Unit rationale, description and aim
Napoleon Bonaparte once dubbed China 'the sleeping dragon'. But in the early twenty-first century, it seems that China has truly awoken from its slumber to become a world power with ambitions to reshape the global political order. This unit explores the developments that have transformed China since 1949. Specifically, it analyses key contemporary social and political changes, including China's meritocratic political system, the growing disparity between urban and rural China, and China's characteristic political economy and relational culture. By tracing the key shifts in economic, social, and cultural trends within China, and its emerging role as a regional and global superpower, the unit aims to offer students the skills necessary to critically analyse what the rise of China might mean for both Australia and the world in the twenty-first Century.
Campus offering
No unit offerings are currently available for this unit.Learning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
Describe the nature and significance of Chinese po...
Learning Outcome 01
Critically discuss diverse political perspectives ...
Learning Outcome 02
Demonstrate the capacity to gather, analyse and ad...
Learning Outcome 03
Apply concepts and theories used in the study of C...
Learning Outcome 04
Content
Topics will include:
- The nature of China’s politics and culture from traditional to modern times
- The social and cultural basis of modern China
- China’s national institutional framework
- Religion in China
- Collective action and social movements in China today
- The rural-urban divide and its transformation
- The growth of China’s market economy
- Chinese citizenship and rights
- China and the West
- China’s future and global issues
Assessment strategy and rationale
A range of assessment procedures will be used to meet the unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes consistent with University assessment requirements. The assessment strategy allows students to engage in a variety of tasks, each aligned to their own learning outcomes.
The descriptive task (quiz) requires students to describe the nature and significance of Chinese politics and governance and the key institutional arrangements of the Chinese political system.
The written analytical task is focussed on microscopic themes in offering students an opportunity to critically discuss diverse political and social issues in Chinese institutions and culture, including with respect to marginalised, disadvantaged, and vulnerable peoples and communities, and to demonstrate the capacity to explore, analyse, and explain ethical solutions to political problems through evidence-based argument and evaluation of relevant sources.
The major written task (essay) helps students to develop, research, and write an essay on the macroscopic issues that most interests them, analysing what the future may hold for China in the twenty-first Century. In doing so, the task enables students to apply concepts and theories used in the study of Chinese politics and society to the analysis of interests, ideas, institutions, and political behaviour in a way that informs students’ own practices of engaged citizenship.
Overview of assessments
Summative Task: Online Quiz Students ar...
Summative Task: Online Quiz
Students are required to describe the nature and significance of Chinese politics and governance and the key institutional arrangements of the Chinese political system.
20%
Written Analytical Task: Students are r...
Written Analytical Task:
Students are required to research and write an essay exploring an aspect of Chinese politics, society, or culture that relates to the everyday experiences of Chinese citizens.
30%
Major Written Task: Students will be required to ...
Major Written Task:
Students will be required to develop, research, and write their own essay analysing a key issue in contemporary Chinese politics and society.
50%
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
This unit employs two formal ways of learning and teaching. Lectures are structured to promote case-based learning, a format that involves collaborative deep learning. Students will explore real world challenges and problems, a process that requires them to demonstrate their investigative, problem-solving and decision-making skills. Case-based learning requires learning specific theories and concepts that will complement the conceptual tools and theoretical knowledge critical to analysing divergent approaches in Chinese politics.
Tutorials for this unit provide students opportunities for active learning. Students will engage in activities including reading, writing, interrogating ideas, exploring case studies, doing role plays, debating, and giving presentations. These activities, as well as promoting analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of lecture content, are designed to build skills appropriate to the second-year study in Politics and International Relations.
This is a 10-credit point unit and has been designed to ensure that the time needed to complete the required volume of learning to the requisite standard is approximately 150 hours in total across the semester. To achieve a passing standard in this unit, students will find it helpful to engage in the full range of learning activities and assessments utilised in this unit, as described in the learning and teaching strategy and the assessment strategy. The learning and teaching and assessment strategies include a range of approaches to support your learning such as reading, reflection, discussion, webinars, podcasts, video etc.