Syllabus

**__Moving Forward from Crises: __** __A Historical Review and Future Vision of the United States and China __
 * Syllabus - Fall 2012 **
 * Instructor: **Wanli Hu
 * Office **: McCormack Hall - 3rd floor - Room 126
 * Email: ** wanli.hu@umb.edu
 * Phone: **617-287-7292
 * Classrooms: **
 * Days/Time: October 10 ** – December 5, Wed 10:00 – 11:30


 * Recommended books: **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Immanuel C.Y. Hsu, //The// //Rise of Modern China//, 6th edition, Oxford, 2000
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">David Boren//, [|A Letter to America] //
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Thomas L. Friedman, //Hot, Flat and Crowed: Why We Need A Green Revolution-And How It Can Renew America//, Douglas & McIntyre, Vancouver/Toronto, 2006


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Course Description: **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> //Weiji// is a Chinese word equivalent to //crises//. However, it has two meanings in Chinese: //challenges// and //opportunities//. Both China and the United States have had numerous critical crises in their history. Facing challenges in history, both the Chinese and American people have made use of their wisdom, courage, and experience to find new solutions to overcome the difficulties they were facing. Therefore, they transformed crises into opportunities, and they moved forward significantly after each crisis. This course will trace the critical crises in American history from 1620 and those in Chinese history from 1840 to the present. We will see how these two countries moved forward politically, economically, socially and culturally from different crises and challenges. Moreover, both countries are facing new crises in the 21st century. Can they find effective solutions to meet the challenges and move forward with their traditions, strengths, wisdom and vision? This is an open-ended course with historical perspective and future vision. Hopefully, this historical review will help you gain a better understanding of American history, American society and American culture from a new perspective.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">This course will compare how the United States and China faced and experienced critical crises, covering the period in American history from the early 17th century to the present and in Chinese history from the 18th century through today. It will explain how both nations made use of their wisdom, traditions and courage to find solutions to their challenges, change crises into opportunities and move forward. Course participants will gain a new perspective and understanding of their own history, society and culture, while learning about Chinese history, society and culture.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Course Outcomes: **


 * __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Mon. March 5: Course Introduction __**


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Instructor and student introductions.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Explanation of the rationale of the course.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Review syllabus, schedule, assignments and expectations.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Overview of course procedures and format.


 * __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Wed. March 7: China before the Opium War (1840) __**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The Qing Dynasty, the last Chinese dynasty, created another golden age of Chinese civilization in the 18th century. With its correct policies, the Manchu conquered China, successfully integrating into the Han culture, winning support from the Han people. Its GDP was a little more than one third of the world GDP. The population tripled from 143 million in 1741 to 430 million in 1850. Its territory reached 14,700,000 square kilometers or 5,675,702 square miles. //Kangxi Dictionary// and //The Complete Library of the Four Treasures// – the Classics, history, philosophy and belles letters - displayed cultural accomplishments. Political stability, economic prosperity, territorial expansion and cultural richness gave the rulers and their subjects a sense of superiority over all outsiders. Because of this, they resisted anything new from the West. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">In the 18th century, the occasion of Macartney's meeting Emperor Qianlong was the commencement of a clash between Western and Chinese civilizations. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> It was this kind of China-centric mentality that led to Chinese’s ignorance of the rise and challenge from Great Britain in the 18th and early 19th century. The Macartney Embassy is historically significant because it marked a missed opportunity by the Chinese to move toward some kind of accommodation with the West. Actually, how could one expect Chinese rulers to accept Macartney’s proposal to have free trade as an equal trading country when China regarded all the other nations as tributary states or barbarians?

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> **Recommended Reading**: Chapter 2-6, Immanuel C.Y. HHHHsu, The Rise of Modern China, 6th edition, Oxford, 2000
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Questions: **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">How did the Manchus manage to integrate into Chinese culture and win the support of the Chinese people?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">What was the mentality of the Chinese rulers before the early 19th century and why?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">How did China and Great Britain compare economically, politically and culturally?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Why did Great Britain want free trade with China and why did China decline this request?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">What was Macartney’s perception of China as observed during his China trip?


 * __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Mon. March 12: China’s Response to Western Challenges from 1840 to Early 20th Century __**

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The watershed between ancient Chinese history and modern Chinese history is the Opium War. This war was actually an encounter between the East and the West. After the Renaissance, Reformation, Enlightenment, Industrial Revolutions and imperialist expansion, the West emerged as a dominant force in the world. In contrast, Chinese civilization declined significantly from a superior position to an inferior status because of its own Sino-centric mentality, conservatism and isolation, as well as aggressive challenges from the West. Macartney's diplomatic efforts failed to bring free trade to China. However, during the 19th century, the British cannon-policy forced China to open her doors. Chinese civilization met this unprecedented challenge from the West with humiliation that lasted for an entire century. Faced the fate of extinction and occupation, the Chinese rulers and people made painful transformation economically, politically and even culturally. It is this radical transformation that China survived critical crises, and made Chinese civilization continue.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> Questions: **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">What factors led to the Opium War?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Why did China launch the Self-Strengthening Movement?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Why did China make top-down political reform in 1898 and why did it fail?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Why did Sun Yat-sen make a revolution to overthrow the Manchu rule?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Why did radical Chinese intellectuals demand “down with Confucianism” and welcome “Mr. Democracy and Science”?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Recommended Reading **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">: chapter 7 to 9, 11, 15, 20 and 21, Immanuel C.Y. HHHHsu, The of Modern China, 6th edition, Oxford, 2000

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The Opium War (lecture) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">[] <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The Opium War (a movie) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">[]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> Documentary Movies: **


 * __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Wed. March 14: Deng Xiaoping’s Economic Reform and Rising of China __**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Unlike Mao, Deng is a revolutionary pragmatist. He realized that Mao's romantic idealism put the Chinese into poverty and disillusionment and would lead to the end of the Chinese Communist Party. He understood that one must gain the people's support in order to maintain control and that to keep the CCP in power one had to improve people's daily lives. Learning from Mao's failure, Deng was determined to launch economic reform and open China's door to the world. It was extraordinarily difficult to re-direct a huge country of more than 1.3 billion people. This session depicts Deng's Economic Reform and how he achieved his objectives and won the hearts of the Chinese people by overcoming endless challenges. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Also different from the Self-Strengthening Movement in the last half 19century, China took a pro-active approach toward the world in her Economic Reform. China entered the WTO in 2001 and hosted the Olympic Games in 2008 and the World Expo in 2010. With these events, a renaissance happened in China. China emerged into the family of the world. This is another good example to display how Chinese leaders changed a critical crisis into a good opportunity and made China move forward. //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">China ////<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">'s Capitalist Revolution // []
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Questions: **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Why did Deng launch the Economic Reform?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">What are differences between Mao and Deng in their perception of the world and the relations with other countries?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">How to understand the Tiananmen incident in 1989? Did Deng have any alternative?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">What are the achievements of the Economic Reform?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> Documentary Movie: **


 * __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Mon. March 19: Political Challenge in 1620s, the Mayflower Compact and Its Significance __**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">A group of pilgrims with Puritans and “strangers” left for North America, a wild and savage land, to seek religious freedom and economic prosperity with the ideal of establishing “God’s City upon the Hill.” The first challenge they faced was landing in a place without a government. Mankind’s original sin, or self-centered nature, would lead to chaos and mutual destruction if they could not find a solution. Learning lessons from the failure of earlier settlers to this new world due to lack of a government, the pilgrims in New Plymouth decided to establish a social covenant, which they entitled the Mayflower Compact. The purpose of this agreement was for the sake of collective survival and general good of the settlers. The Mayflower Compact is the first document in <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">American history <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> demonstrating an attempt to form a <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">government <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> based on the concept that government should derive its power from the “consent of the governed.” It not only led to survival, success and prosperity of this community, but it also turned out to be the foundation of the American constitution and cornerstone of the American government. This session will find out who these people were and why they broke the tradition of royal rule and set up a self-governed society. And in particular, what was the significance of the Mayflower Compact?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Questions: **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Who were the Puritans? The Separatists? The “strangers?”
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Why did all these people want to go to the New World and risk losing the life and comfort of living in England?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">What kind of challenges did they meet on the voyage and in the new land?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Why did they decide to establish a social contract entitled Mayflower Compact?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">What is the significance of Mayflower Compact?


 * <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> Documentary movie: **

//<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Desperate Crossing: The Untold Story of the Mayflower // []


 * __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Wed. March 21: __****__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Political Challenge in 1789 - the Constitutional Convention and Its Impact __**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The American Revolution led to the independence of the thirteen colonies in the 1780s. However, this new victory did not bring them social order and economic prosperity. On the contrary, they faced new challenges from both domestic society and foreign countries. Domestically, the weakness of the Confederation government, huge debt, trade protection from each state and economic depression caused Shay’s rebellion, the army’s revolt and political struggles between “classes with and classes without property.” Abroad, London blocked Americans’ trade with the British West Indies and other countries, North African pirates attacked and disputes arose with Spain over West Florida and the Mississippi River. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Facing serious social chaos, the founding fathers proposed a convention to seek a solution. In order to establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty, these founding fathers were determined to create a constitution and make thirteen states into a strong nation. In the 1630s, the pilgrims gave up some personal rights in order to establish a government and to ensure collective survival. Again in the 1780s, the founding fathers agreed to give up part of their own states’ powers in order to establish a “more perfect Union.” We will learn how the founding fathers found solutions and resolved conflicts of interest among big states and small states, free states and slave states, northern states and southern states, etc. We will see how they established a much more powerful federal government, while maintaining “checks and balances” and convincing the people that they could accept a strong federal government without giving up most of the states’ powers. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">This is the second time for Americans to find good solutions to their critical political crisis and made a unified and strong United States of America. //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Creating the Constitution //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">, a Yale course by Professor Freeman
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Questions: **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">What kind of challenges did the United States face in the 1780s?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">What is the nature of the debates held during the Constitutional Convention?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Why did the delegates decide to replace Articles of Confederation with the Constitution?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">What are different interest conflicts between conservative and democratic groups, large and small states, and northern and southern states?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">How do the three branches of government work on their own and “check and balance” each other?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Explain the heritage, compromise, creation and rationale of the Constitution.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Presentation: **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[] **


 * __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Mon. March 26: __****__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Racial Challenges in America (1860s - 1960s) __**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” This is the most important principle on which the United States of America was founded. However, its full realization has experienced a long, painful and bloody journey, costing hundreds of thousands of American lives. African-Americans’ history, experience, fate and future exemplify the racial challenges to the US. This session focuses on the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement. We will see how Americans suffered from racial conflicts which almost destroyed their young country and how they found solutions that kept the United States of America one country, one nation, in which all ethnic groups could live together. //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">1) ////<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">African Americans // []
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Questions: **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">What are the roots of slavery in North America?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Why is racial discrimination and conflict a cancer in the body of the United States of America?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">What factors led to the Civil War? Could the Civil War have been avoided?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">What were President Lincoln’s major contributions to the United States?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Why did the Civil Rights Movement succeed?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">What is the significance of the Civil Rights Movement?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Is racial issue still a problem in today’s America?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Documentary movies: **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Documentary movies: **

//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">2) ////<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Gettysburg ////<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> Address // []

//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">3) ////<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">I have a Dream // []


 * __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Wed. March 28: Economic Challenges to the United States __**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The Civil War solved conflicts between two different economic and political systems: free capitalism and the plantation/slave system. The Spanish-American War not only made America a continental country, but also created an empire across both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Transcontinental railroads made America a common market; mass immigration provided adequate labor, numerous inventions and industrial revolutions, make America the world’s largest economy. With America’s involvement, the Allies won WWI. Political stability, territorial expansion, economic prosperity and military victory made American people believe that they could do anything. To the American people’s surprise, the stock market crashed in October,1929 and the Great depression began. This session will study the root causes of this economic crisis, FDR’s solutions and how his New Deal impacted American political, economic and social life ever since. //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">1) ////<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The American Economic Boom in 1920s // []
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Questions: **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">What was American people’s mentality before the Great Depression happened?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">What caused the Great Depression?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">What were President Hoover’s solutions?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">What were President Roosevelt’s solutions?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Is FDR an anti-capitalist president or pro-capitalist president?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">How did FDR’s New Deal impact American political, economic and social life?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Documentary movie: **

//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">2) ////<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The Great Depression // []


 * __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Mon. April 2: Military Challenge to the United States __**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Americans were still burdened with unpleasant memories of WWI and the Great Depression when the Second World War broke out in Europe in 1939. Moreover, Americans believed the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean were natural defenses to a Fascist German or Imperialist Japanese invasion. Therefore, the mood of isolationism and neutrality was a dominant force in the United States. However, President Roosevelt recognized the threat to the US from both Germany and Japan and took a series of actions to help Great Britain and China. Perceiving America as its greatest obstacle to imperial expansion, Japan made a surprise attack on America’s Pacific fleet in Pearl Harbor. We will learn how American deal with the direct military attack and the effects of WWII on the United States. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> **Movie:**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Questions: **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">What did the majority Americans think of WWI?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Why did a mood of isolationism and neutrality dominate Americans when WWII broke out?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Why did President Truman decide to use nuclear weapons to deal with Japan?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">What were the effects of WWII on the United States?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">How to understand the phenomenon of “Military-Cooperation Complex”?

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">**FDR's Address After Pearl Harbor Attack**

[]


 * __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Wed. April 4: Current Challenges of China __**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Since Deng’s Economic Reform, China has achieved amazing economic development. With [|growth rates averaging 10%] over the past 30 years, China has been the [|fastest-growing major economy] in the world. Now China isthe [|world's second largest economy] after the [|United States]. China is also the largest [|exporter] and second largest [|importer] of goods in the world. However, China is facing new challenges and crises in different perspectives. The most serious challenge is imbalance: imbalance between rapid economic progress and stagnate construction of political reform, imbalance between the rich and poor, imbalance between economic growth and environmental protection, imbalance between urban and rural, etc. It will be difficult for China to sustain development if these challenges and crises cannot be overcome.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Questions: **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">What are the achievements of Deng’s Economic Reform?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">What was China’s impact on the world due to Deng’s Economic Reform during the last 30 years?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">What kind of crises and challenges is China facing?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">What are the likely consequences for China if these crises continue?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> Documentary movie: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">TBA


 * __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Mon. April 9: Current Challenges of the United States __**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, President Reagan declared victory over the socialist camp and the end of the Cold War. The United States became the only superpower in the world and the American model seemed to be the only good example for other countries to follow. Social scientist Francis Fukuyama published his provocative essay, “The End of History?” in the summer of 1989. He proposed that the collapse of Communism in the Soviet [|Union] and Eastern Europe signaled the end of historical progress and the de facto victory of liberal democracy over all other forms of political ideology. However, crises and challenges happened one after another in the United States such as the 9/11 terrorist attack, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the financial crisis of 2008, the current debt crisis, etc. What will happen if these challenges continue? <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">1) David Boren//, [|A Letter to America] // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">2) Thomas L. Friedman, //Hot, Flat and Crowed: Why We Need A Green Revolution-And How It Can Renew America// //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">3) //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Jeffrey Melnick, //9/11 Culture//, Wiley-Black Well, 2009
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Questions: **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">What was the mentality of American leaders after the collapse of the Soviet Union?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">How do you understand Fukuyama’s argument regarding “the end of history?”
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">How to understand 9/11 attacks and its consequences?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">What do you think of America’s involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">What were the major causes of the financial crisis of 2008 and the current debt crisis?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">What do you think of the American way of life?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> Recommended Readings: **


 * __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Wed. April 11: Strengths of both China and United States and Solutions to the Challenges __**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">China is the longest continuous civilization in the world. The United States is the most powerful and influential nation in the current world. Both countries have strengths and experiences to survive numerous critical challenges and crises in the historical development. This session will review their strengths and see how they could make use of their tradition, wisdom and strengths to find solutions to the current crises they are facing today. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">This is an open-ended course. We might not find answers to so many questions from this course, however, historical review displays a big picture how both the US and China made use of their wisdom, experience, courage and vision to overcome numerous crises in their history. We will be aware of these current challenges and keep thinking of solutions to these crises.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Questions: **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">What are Americans’ strengths?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">What are the Chinese people’s strengths?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">What are good solutions, in your mind, to the current challenges of the US?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">What are good solutions, in your mind, to the current challenges of China?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">What is your new understanding of both China and the US?