Circuits of Knowledge in Modern China

This is a course on the history of science and environment in modern China. The syllabus itself grows out of the workshop “Global Socialism and Circuits of Expertise in the Post-1945 World,” convened in May 2016 at the Weatherhead East Asian Institute of Columbia University. That workshop brought together a transnational group of scholars to consider scientific and technological passages in the post-war socialist world. This sample syllabus adapts the methods and themes of the workshop to a potential course for the study of modern China. The syllabus is organized thematically into three main sections – i) environment; ii) knowledge practices; and iii) organization – while providing coverage of Chinese history from the Late Qing to the Reform era. Retaining emphases on transcultural adaptation and co-production, and movements between mass and expert modes of knowledge, the syllabus invites critical reflection upon the social and political uses of science and technology, and their relationship to modernizing projects in the recent Chinese past. Designed for upper level undergraduates, each week offers three readings as well as a supplemental reading for papers or presentations, and is flexible to the needs of different programs and forms of assessment. The syllabus was prepared by JM Chris Chang (Columbia University) with significant contributions by Sigrid Schmalzer (UMass Amherst).

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