Page 116 - SYU Prospectus

Shue Yan University Prospectus 2018-19

culture in total favour of “scientism” and “democracy” during the New Culture and May Fourth
period. After 1919, the ideological split within the ranks of the intellectuals turned many
disillusioned with the capitalist West to socialist ideas, including Marxian communism, and
others to a new interpretation of Confucianism. This course also examines the ascendancy of
Communism in the early 1920s within the socialist discourse, and the Sinicization of Com-
munism, culminating in the formation of Mao Zedong ( 毛澤東 ) Thought in the 1940s.

HIST 461 History of USA: Key Issues and Themes
1 Term; 3 Credits
This course is a concise history of the United States of America, beginning from British
colonization through the “American Century” which has arguably extended into the 21st World.
In addition to the chronological historical narrative, the subject includes discussion on selected
key events, issues, factors and forces which have together shaped the country’s unique
experience, its characteristics and impact on the globalized world. In addition, it provides a
forum to review and assess some of the nation’s announced goals or assertions such as the
“Manifest Destiny”, “American Exceptionalism”, and assumed leadership in the World, etc.

HIST 462 The Making of Modern Japan
1 Term; 3 Credits
This course aims to study the political, social, economic and military developments of
modern Japan with emphasis on the following topics: traditional elements facilitating Japan’s
modernization; key modernization actions taken in the late Tokugawa and Meiji periods;
political changes and development beginning at the Taisho period; the rise of militarism
between the two world wars and Japanese invasion of Asia; the post-war constitutional
reform, economic recovery and cultural changes; and the role of Japan in current international
scene and main internal and external factors affecting its path. Capping the discussion would
be an open forum in which Japan’s experience would be compared with one or two of its Asian
neighbours.

HIST 463 Cities in Modern China
1 Term; 3 Credits
This subject examines the development of cities in Modern China, their characteristics
and roles, with an emphasis on the underlying forces that contributed to their progress and the
changing urban-rural relations at various key stages in Modern Chinese history.

HIST 466 Issues and Controversies in Traditional Chinese History
1 Term; 3 Credits
This subject is one of two specially designed courses for senior students to pursue
in-depth re-examination of selected crucial and/or controversial issues/themes or main actors
in traditional Chinese history under the guidance of a senior scholar. It provides a forum in
which students will read intensively both under guidance and independently, prepare and
engage in informed oral presentation, discussion and/or debates, and produce written project

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