***There is no expectation that you buy either Fate Of Africa or The Border.  Both are completely optional.  Both also are lengthy books, with Fate Of Africa checking in at 688 pages and The Border reaching 584 pages.  Both volumes, however, are well-written and informative.  I originally planned to include The Border as a required reading, but it was not available to the NIC Bookstore through a publisher.  If you are an avid reader and think you would like read either or both of these, contact me directly and we can integrate this into your curriculum by removing one or two other responsibilities.  You will need to acquire the volume or volumes on your own, though I have provided some possible ordering links above.

History And The Headlines: Africa Country Studies

Discussion Forum Contributions

History Playhouse:  Tank Man

Listening And Viewing

  "The Tank Man," Frontline, PBS, April 11, 2006.  (85 mins)

  "The Taiwan-China Dispute Explained, And Where The U.S. Fits In," Start Here, Al Jazeera, January 9, 2024.  (8 mins)

  "How China Is Crushing The Uighurs," Economist, July 9, 2019.  (9 mins)

Reading Assignment

Browse in Understanding China Discussion Topic.

Browse in Contemporary Issues And China Discussion Topic

Optional Extras:

Video:    Peoples Century:  A comprehensive history of the twentieth century produced by the BBC at the turn of the millennium.

Episode 15, 1949 -- Great Leap:

Watch or listen to one of the following video or podcast series and write an extensive Journal entry and a Discussion Forum Contribution reviewing and reflecting upon your selection.  Most of the podcasts are available on a wide variety of different platforms.

Episode 1 -- Bloodshed On Wolf Mountain (74 mins)

Episode 2 -- Shooting And F**king Are The Same Thing (74 mins)

Episode 3 -- Money Changes Everything (71 mins)

Episode 4 -- But What If The People Are Stupid? (72 mins)

Episode 5 -- The Lordly Ones (65 mins)

Episode 6 -- Are We Pigeon; Are We Dancer (119 mins)

For alternate links to all episodes, see Thought Maybe.

  "Money, Power And Wall Street," Frontline, PBS, 2012:

Episode 1; Episode 2; Episode 3; Episode 4

Write a short letter of introduction to me at the beginning of the semester.  This should be at least one hundred words in length and is designed to give me a beginning idea of who you are and how I might best serve you as a teacher, and to provide me with an opening snapshot of the class as a whole. You need not use the following questions as direct cues but they may be helpful.  Who are you?  Where are you from?  How might you begin to describe your community and what life is like there if you've come to NIC from far away?  What are your interests?  Why are you taking this course?  What are your thoughts and reflections as you begin this particular course?  Are there topics associated with the course that you know will be of potential interest? Do you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions?  Although this is not a graded assignment, and you will receive the full point so long that you send me this note, I would appreciate it if you took several minutes writing a thoughtful introduction.  This is an assignment I ask of students in each of my classes.  If you are enrolled in more than one class with me this semester, a single letter of introduction will suffice, but perhaps mention something about each of the courses.  If you have taken a class with me before, please update what you sent me before and send me a new letter of introduction.  You can send your Letter of Introduction to me by e-mail or hand it in through Brightspace.

The first assignment of the semester will ask you to review Marjane Satrapi's memoir of coming of age in Revolutionary-era Iran.  Your response to the book will include an extensive set of active reading notes that both demonstrates substantial direct engagement with Persepolis and assists you in understanding the author's arguments.  You will then combine these notes with an integrated mini-essay (600+ words) in which you offer your thoughts on the book.

c)  The Journal (64%) [32% + 32%]

d)  Discussion Forum Contributions And Class Participation (20%)

The Discussion Forums will be largely, though not exclusively, focused upon the course video and audio documentaries.  This is in part to emphasize the importance that I attach to the HIS 122 viewing responsibilities.  There are several feature videos that rest near the heart of the curriculum.  Please do not make any comments on documentaries that you have not watched yourself.  That is both distracting and disrespectful towards your classmates.

It is fine to have considerable overlap between your Discussion Forum Contributions and your Journal entries.  But it is expected that you will put considerable time and thought into each Discussion Forum Contribution and that each contribution will represent your original ideas.

There will sometimes be two or more Discussion Forum topics listed in one week.  You certainly are not expected to contribute to each of these forums.  I hesitate to suggest a quantitative target, but would estimate that engaged students will have contributed to twelve or more Discussion Forums by the end of the term.  Try your best to keep current with the Discussion Forums as we move throughout the semester.  I will leave Discussion Forums up for two weeks after we have moved on to new topics but then will close old Forums as we proceed.  I realize that the Discussion Forums offer a somewhat restricted opportunities for dialogue, please do read your fellow students' and try to actively engage with them.

While we will not be having regular required Kaltura sessions, I will fold a number of recommended class workshops into the curriculum and also will ask you to participate in some small-group on-line activity.  The extent to which this aspect of the course takes off at all will be dependent both on your demonstrated level of interest in this and my own time constraints in a very busy semester.  Your willingness to engage in these curricular activities will be another component in your class participation evaluation.

Time Commitment

Late Policy

Academic Integrity

Writing Support And Peer Tutoring

Writing Support is available to all students at no additional cost.  Go to Writing Support for any or all of your assignments.  Every visit is a step toward becoming a better writer.  Use Writing Support as many times as you like, and at any point in your writing process.  The writing support faculty can help you understand the assignment, develop your ideas, outlines, thesis, and revision -- and anything else in-between.  Book your appointment through the library website, or visit the library desk to inquire about drop-ins.  There's also WriteAway, an online tutoring platform that allows you to upload your papers and assignments for detailed written feedback.  Both services may be found at https://library.nic.bc.ca/WritingSupport .

Related Policy