AN 380 (Field Experience)(3 credits)                       

This course is an on-site examination of the change and continuity in Chinese society over the last 2000 years through the
direct examination of two key locations of persistence and change:
Hong Kong: A rural backwater in Guangdong Province, until the British takeover in the 1840’s as a colonial possession.  
Through the 1980’s Hong Kong was a semi-independent region and became an icon of free-market development.  Though
returned to the PRC, it still remains one of the best examples of a late-20th century market-driven system focused on change
and rampant consumerism.  However a persistent subtext is the continuity of Chinese traditions and values within the modern
‘internationalized’ city.  We will be examining both the visible aspects of change and ongoing development (largely in
Kowloon) within a Chinese cultural context and recent colonial past.
Xi`an: The capital of imperial China for 10 dynasties (and over 1,000 years), and for some time as Chang’an one of the largest
cities in the world, Xi’an declined into a provincial capital in the 1300’s.  For much of the 20th century the population
continued to decline from it’s height in the Tang dynasty (estimated population 8-16 million) to approximately 350,000 in the
1950’s.  However Xi`an has become the major economic hub in west-central China and also one of the major tourist
attractions in China, bringing in over 7,000,000 tourists a year.  The population in 2005 was estimated at nearly 8,000,000,
with most of the growth occurring in the last 10 years.  The city and surrounding area is a complex mix of the imperial past
and modern China’s economic expansion.  We will be examining both the past imperial landscape and also 21st century
economic change, which is predicated on very different principles than those that drive Hong Kong.

Schedule: We will spend 3 days in Hong Kong and 5 days in Xi`an.
Course Assignments:  The assigned texts must be read prior to departure on the field experience.  The majority of the course
grade will be based on a formal analysis of the material presented in the field experience.  This will require you to evaluate and
critically observe the various locations and settings we visit.  The paper will also require a digital submission (attached photos)
to support your field notes.  The paper will be due April 15, 2008.  The major project will be the group visual (photo slide)
presentation of images and findings of the course.
The research questions are:
1.         What aspects of Hong Kong’s urban pattern appear to be global (or international)?  What aspects seem clearly
grounded in the colonial (British) period?  What aspects reflect traditional Chinese culture and values?  How are all these
reflected in the visual landscape?
2.        Xi`an is often portrayed as the center of old imperial China.  What social aspects of Xi`an do appear to reflect this
continuity with the past and of tradition?  What visible (built environment/cultural landscape) aspects reinforce this view?  
What aspects of modern Xi`an appear to be driven entirely by the need to expand economically and globally?  Do you see any
points of conflict or stress between these two divergent goals?
NOTE: This field experience is in a foreign country, so you must always obey both the professors and the tour leaders.  Any
unacceptable behavior will result (at the minimum) in expulsion from the course, immediate return to Honolulu and forfeiture
of any remaining monies from the trip.  Remember that as a maximum any seriously unacceptable behavior will be handled by
the Chinese authorities, up to and including prison time.
Course Assessment:  Course assessment will take two main forms: 1) a formal written review of the experience upon return
to Honolulu, linking the reading material to the field experience, showing evidence of your ability to synthesize and relate the
materials (the analysis paper); 2) informal feedback during the field experience with on-site analysis and discussion; 3) all
students must contribute photos to the collective slide production along with their impressions of the course.  This will be used
in future years as a visual record of the course.
Readings (all are available at www.amazon.com):
Mooney, Paul, Catherine Maudsley and Gerald Hatherly  2005.  Xi’an, Shaanxi and the Terracotta Army.  Odyssey Books.  
Dist. by Norton Books: NY.  ISBN: 962-217-729-8.
If you want to get a short general overview of Chinese society, the following is pretty good (we use it in the Asian Culture
class):
Chay, Geraldine & Y.N. Han (trans.)  2003.  Gateway to Chinese Culture.  Asiapac Books: Singapore.
If you would like to get a sense of living in China Hessler’s book is a very good read:
Hessler, Peter  2001.  River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze.  Murray: London.
The Chaminade University "Old Chinas, New Chinas" Spring Field Trip Syllabus
OLD CHINAS, NEW CHINAS SPRING BREAK FIELD TRIP