Yangtze International Study Abroad

Course Descriptions Fall 2011/Spring 2012

COMM 228 Introduction to Research Methods in Communication Dr. Henry Tsang
This course will expose students to the logic and conduct of research that is aimed at producing generalizable knowledge about human communication. The goal of the course is to develop students' ability to understand and evaluate social scientific research. Toward that end, students will be exposed to the logic of scientific investigation, different research methods common to the field of communication, statistics, and several special topics in social scientific research. By the end of the semester students will be able to interpret information presented in fundamental statistics and will be able to conduct elementary statistical analyses, in addition to understanding the strengths, weaknesses, and limitations inherent in different research designs.

Comm 300 Introduction to Comm Theory Scott Simpson
This course is designed to familiarize you with the prominent theories in the field of communication. We will address the early development of these theories as well as their contemporary applications. Particular emphasis will be placed on the most notable theories. Upon completion of the course, you should have an extensive understanding of how communication theory can be understood, evaluated, studied, and applied. In addition, this class should help develop your critical thinking skills and improve your written communication skills.

Comm 496Z Comparative Media Development and Business Dr. Yuehua Wu
The media industry has been changing as corporate mergers and the expansion of new digital technologies are transforming the media landscape. The course reviews the evolution of the industry and examines the basic dynamics underlying the changing structure and business strategies of the media industry in the US and China. The possible influences these changes are having on society are also discussed.

Comm 496Z Audience Analysis in International Context Dr. Yuehua Wu
The course aims to help students understand the relationship between media and audience and learn audience research tools. It will provide lecturing/discussion of media effects on audience and introduce relevant audience theories. Students will also learn various media audience measurement techniques and research methods that are used to understand audiences’ wants, needs, motives, attitudes, opinions, and behavior. International examples and practices will be incorporated.

Comm 496Z Understanding Rhetorical Theory Scott Simpson
We are surrounded by messages that are designed to influence our decisions about how to live, how to vote, what to buy, or what to value, and by messages that seek to entertain or enlighten us. At the same time, we are chronically engaged in making messages designed to affect how others behave, what they believe, what opinions and attitudes they maintain, how they feel. What does it mean when we persuade others and how has rhetoric been conceived at various points in history? Why are some messages more effective than others at producing desired responses?

Comm 496Z Advanced Intercultural Comm Scott Simpson
Advanced intercultural communication explores theories of communication and culture, and examines how culture is evident in languages, behaviors, rituals, and worldviews. Special attention is paid to how communication practices and attitudes enhance and retard communication between members of different cultures and co-cultures. Students learn to examine and describe their own cultural practices and to communicate mindfully with members of other cultures.

Culture is often taken granted, especially when we are in our own cultural group. We often think that the way things are done is natural, normal, and inevitable. It takes some "fish-out-of-water" experiences to make us realize there are other ways of understanding the world and negotiating communication practices. We will take advantage of our unique setting in China to both explore Chinese cultural practices and reflect on our own cultural practices. When we are aware of differences and similarities in cultural practices we can be better communicators ethically, inter culturally, and interpersonally.

Comm 496Z Popular Culture in a Globalized World Scott Simpson
Popular culture is never "just entertainment." Popular culture surrounds us and is a site of popular expression, cultural instruction, and conflict. From film, television, and computer games to toys, comic books, and fashion this course provides an introduction to the critical study of popular culture through analysis of the production, reception, and textual components of popular culture texts in a global context. Increasingly, popular culture is a global phenomenon making its way across national and cultural boundaries. We are in a unique situation where geographic distance affords us a chance to understand and experience how US American, European, and other cultural products are integrated and adapted in China. At the same time we will come to understand China's rising influence in the culture industries as both consumer and producer of popular culture.

Political Science & Public Administration

POL 428 - Contemporary Political Theory/China Emphasis Dr. Andy Onate
Intensive examination of selected problems and concepts in political theory with a focus on the politics of the People's Republic of China. Fall only.

POL 445 - Comparative Political Revolutions Dr. Andy Onate
This course examines the causes and consequences of the Chinese revolution, popularly dated from 1911 to 1949, but for the purposes of this class, from 1839 to 1949, as will be made clear during our review of the syllabus. In my view, the "real" revolution occurred in 1911, when 2,000 years of an imperial form of government ended, but without a clearly defined alternative "political" system to succeed it. We will also take a look at Chinese ideology and society on the eve of the revolution, which may well have contributed to the fall of the Qing dynasty. This will all become clear as we study the immediate events leading to the 1911 revolution, and then study the long-term events following the 1911 revolution, which in many ways took another thirty-eight years to sort itself out in a continuum from a republican form of government, to a flirtation with anarchism, to warlord domination, to a 22-year civil war, and finally, to resolution in the victory of communism in 1949. Spring only.

POL 460 - Modern Chinese Foreign Relations Dr. Andy Onate
Survey of the developments and trends in Chinese foreign relations in the modern period, focusing mainly on the relationship between the theoretical and actual objectives of China's foreign policies from 1949 to the present.

POL 464 - International Relations of East Asia Dr. Andy Onate
National interests, issues, conflicts, relations, and influence of domestic politics in East Asian interstate relations.

Chinese Studies

CHN 101 Elementary Chinese (5 units)
Introduction to modern spoken and written Chinese (Mandarin) for non-native speakers.

CHN 102 Elementary Chinese (5 units)
Introduction to modern spoken and written Chinese (Mandarin) for non-native speakers. CHN 101 is prerequisite to CHN 102.

CHN 201 Intermediate Modern Chinese (5 units)
Grammar, reading, and conversation in the modern (Mandarin) language for non-native speakers. CHN 102 is prerequisite to CHN 201.

CHN 202 Intermediate Modern Chinese (5 units)
Grammar, reading, and conversation in the modern (Mandarin) language for non-native speakers. CHN 201 is prerequisite to CHN 202.

CHN 403 Third-Year Chinese I (3 units)
Description: Advanced conversation, grammar, reading and writing in modern Chinese for non-native speakers.

CHN 404 Third-Year Chinese II (3 units)
Advanced conversation, grammar, reading and writing in Modern Chinese for non-native speakers.