Keeping in mind our goal of evaluating China’s domestic strengths and weaknesses, and related to this, speculating about its future role in the global community and its status in the international order, discuss what you think are some of the most relevant economic, political or social trends/characteristics/challenges described in the readings and other supplemental materials. What observations offered in the course materials strike you as most relevant and interesting? In each instance, in addition to describing the nature of the trend/characteristic/challenge, assess whether, in your view, the item being discussed has positive or negative implications for China’s future—both domestically and for its standing and influence in the global system. Cumulatively, in your view, do these trends/characteristics/challenges lay the foundation for future Chinese strength and continued growth/expansion, for consolidation of the status quo, for collapse, or for something else?
It is important to note that I am looking for what you think based on what you have read/watched/listened to, rather than specific arguments offered by the material’s author. That said, you must support your discussions with specific examples/supporting evidence from the materials–this is not simply an opinion essay, although I do want to hear what you think.
Your essay must clearly demonstrate that you have read and thought about the assigned book and other required materials, meaning that I expect to see explicit reference to and examples from the required materials in your papers. In addition to the book, your essay must also reflect upon and reference each of the required videos/podcasts/articles for the module.
Essays may NOT reference sources from beyond the readings assigned for this course.
Essays must be seven full pages in length; the bibliography is not included in the seven page count.
Guidelines for written work: all written work (essays and paper) for this course must conform to all of the following guidelines:
All documents must be submitted in Word, not PDF format. PDF documents will not be graded.
Type size: 12 point Times Roman ONLY
Line spacing: double-spaced papers ONLY.
Margins: Left-hand margin justification only, maximum one-inch margin top, bottom, left and right.
Indentation: half-inch indentation to begin each paragraph.
Paragraph spacing: NO extra line spacing between paragraphs. Be sure this option is turned off in your Microsoft Word settings.
A title page is required for final research paper only. Title page should include the paper title, your name, professor’s name, course name and number, and date.
For all other assignments, please place your name only in the right-hand corner of the first page only. No titles, dates or course references should be included on other assignments.
Pagination: number all pages except title page.
Structure and organization: all papers must be organized around assigned questions and, where appropriate, should use section titles/headings and subsections throughout.
References: provide a complete bibliography using Turabian for the social sciences as presented on the library website: https://guides.lib.jmu.edu/ld.php?content_id=43039154. You can also find this formatting information in the course documents module. All bibliographic materials should be presented on a separate final page of the paper; the bibliography page does NOT count towards the final required page count for assignments.
Citations: use in-text citations only; no endnotes or footnotes. Follow the within-paper style presented in this author-date formatting document found in the course documents module or in the course writing guidelines.
All written submissions for the course must include a signed honor code statement: “This work complies with the JMU Honor Code.” (See Honor Code in the Course Documents module.)
All written submissions for the course also must conform to the course writing guidelines. Be sure to consult the writing guidelines document concerning usage and style issues. This document sets the standard by which I assess your written work: i.e., if the guidelines say you should indent and single space long quotations, be sure you do so. I intend for you to read and comply with the writing guidelines; they are not just another handout designed for the recycling bin! You must comply with all the standards established in this document—failure to do so will result in at least a letter grade deduction in your paper grades.
All assignments are due at the time specified in this syllabus. Late work, when accepted, will be subject to a penalty.
All work submitted for this course must be original to the course. You may NOT submit, in whole or in parts, research or other work prepared for another course.
