SOC 3440

I learned a lot about China in this class. A LOT. You will write two essays for this class, one of which is 50% of your grade. There is plenty of reading assigned but you will never be tested on it. You can get an A if you show up to class and choose 1-2 subjects to write about knowledgeably. Professor's lectures were not particularly interesting, but she is very kind and will give you good advice/feedback in office hours. Overall, this course was average and would be enjoyable to anyone who has an interest in learning about many different aspects of modern-ish Chinese culture. If Professor Wang is reading this, my feedback is this: I am glad I took this class. Please translate or explain lecture slides/charts written in Chinese!

This class was an overall interesting and worthwhile class. Professor Yang is very knowledgable about this area of study and it shows in her lectures. She is also very approachable and helpful in office hours. Some positive aspects of this course were how all the course readings were on collab so I didn't have to purchase any books, and how there were no graded quizzes or tests. In my opinion she grades generously, because I wrote my midterm essay the night before it was due and got an A-, as well as an A- overall in the course. The course grade is split up into three segments, 20% participation (basically show up to lecture and talk sometimes and you'll be fine, I think it also helps if you go to office hours), 30% midterm essay that's 2 pages, and 50% final research paper that's 12-14 pages long. The final research paper was definitely an undertaking, but it's a lot easier to write because she allows you to write on any topic covered in the semester, and she helps you with paper ideas in office hours as well. Her lecture is a little dry but the readings were fairly interesting and so were the topics the class covered. The topics altogether made up a very broad look at Chinese society that included cool topics like religion, gender, and media. You'll most likely do well if you put in a decent amount of effort, so because of this and reasons mentioned before, I'd recommend this class.