8 points, due May 5, 11:59PM
WHAT: 500-800 words
HOW: Write as a Google doc, and submit on Canvas in this assignment.
WHY: The end of the semester is a good time to stop and reflect on how far you’ve come, but also on how you can use the knowledge you gathered here (about yourself and about the topic) and apply it outside the confines of this course.
The details
As we come to the end of the semester, and close in on the present, you get a third chance to reflect on your learning. This one is a bit different from previous reflections, because I invite you to think about the course as a whole, and how it makes you see the world around you a bit differently (rather than focusing on how you learn).
Pick one or more of the following prompts, and write a 500-800 word reflection, using concrete illustrations or examples from your work for or engagement with the course, to make those lofty thoughts concrete. In other words: “Show, don’t just tell”:
- What do you think is the most important thing you learned in this course, and why do you think so? Why do you think more people ought to know about this?
- This course carries a DE General Academic Requirement. Do you think you earned it? Why (not)?
- To help you answer that question, here’s the description from the Course Catalog: “HDGE courses across the curriculum aim to broaden and deepen students’ understanding of human difference and to develop the intellectual and civic skills students require for participation in an increasingly diverse and interconnected world.”
- Remember the question about modernity? Let’s go back there: Is China modern? But before you answer that question, maybe ponder this question: when you say “modern/modernization”, do you actually mean “Western/Westernization”?
- Imagine you are interviewed five years from now for your dream job (which likely has nothing to do with Chinese history!); the interviewer sees on your transcript you took HST271: Modern China. “Oh, what did you learn in that course?” What is your answer? Why?
