you think the hero and the author share that anti-Semitism?
   
   
4. How did Alfred Hitchcock adapt Buchan's novel to reflect his own preoccupations and the circumstances of the 1930s? Why does he place so much emphasis on the prologue in the music hall? What episodes from the novel does he retain and how does he embellish them? Why does he add three major female characters (the mysterious and short-lived Annabella Smith, the crofter's wife played by Peggy Ashcroft, and the initially hostile character played by Madeleine Carroll)?

Supplementary Reading:

Phillip Knightley, "Governments, Spies, and Fairy Tales," from The Second Oldest Profession: Spies and Spying in the Twentieth Century, pp. 9-28. This excellent survey of 20th-century espionage history, now sadly out of print, provides a skeptical and often wickedly funny overview of the subject. William Le Queux has a starring role in the first chapter. What sort of figure is Le Queux for Knightley? Why is the year 1909 so important in this account of the origins of British intelligence?  

Le Queux, William. Spies of the Kaiser: Plotting the Downfall of England. London: Hurst & Blackett, 1909. This is the master's most important work of fiction,

Andrew, Christopher. Her Majesty's Secret Service: The Making of the British Intelligence Community. New York: Viking, 1986.  The second chapter of this standard work, "Spies and Spy Scares: The Birth of the Secret Service Bureau," offers a more detailed account than Knightley's of the origins of the British intelligence bureaucracies.

French, David. "Spy Fever in Britain 1900-1915," Historical Journal, XXI, 2 (1978), pp.355-370.  Emphasizes the negative impact of spy fever on civil liberties in Britain. 

Hiley, Nicholas F. "The Failure of British Espionage against Germany, 1907-1914," Historical Journal, XXVI, 4 (1983), pp.867-889. Argues that, on the rare occasions when the first British agents in Germany provided good intelligence, the authorities in London refused to believe it.

Powell, Geoffrey. "John Buchan's Richard Hannay," History Today 37 (August 1987), pp.32-39. This article identifies the Buchan's principal model for his hero Richard Hannay.

Cawelti, John and Bruce A. Rosenberg, "The Joys of Buchaneering: John Buchan and the Heroic Spy Story," in The Spy Story. Chicago and London: Chicago University Press, 1987.  This is probably the best overview of Buchan's contribution to the development of the genre.

Parry, Jonathan, "From the Thirty-Nine Articles to the Thirty-Nine Steps: Reflections on the Thought of John Buchan," in Public and Private Doctrine: Essays in British History Presented to Maurice Cowling. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. This brilliant essay finds a Victorian Liberal beneath the Tory shell of Buchan's mind and politics.
 
Annan, Noel. "The Sweet Smell of Success," New York Review of Books, 17 February 1966.  An excellent appreciation of Buchan's mind and career by one of the best writers on British intellectual history and the history of espionage.  

[top of page]

103. Medieval Spain

* This syllabus is provisional, course details may change at the discretion of the instructor.

Instructor: Prof. Brian A. Catlos
Office: Humanities Building 527
Phone: 831-459-4915

Overview

Through lectures and discussion sessions this course will examine the history of the
Iberian peninsula and Northwest Africa from the era of the Visigoths to the age of the
Catholic Monarchs. The material will be treated chronologically. Political and economic
history form the basis of the course, with special attention paid to religio-social history,
and in particular the interrelation between the various ethno-confessional groups of the
peninsula (Christians, Muslims and Jews).

Lectures

Students who do not attend the first class may be dropped from the class roster without
further notice.

Attendance will be taken, but is not required. It is the students’ responsibility to keep up
to date with any syllabus changes or other announcements made in class; there may be
unannouced quizzes or in-class assignments.

Sections

There will be regular weekly discussion sections, beginning with the week of October 2.
Attendance and participation is mandatory (one unexcused absence is permitted, each
subsequent absence from section will reduce the final grade by 10 percentage points to a
maximum of 60 percentage points).

Readings

The readings complement the lectures and are instrumental for success in the course.
Students are advised to complete the relevant readings before each class.

Film

There will be a special film session on Mon., Nov. 20 at 8pm, where we will watch “The
Disputation” (dir.: Geoffrey Sax). The film is also on reserve at McHenry.

Required Texts

• Collins, Roger. Early Medieval Spain: Unity in Diversity, 400-1000. 2nd ed. Basingstoke:
  Macmillan, 1995.
  Mackay, Angus. Spain in the Middle Ages: From Frontier to Empire, 1000-1500. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1977 [reprint].
• Reilly, Bernard F. The Contest of Christian and Muslim Spain: 1031-1157. Oxford: Basil
  Blackwell, 1992.
• Course-pack of required and supplemental readings (in three separate volumes).

All texts are available at the Bay Tree Book Store.

Course Completion and Evaluation

You may opt for Pass/Fail or a letter grade in this course; in either case your grade will be
based on the following:

• Map Test 5%
• Short Essay #1 20%
• Short Essay #2 20%
• Mid-Term Test 20%
• Final Take-Home 25%
• Participation 10%

You must submit the essays and final to be eligible for credit in this course. You must
complete and sign a course registration sheet (available in class) in the first two weeks of
class to be eligible for credit in this course.

Seniors may opt to write a 12–15 page research paper instead of the two shorter essays
with approval of the instructor; if you are interested you should speak to the instructor
before October 11.

Participation

Your participation mark is based on your performance in section and on any in-class
quizzes.

Map Test

A study map has been posted on Web CT. In class you will be provided with a map and
be asked to label points and identify the location of towns.

Short Essays

These are 6-page written assignments based on lecture material and course readings.
Detailed instructions will be posted on WebCT along with the reserve book list.

Mid-Term Test

This will be an in-class test consisting of short answer and essay questions. You will
need to bring at least 2 blue exam books (available at the Bay Tree bookstore).

Final Exam

This will be a regularly scheduled in-class exam. It will consist of short and long essay
questions. You will need to bring at least 2 blue exam booklets.

Extensions are granted only for documented illness or similar circumstances. Papers
must be handed in on time or late penalties will be applied. There will be no “make up”
sessions for the final or mid-term exams.

[top of page]

124. Revolutions in France, 1789-1871.

Instructor: Mark Traugott

Course Description

For information on History 124, please see http://ic.ucsc.edu/~traugott/hist124/.

Please note that this syllabus is from a previous offering and may not be up to date.

[top of page]

150B.The Rise and Fall of the Qing Empire

Instructor: Minghui Hu
Instruction: TTh 6:00-7:45 p.m., Social Sciences I 110
Office: Merrill 31
Office Hours: Tuesday 3:00-5:00, or by appointment
E-mail: mhu@ucsc.edu
Phone: 831-459-5270
Teaching Assistant: Alex Day (Office: B Charles Merrill Lounge, aday999@yahoo.com)
TA sections: Section A, Wed 5:00-6:10, Merrill Acad 130
                     Section B, Fri 11:00-12:10, J Baskin Engr 165

Course Description

This course introduces undergraduate students to how Qing China (1644-1911) arose, expanded, and struggled to enter the modern world.  During the 18th century, the Qing state, economy, and society encountered problems common to agrarian empires across Eurasia, while the industrial West began accumulating capital and incorporating an overseas market.  By the end of 18th century, Qing China remained a territorial empire that consolidated its control over Inner Asia and attempted to restructure its polity to cope with challenges from China proper: increasingly more commercial zones and transportation networks in an agrarian economy, elite mobility and peasant unrest, political legitimacy of alien rule, maintaining social order (such as merchants control and gender segregation), massive population growth and internal migration, etc.  By the end of the 19th century, Qing China suffered from ecological disaster, economical downturn, extensive peasant revolts, and imperialist aggression.  Qing China was struggling to enter the realm of the global industrial capitalism, dominated by a few imperialist states.  A longer historical framework that views Qing China as an integral part of modern Chinese history will help us put the reemergence of China today in a solid and comprehensive perspective.

Course Requirements

• Attendance.
• Reading of all required assignments and participating in discussion.
• Grade distribution: Map quiz, 5%; Chronology quiz, 5%; 5 take-home examinations, 18% each; Class attendance and participation, 10% (bonus credit).
• Your TA will review the questions in your take-home examinations and brainstorm with you possible ways of addressing the questions.  He will also evaluate your answers.

Books Recommended for Purchase

• Susan Mann, Precious Records: Women in China’s Long Eighteenth Century, Stanford, 1997.
• Jonathan Spence, God’s Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan, Norton, [1996], 1997.
• Jonathan Spence, Treason by the Book, Penguin, 2001.
• Philip Kuhn, Origins of the Modern Chinese State, Stanford, 2002.

The course reader includes the following items:

• F. W. Mote, Imperial China, 900-1800, Harvard, pp. 743-973.
• Peter Perdue, China Marches West: The Qing Conquest of Central Eurasia, Harvard, 2005, pp. 134-299.
• Matthew Sommer, Sex, Law, and Society in Late Imperial China, Stanford, pp. 166-209.
• Jonathan Spence, The Search for Modern China, Norton, 1999, pp. 141-242.
• Mary Backus Rankin, Elite Activism and Political Transformation in China: Zhejiang Province 1865-1911, Stanford, 1986, pp. 34-135.
• Theodore Huters, Bringing the World Home: Appropriating the West in Late Qing and Early Republican China, Hawai’i, 2005, pp. 23-42.
• Benjamin Elman, On Their Own Terms: Science in China, 1550-1900, Harvard, pp. 283-395.

Schedule of Classes and Assignments

*I will publish each take-home examination question on my web page:
http://frodo.ucsc.edu/~mhu/courses.htm

[top of page]

194F. Literati, Samurai, and Yanbang: A Comparative History of State and Elite in East Asia, 1600-1900

Instructor: Minghui Hu
Instruction: TTh 4-5:45, Crown 203
Office: Merrill 31
Office Hours: Tuesday 2-3, or by appointment
E-mail: mhu@ucsc.edu
Phone: 831-459-5270

Course Description

This seminar critically examines the formation of political elites in East Asia.  We will investigate and compare literati in Ming and Qing China, samurai in Tokugawa Japan, and yanbang in Joeson Korea.  Literati, samurai, and yanbang each occupied specific roles and functions in their state and society but differed in scale and character.  They designed major institutions and formulated dominant values; and they were the first group of people who reckoned and confronted the industrial West and decided to accept, accommodate, or reject various forms of European institutions and values.  A close look at literati, samurai, and yanbang in terms of state formation and elite participation is, therefore, crucial to understanding how the East Asian States and societies entered the modern world.  A longer historical framework to examine the origins, formation, and transformation of literati, samurai, and yanbang also provides us with significant insights about the culture and politics of East Asia as a region.

Course Requirements

• Attendance.
• Reading of all required assignments (roughly 100 pages per meeting) and participating in class discussion.
• Satisfactory completion of weekly notes (5 pages double-spaced) as well as the final paper (20-25 pages double-spaced) in the final exam week.  The final paper should be the culmination of the gradual development of your weekly notes.  Although participation in class discussion could serve as an adjustment factor, the final paper alone will decide your final grade.
• All notes should be submitted as email attachment.  I will use track and change function in MS Word to edit and comment on your notes and send them back to you in a timely manner.  The final paper should be submitted as a hard copy to my office.

Books Recommended for Purchase

• Benjmain Elman, A cultural History of Civil Examinations in Late Imperial China, California, 2000.
• Eiko Ikegami, The Taming of the Samurai: Honorific Individualism and the Making of Modern Japan, Harvard, 1995.
• Eiko Ikegami, Bonds of Civility: Aesthetic Networks and the Political Origins of Japanese Culture, Cambridge, 2005.
• John B. Duncan, The Origins of the Choson Dynasty, Washington, 2000.
• Susan Mann, Precious Records: Women in China’s Long Eighteenth Century, Stanford, 1997.
• Bruce Cumings, Korea’s Place in the Sun: A Modern History, Norton, 2003.

Schedule of Classes and Assignments

*Final paper is due on June 16.

[top of page]