EdX

ChinaX Book Club: Five Authors, Five Books, Five Views of China (edX)

Offered by HarvardX, Harvard University,
ChinaX Book Club: Five Authors, Five Books, Five Views of China (edX)

An exploration of the dynamics of contemporary China using the tools of close reading, discussion, and analysis. How can literature and literary analysis allow us to understand the dynamics of contemporary China? China’s historical and cultural transformations, and its imaginary and actual engagements in everyday life are vividly dramatized by five Chinese authors featured in this course.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see EdX's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

Taught by Harvard faculty member Professor David Wang, this course will employ the tools of close reading, discussion, and analysis to explore issues that concern the Chinese people, and ponder the power (and limitations) of literature in imagining China anew.
Featured Books and Authors

This course features interviews and discussions with the authors. More Information about each of these authors is available in the syllabus.

What you'll learn

  • Survey the transformation of contemporary Chinese literature through direct engagement with five books and author interviews
  • Explore contemporary China from a range of perspectives including politics, ethics, culture, and gender
  • Understand how literature (particularly in the context of China) can become a source of political intervention and articulate tensions between authoritarianism and individual freedom.
  • Develop your own approaches to modern literature, culture, and history via close reading, critical discussion, and analysis
  • Express ideas more clearly and confidently through the study of primary and secondary sources
Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

The American Renaissance: Classic Literature of the 19th Century (edX) EdX
DartmouthX

The American Renaissance: Classic Literature of the 19th Century (edX)

Humanities Languages & Literature

Explore the writings of famous American authors from Ralph Waldo Emerson and Harriet Beecher Stowe to Mark Twain, and examine the historic role Dartmouth College played in their formation. What is the American Renaissance? How did Dartmouth help foster the formation of the American Renaissance and its reevaluation and reinvention in the twentieth? Why should we, as twenty-first century readers, concern ourselves with this literature?

Self Paced
4 Weeks
Literature American Renaissance Literacy
Details
Contemporary China: The People's Republic, Taiwan, and Hong Kong (edX) EdX
HarvardX,Harvard University

Contemporary China: The People's Republic, Taiwan, and Hong Kong (edX)

Humanities Social Sciences

Use the case study method to study China from the rise of Deng Xiaoping to the present. Using case studies from the Harvard Business School, this course will cover the contemporary Chinese scene by focusing on five main themes in China’s development: agriculture, entrepreneurship, education, environment, and literature.

Self Paced
Self-Paced
China Modern China Chinese History
Details
Invasions, Rebellions, and the Fall of Imperial China (edX) EdX
HarvardX,Harvard University

Invasions, Rebellions, and the Fall of Imperial China (edX)

Humanities History

An overview of modern Chinese history, including the fall of the Qing and the end of imperial China. In the 18th century, the Qing Dynasty is at its height; it is the wealthiest, most powerful, most civilized state on earth. And yet the 19th century brought enormous challenges for the Qing and for the place we call China. By the 20th century, a 2,000-year imperial tradition is gone. What happened?

Self Paced
Self-Paced
China Modern China Chinese History
Details
Cosmopolitan Tang: Aristocratic Culture in China (edX) EdX
HarvardX,Harvard University

Cosmopolitan Tang: Aristocratic Culture in China (edX)

Humanities History

Explore the reunification of China under the Tang with a focus on aristocratic culture — from poetry to calligraphy to literature. By the Tang period, China was divided into northern and southern dynasties with different rulers and political systems. The north was conquered by relatively unsophisticated barbarians, but in the south, the aristocratic families established a refined appreciation of writing and literature.

Self Paced
Self-Paced
History Philosophy Culture
Details
The Spain of Don Quixote (edX) EdX
Universidad Autonoma de Madrid

The Spain of Don Quixote (edX)

Humanities

An exploration of Spain depicted in Cervante’s historic novel, Don Quixote – a Golden Age in which Spanish arts and literature reached worldwide excellence. This MOOC focuses on Spanish history between the Renaissance and Baroque periods—a time when the Spanish culture set the tone in the Western world.

Self Paced
Self-Paced
Art Literature Spain
Details
Japanese Books: From Manuscript to Print (edX) EdX
HarvardX,Harvard University

Japanese Books: From Manuscript to Print (edX)

Humanities Art and Culture

This course expands the definition of the “book” to include scrolls and albums, focusing on the reading experience of a variety of formats in Japan. You will begin by examining rare and beautifully preserved manuscripts in the Harvard Art Museums in an introduction exploring the material properties of Japanese books and scrolls, binding techniques, and important terminology.

Self Paced
Self-Paced
Literature Storytelling Japan
Details
English for Doing Business in Asia - Speaking (edX) EdX
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology - HKUST,HKUSTx

English for Doing Business in Asia - Speaking (edX)

Management & Leadership Humanities

Introducing strategies for developing your spoken English communication skills in the context of doing business in Asia. The use of English for doing business in multinational settings is a fact of life for many business people. As Asian economies expand and become more involved in the global economy, a lingua franca – a language used to communicate among groups of people who do not share a mother tongue – is needed to exchange information.

Self Paced
Self-Paced
Business English China
Details
Chinese Language in Culture: Level 1 (edX) EdX
MIT,MITx

Chinese Language in Culture: Level 1 (edX)

Languages & Literature

Learn both cultural competence and language proficiency for successful participation in Mandarin-speaking societies. This subject is the first of a series that forms an introduction to modern standard Chinese, commonly called Mandarin, the language with the largest number of native speakers in the world. It is the official language of Mainland China and Taiwan, and one of the official languages of Singapore.The course presupposes no prior background in the language.

Apr 21st 2022
5-12 Weeks
Languages China Chinese Culture
Details
Invitation to The Tale of Genji: The Foundational Elements of Japanese Culture (edX) EdX
Waseda University,WasedaX

Invitation to The Tale of Genji: The Foundational Elements of Japanese Culture (edX)

Languages & Literature

Explore the world's oldest novel written in the eleventh century and develop the perspective to understand Japanese classical literature and the foundation of Japanese culture. The Tale of Genji (Genji Monogatari) is a long-form narrative composed in Japan at the beginning of the eleventh century. It depicts relationships both harmonious and discordant among a wide cast of the men and women of the Heian court. These revolve around the many love affairs of the main character, the Shining Genji (Hikaru Genji).

Self Paced
Self-Paced
Literature Japan Novel
Details
China Humanities: The Individual in Chinese Culture (edX) EdX
HarvardX,Harvard University

China Humanities: The Individual in Chinese Culture (edX)

Humanities Art and Culture

Explore Chinese history and culture from the perspective of the individual through philosophical texts, literary works, and art. In China’s history, there has been a longstanding belief that being cultured and being moral are necessary for a person to participate in public life. We often think of China in political terms – and focus on the history of government – or in social terms – and study the role of the family in society. But this course looks at the individual and the striving for culture and morality.

Self Paced
Self-Paced
China Chinese Culture Chinese History
Details