This course will identify narratives and dilemmas concerning China’s rise, from both Western and Chinese perspectives.  

We will discuss questions such as: What is the Century of Humiliation? How is China governed? What are Xi Jinping’s ambitions? Will the Communist Party survive? Will China become the world leader in Artificial Intelligence?  

Then we will consider the implications of geopolitical developments: What are possible consequences of the US-China rivalry? What is the impact of the war in Ukraine on China’s position vis-à-vis Europe and Russia? In what way are Taiwan and Hong Kong connected?  

On all these issues, we will focus on information, media and narratives. We will analyze the role of propaganda and (dis)information and look into what discussions take place on Chinese social media. At the end of the course, we will integrate our findings into scenarios for China in 10 years’ time. 

Guest speakers will be Kathleen Ferrier (on Hong Kong and Taiwan) and Bei Wang (on China’s media and narratives). 

Timetable

You can find the timetable on Datanose.

Registration

Registration is possible for Bachelor's students participating in an Honours programme. Registration for the Honours courses will start on 6 June at 10 am and end on 11 June at 11 pm. You can register through the online registration form that will appear on Honoursmodules IIS (registration is NOT through SIS). Placement is random and students will hear within two weeks for which course(s) they are registered. There is no guarantee for placement if you register after 11 June, so make sure you register on time! 

For questions about registration please email to: Honours-iis@uva.nl 

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