Subject Area: Chinese Studies

This course is open to all students either as a core course of the Chinese major or as an elective or general education course for any program/major. Proficiency in Chinese language is not required. The course examines the situation of gender in contemporary China among that country’s Han majority and its many ethnic minorities. It examines gender in various contexts such as politics, religion, economy, the arts, ethnicity, Westernisation and globalisation. Specific topics include ideology of gender relations, gender-based division of labour, gender representation in performing and visual arts, gendered roles in religious practice, marriage customs, and morality and sexuality. The course also introduces relevant and up-to-date cultural theory and its application to the study of gender in contemporary China, and it will broaden and deepen students understanding of Chinese society and culture.