Courses

Semester in Shanghai is an opportunity for Queen’s students to learn about the social, political, economic and cultural forces that will shape the world in the 21st century. Students spend the fall semester at Fudan University, and immerse themselves in the experience of living in Shanghai, one of the world’s largest, most dynamic and powerful urban centres. The program comprises one 6.0-unit core course, plus three 3.0-unit elective courses, to a total of 15.0 units. All courses are conducted in English.

Core Course

LLCU 432/6.0 Research Practicum at Fudan University

This mandatory field course provides students with an opportunity to conduct field research under the guidance of a Fudan instructor. Queen’s students are partnered with Fudan students and undertake research on a significant theme in social development or cross-cultural comparison, submit a written paper, and present their findings in class. At the same time, Queen’s students attend a series of lectures on Shanghai Studies and participate in field trips that will familiarize them with the context of their research. The research project will involve at least 10 hours of field work per week for 12 weeks.

Students will receive a regular Queen’s letter grade for this course. In addition to academic requirements, including completion of the CORE tutorial on research ethics, this course will require enrolment in the Queen’s Emergency Support Program and the pre-departure orientation.

Elective Courses

All students choose three elective courses, some of which are described below. Others are newly introduced from time to time. The courses listed below are regular Fudan University courses that have been pre-approved for transfer credit at Queen’s and we encourage students to take these pre-approved courses to make the transfer credit process easier. Students receive a regular Fudan grade which is recorded as a transfer credit on the Queen’s transcript on a pass/fail basis. Students can use these courses as elective credits in any plan, or as 300-level substitute courses in DEVS, FILM, GPHY, HIST, POLS, RELS and SOCY plans as noted below.

While students may take courses outside of SSDPP, we strongly encourage students not to do this in order to avoid any complications. 

China has been undergoing two exceedingly rapid transformations in the past half a century: a demographic transition with dramatic decrease in fertility and mortality, and an economic transition from a planned economy to a market economy. The compressed demographic transition has sent China to become a country with a low population growth rate and the largest elderly population, and unprecedented economic reform has lifted China to the ranks of middle income countries. The demographic and economic transitions are not independent of each other,they are in fact closely connected. Thus, this course not only introduces various demographic events and socio-economic reforms, but also explores the linkages between population change and socio-economic development.

We raise a series of questions: What are social and economic implications of one-child policy? How will China’s imbalanced sex ratio at birth influence the marriage market? Will China lose the competitive edge in labor-intensive industry in the near future due to low fertility rates? What’s the impact of population aging on social security reform? How can China accommodate the expanding elderly population in the context of frequent migration of young people? Investigations into these questions may provide students with a deeper understanding on China’s contemporary society.

This course aims to familiarize students with a number of salient themes and issues in contemporary Chinese society. As China’s rapid development is increasingly focusing worldwide attention on the People’s Republic, it is crucial to be able to grasp the social, cultural and political underpinnings of China’s unique trajectory and present-day situation. In turn, such an understanding requires acquaintance with an array of key notions and conceptual tools that will be methodically introduced and explicated throughout the semester.

This undergraduate-level course is designed to introduce students to the sociological study of religion in Chinese societies. The purpose of this course is to (1) familiarize students with the basic sociological information of major religions in Chinese societies; (2) make the student aware of different perspectives in understanding the significant role of Chinese religion in both the traditional and contemporary China; and (3) develop intellectual dialogue and mutual understanding between China and the West.

This course provides students with a comprehensive introduction to contemporary China’s diplomacy and its foreign policy, as well as their theoretical, historical background. This course will also investigate the decision-making process of Chinese foreign policy, China’s bilateral relations with major powers, China’s multilateral relations with its neighbouring countries, developing countries and international organizations. Emphasis will be placed on the period since 1978 when China initiated its reform and opening up era while at the same time, the course will try to touch the latest development of the Diplomacy of China represented by the cyber security issues as much as possible.

This course provides a political economy perspective on the rapidly changing economy and society in contemporary China. The course will focus on the discussion how political, economic and social forces shape “socialism with Chinese characteristics”. Students who elect this course are assumed to have basic knowledge of China and Chinese.

The paper may be either a research project involving the use of primary and secondary sources, or a more broadly conceived independent reading program. NOTE Students must obtain the approval of the supervising instructor and of the Undergraduate Committee for any project submitted. LEARNING HOURS 120 (120P) PREREQUISITE Level 4 and (registered in a HIST Major or Medial Plan) and (a GPA of 3.30) and (30.0 units in HIST).

HIST 517/3.0 Independent Study Project The paper may be either a research project involving the use of primary and secondary sources, or a more broadly conceived independent reading program. NOTE Students must obtain the approval of the supervising instructor and of the Undergraduate Committee for any project submitted.

LEARNING HOURS 120 (120P)

PREREQUISITE Level 4 and (registered in a HIST Major or Medial Plan) and (a GPA of 3.30) and (30.0 units in HIST).

This is a Queen’s course, not administered by Fudan. If you are interested in this option, contact Professor Hill to discuss the possibilities.

Credit Transfer

Credits for electives (i.e., not the 6.0 research course) are awarded by Fudan. Queen's students can arrange to have the credits transferred to their Queen's degree program by applying for an International Letter of Permission (ILOP).

To earn transfer credit(s) for the Fudan courses, you will need to earn a final grade equivalent to at least “C” (63%) on the Queen’s University Grading Scale in each course. Transfer credit(s) and not the grade(s) achieved will be recorded on your Queen’s transcript with a notation of “TR”. Grades obtained are not included in your Queen’s Grade Point Average (GPA). Your grade for LLCU 432/6.0 will be recorded on your transcript as it is a Queen's course.