BERGAMO
Overview
Date/time interval
Syllabus
Course Objectives
The course aims to teach the fundamental knowledge of the Chinese language, geography, history, and culture. By the end of the course, students will have acquired the necessary tools to gain a general understanding of the foundations of ancient Chinese culture, to recognize its most important characteristics, and to identify its influence on the contemporary Sinophone world. The knowledge and skills acquired will serve as the foundation for the study of classical and contemporary Chinese literature that the students will carry out during the second and the third year.
Course Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of the main categories defining the main structures of a culture (geographical, historical, legal, linguistic, economic), taught in secondary school. The skills required include the ability to identify these categories in a new culture with which one comes into contact
Teaching Methods
Lectures and in-depth seminar sessions will be delivered with the support of PowerPoint presentations and audiovisual materials. Interactive activities and flipped classroom approaches are also planned. The teaching materials available on the e-learning platform are considered compulsory study material.
Assessment Methods
There will be an in-person midterm written test during the winter teaching break. The written test consists of:
• 21 multiple-choice questions, worth 1 point each, and
• 3 open-ended questions, worth 3 points each,
for a total maximum score of 30/30. This score won't be registered but will be taken into account at the oral exam.
If the written midterm is passed, the portion of the syllabus covered by that test will not be included in the oral exam.
If the written midterm is not passed (or not taken), the entire syllabus will be examined during the oral exam.
In other words:
• Students who take and pass the midterm will be examined orally only on the part of the course not covered by the midterm.
• All other students will take an oral exam covering the complete syllabus.
For the oral exam, there will be a maximum of two questions per module.
The midterm written test and the final oral exam are designed to assess:
• knowledge of the course content presented, discussed in depth, and contextualized during lectures;
• the ability to make connections across topics from both synchronic (across the same time period) and diachronic (across different historical periods) perspectives;
• the ability to place the topics covered and the works selected for the monographic course component (Module C) within their historical and cultural contexts;
• skills in analyzing the texts selected for the monographic course component (Module C).
Assessment Criteria
The oral exam grade will be assigned according to the following rubric, bearing in mind that there will be a maximum of two questions per module (for a total of 3 to 6 questions, depending on how the examination progresses):
• Excellent (30 cum laude):
Excellent knowledge of the course content; excellent ability to approach topics from both synchronic and diachronic perspectives; excellent ability to analyze texts and place them in their proper context (especially in Module C). Presentation is precise, accurate, effective, and appropriate, with the use of Chinese terminology.
• Very Good (27–30):
Very good, non-mechanical knowledge of the course content; very good ability to work from a diachronic perspective; good ability to analyze and contextualize texts (especially in Module C). Presentation is precise, accurate, and appropriate, with Chinese titles and key terms correctly mentioned.
• Good (24–26):
Good knowledge of the course content, though text discussion tends to be descriptive rather than analytical, with acceptable analytical and synthesis skills. Presentation is clear and generally accurate. Chinese concepts are pronounced correctly.
• Adequate/Pass (18–23):
Appropriate but incomplete knowledge of the course content. Any gaps do not concern the core topics covered in the course. Ability to contextualize and analyze texts is limited but sufficient. Language is simple, with some errors and superficiality in Italian. Only some Chinese terms are remembered.
• Fail (below 18):
Partial and superficial knowledge of the course content. Texts are analyzed, translated, and contextualized in a superficial and confused manner. Presentation is fragmented and unclear, with serious errors in Italian. Chinese themes and terminology are either forgotten or confused.
Contents
The course is divided into three modules.
Module A provides foundational knowledge of the language, geography, and political structure of the People’s Republic of China.
With regard to language, it offers an overview of:
- the linguistic varieties spoken in the People’s Republic of China;
- the Chinese writing system: the origins, classification, and structure of Chinese characters.
Module B offers an overview of the culture and history of ancient China, from its origins to the Han dynasty. The topics covered include:
- the concept of wen;
- from myth to history;
- an outline of historiography, from the Zhou dynasty to the Han Empire;
- the concepts of tianming and tianxia;
- Confucianism and Daoism.
Module C is devoted to reflecting on the value of classical culture in the contemporary Sinosphere. In particular, the module includes:
- a theoretical reflection on the concept of popular culture;
- an in-depth study of Chinese comics;
- an in-depth study of Chinese animation.
For detailed bibliographical references, including full page numbers, students are invited to consult the course’s Leganto page.
Online Resources
More information
Attending/Non-attending students: Please note that the slides (PPT) available on Moodle, besides integrating the content of the main reference texts, are intended for attending students who, by participating in the lectures, have the opportunity to understand and critically engage with the content. The slides are used solely as an outline or guide for the lecture and must always be supplemented with the study of the assigned bibliography.