Gender, Sexuality, and Social Change in Taiwan and China

Course Description

Summary

This course engages students with authentic texts, audio, and visual materials drawn from traditional and contemporary literature, film, and other art forms. Through these sources, students will critically explore issues of gender, gender inequality, and sexuality, including LGBTQ perspectives, in Chinese and Taiwanese cultural contexts.

The course includes two hours of weekly instruction and two hours of independent research. Students undertake individual projects on gender, sexuality, and discrimination, submitting weekly progress updates with instructor feedback. Every 2–3 weeks, the class meets to share and discuss each student’s work.

In Week 7, students present their first project. In the second half of the course, they select a new topic and repeat the same research and presentation process.

Designed as a small seminar for advanced learners (including students with six to seven terms of Chinese and native speakers), the course emphasizes advanced reading, writing, and independent research in Chinese.

 Please note: this is a two-part course and requires two hours of in-class learning and two hours of independent research & discussion.