Studying at York
Shanghai: City of the Century, 1911-2010 - HIS00162I
- Department: History
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: I
- Academic year of delivery: 2024-25
Module summary
Asia’s greatest metropolis, Shanghai, was the beating heart of foreign imperialism in China, and the birthplace of a revolution that shook the world. In this module, China’s most dynamic city provides the backdrop for our study of the epoch-defining themes of the twentieth century: imperialism and decolonisation, the rise of anti-colonial nationalism, socialist revolution and capitalist globalisation. Politicians, revolutionaries and tycoons fought to impose their visions of modernity on Shanghai’s sprawling and disorderly cityscape. We will use a wide variety of historical approaches and sources to understand how their ideological conflicts transformed the lives of ordinary people at street level. These perspectives include histories of colonialism, race, and gender, as well as political, social and cultural history.
Students will begin by learning about how the British-dominated International Settlement (1863-1943) presented itself as a model of Western modernity. They will then uncover the precarious reality of ordinary life for factory workers and slum dwellers that lay beyond this ideal. Next, we consider how nationalists sought to end colonialism in China, and why they failed to achieve a virtuous ‘new life’ for the people of Shanghai. Finally, we follow the course of socialist revolution, as the Chinese Communist Party brought modernity to Shanghai at the barrel of a gun. This began with Soviet-style socialist construction in the 1950s, then descended into wild iconoclasm during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). ‘Reform and opening up’ after the death of Mao Zedong has made China into a global superpower with Shanghai forming the ‘head of the dragon’.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Semester 1 2024-25 |
Module aims
The aims of this module are:
- To provide students with the opportunity to study particular historical topics in depth
- To develop students’ ability to examine a topic from a range of perspectives and to strengthen their ability to work critically and reflectively with secondary and primary material
Module learning outcomes
Students who complete this module successfully will:
- Have acquired a deep knowledge of the specific topic studied
- Have developed their ability to use and synthesise a range of primary and secondary sources
- Be able to evaluate the arguments that historians have made about the topic studied
- Have developed their ability to study independently through seminar-based teaching
Module content
Students will attend a 1-hour briefing in week 1. Students will then attend a 1-hour plenary/lecture and a 2-hour seminar in weeks 2-4, 6-8 and 10-11 of semester 1. Weeks 5 & 9 are Reading and Writing Weeks (RAW) during which there are no seminars. Students prepare for and participate in eight 1-hour plenaries/lectures and eight 2-hour seminars in all.
Seminar topics are subject to variation, but are likely to include the following:
- Imperialism and ‘semi-colonialism’ in Shanghai
- Race, cosmopolitanism, and class in Shanghai’s ‘model settlement’
- Beyond the neon lights: Chinese city life
- ‘New Life’ in Nationalist Shanghai, 1927-1937
- War, collaboration and resistance in Japanese-occupied Shanghai, 1937-1945
- Communist ‘liberation’ and socialist ‘New Shanghai’
- Smash imperialism! The Cultural Revolution in Shanghai
- Head of the dragon: from revolution to reform
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Additional assessment information
For formative assessment, students will complete a referenced 1200 to 1500-word essay relating to the themes and issues of the module. This will be submitted in either the Week 5 or Week 9 RAW week (on the day of the weekly seminar).
For summative assessment, students will complete an Assessed Essay (2000 words, footnoted). This will comprise 100% of the overall module mark.
Summative assessments will be due in the assessment period.
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Module feedback
Following their formative assessment task, students will typically receive written feedback that will include comments and a mark within 10 working days of submission.
Work will be returned to students in their seminars and may be supplemented by the tutor giving some oral feedback to the whole group. All students are encouraged, if they wish, to discuss the feedback on their formative work during their tutor’s student hours. For more information, see the Statement on Feedback.
For the summative assessment task, students will receive their provisional mark and written feedback within 25 working days of the submission deadline. The tutor will then be available during student hours for follow-up guidance if required. For more information, see the Statement of Assessment.
Indicative reading
For term time reading, please refer to the module VLE site. Before the course starts, we encourage you to look at the following items of preliminary reading:
- Marie-Claire Bergere, Shanghai: China's Gateway to Modernity (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2009).
- Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom, Global Shanghai, 1850-2010: A history in fragments (London, Routledge, 2008).
- Qin Shao, Shanghai Gone: Domicide and Defiance in a Chinese Megacity (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2013).