Show and Tell 5

Important: If you already used your Free Pass for a Show and Tell, you’ll need to do this one to meet the requirements of the course!

Include in submission comments on Canvas a self-assessment and suggested grade. (More details below)

Table of Contents

Details: what, when, where, how

WHEN: due by Tue, May 9, 11.59pm

WHAT: showcase something you learned / researched about Chinese history for the time period 1949-1976, i.e. course content for weeks 13, 14, 15 (from the death of Mao to yesterday, aka recent and contemporary history of China/Taiwan/Hong Kong).

WHY: This gives you a chance to look back and consolidate what you learned throughout the course. Perhaps you now see connections you did not spot initially (maybe as the result of browsing through your classmates’ posts?), or you have changed your opinions, or discovered a new source, or followed up on a question and want to share?

HOW:

  • Create a blog post, and embed the project (use an iframe), or share a link in the post. (If it’s a text-based Show and Tell, you can of course submit it as the blog post.)
  • Use the words “Show and Tell 5:” in the title of the post; you can further customize the title by adding a title that will draw the reader in.
  • Add the post to the category hst271.
  • Submit your link in the Canvas assignment
  • Most importantly: add a brief self-assessment in the submission comments:
    • What did you do well? What do you want to improve on in a rewrite, or in the next assignment?
      • The Rubric (found below) is a soulless check list, so in the submission comments you get a chance to wax lyrical about what you put into the project, and what you hope the reader gets out of it. If need be, I can help you get that out even more in a “rewrite & resubmit” (–> that is a real thing professional academics do, join the club!)
    • Suggest a grade out of 20 points.

Topics

Here’s a suggested list of topics, but please ping me a message on Discord or talk with me if you have a cool idea and are not sure if it will fit. I’ll do my best to help you make it work!

  • Reform and opening up (gaige kaifang)
  • One-child policy and its consequences
  • Economic lift-off and its consequences
  • 1989, and/or the lead-up and the aftermath
  • Internet in China
  • China’s rise on the international scene
  • What’s happening in Hong Kong or Taiwan at this time?
  • …
  • (See also list of Sources and Final Show and Tell Special below for a couple of additional suggestions)

Suggestions for formats

  • An analytical blog post: you analyze a set of materials drawn from the course materials, looking for connections, changes, continuities within the section covered and (once we are beyond the first Show and Tell) across more than one section.
    • 800 words (±10%, excl. notes and bibliography)
    • It’s not a summary.
    • I encourage you to bring in additional scholarly materials. Otherwise you have to do a very deep analysis of what we covered in class/readings.
    • You bring a new insight through a focused look at a particular aspect of the course materials covered so far: this post is more than the sum of its parts.
    • OPTION: You can also do this as a voiced-over power point slide deck, voice-thread, or other video/spoken assignment.
  • An encyclopedia entry (as blog post): you explain in detail an aspect of this part of Chinese history that you found fascinating, but we did not explore in great detail in class.
    • You add at least two sources that were not in the class readings yet. (Note: you can use the Optional Extras/background)
    • You introduce new information and new details on something connected to the history of China (1600-1800).
  • A small digital humanities project, for instance:
    • A detailed timeline (TimelineJS) [e.g. a specific event instead of covering the years 1600-1800]
    • A Storymap
    • A Twine-story
    • A Twitter-thread (series of tweets on a single topic)
    • An short audio podcast episode (± 5min, scripted)
    • A brief video documentary (± 2-3 min)
  • Current event in historical context: China is in the news all the time, and many of the topics have a much longer and complex historical background than journalists explain in their pieces. Use a current news topic as a jumping off point, and dive deeper into the historical connection.
    • 800 words (±10%, excl. notes and bibliography)
  • Primary source analysis
    • Do a deeper dive into a longer source and explore it as a historian would: how does the document/cultural artifact help you understand the history? OR
    • Use two or more primary sources and put them in dialogue, and show how a historian can use these to deepen our understanding of Chinese history. You can trace a genre or topic in time, or you can put two sources from the same time period in dialogue.
    • 800 words (± 10%;  excl. footnotes and bibliography)
    • You can find a list below
  • Examples of creative projects from previous editions of the course:
    • informative click bait, review of a scholarly article, a twitter thread,…
    • a talkshow with impersonations of historical figures
    • Google slide presentations with voice over or presenter notes
    • Prezi presentation
    • script for a play
    • art work, with guided notes explaining the connection to history.
  • Other ideas? Let me know! We can discuss what would work.

Rubric and self-assessment

How to assess your own work? Let’s agree on the following basics. Your work scores high when it displays characteristics that are the result of a resounding yes to the following statements:

  • I leaned into my curiosity to get to the bottom of a question I had, or a topic I wanted to learn more about – within the timeframe specified for this particular Show and Tell.
  • I made sure my contribution helps my fellow students understand a particular aspect of Chinese history better, and is more than a summary of content we covered in class.
  • I hit the word count (±10%, excl. notes and bibliography) if I follow a model suggested by Dr. D
    • OR
  • I consulted with Dr. D on the suitability and feasibility of a creative or digital project as an equivalent amount of work
  • I added footnotes in Chicago Notes and Bibliography style for all information I used, not only for paraphrases and quotations. [See the FAQ on this webpage, scroll down a bit]
  • I added a list of works consulted (aka a “bibliography) in Chicago Notes and Bibliography style
  • I checked the public-facing presentation of my work (blog post or other) looks professional, and is to the best of my ability free from factual errors, grammar and spelling mistakes.
  • I made sure to add hyperlinks and Alt Text where applicable.

Suggestions for sources

  • Wei, Jingsheng, and Kristina M Torgeson. The Courage to Stand Alone: Letters from Prison and Other Writings. New York: Viking, 1997.
    • PDF; #dissident #protest #dissident # political-prisoner
    • What is it? Wei wrote in late 1978 a “big character” poster, entitled “The Fifth Modernization” (meaning democracy; see Week 12). He was in the spring of 1979 arrested and in the fall put on trial, including for spreading counterrevolutionary information and attempting to overthrow the government, and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. Much of that time he spent in solitary confinement. He wrote letters, including to the leaders of the country: Deng Xiaoping, Chen Yun (another high-level leader who took part in the Long March), Li Peng (Premier), Jiang Zemin (General Secretary of CCP and President). (Writing to his family was stricly censored, and at least with these men he could have an imaginary intellectual “dialogue” of some sorts. These excerpts are centered around the idea of dealing with one’s persuasion, while the state is grinding away at one’s very sense of humanity.
  • Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony, directed by Zhang Yimou. Beijing, 2008. (
    • Youtube link; #sports #diplomacy #soft-power #international-relations
    • Don’t balk at the length: the interesting bit is about an hour long (start at the beginning); you don’t need to look through the parade of nations. Scroll to 4h08′ in to see the run-up to lighting the flame.
    • How did China in 2008 want to present itself to the world? What is the impression we’re left with from the impressive opening ceremony? How does that vision of China sit with the image of China you have after a semester of studying it? And whatever else you can think of!

Final Show and Tell Special

  • You can use the final Show and Tell to show how your newly acquired knowledge of modern Chinese history (i.e. this semester) helps you understand recent events in China in a different light: pick an event or current affairs item, and show how your historical knowledge from something across the entire semester adds depth, helps you connect it to the longer history of China, and creates a new perspective. Be as concrete as possible in the parallels you identify. Better to think “Show, don’t tell!” in this case 😉
  • You can think about a topic that runs through a large chunk, if not all of the timespan we covered (1600-yesterday), and show the evolution across time. No need to write a Ph.D. thesis, but exploring parallels and connections across two or three concrete events, issues or figures could be a good way to highlight what you learned over the course of the semester.

Note for requests for extensions: to give me a chance to put a grade on stuff, the very very latest I can accept work is Thursday, May 11.