Contemporary China: The People's Republic, Taiwan, and Hong Kong
Understanding China today
Join Harvard University faculty in this online course where you will use the case study method to study China from the rise of Deng Xiaoping to the present.
1-3 hours per week
What You'll Learn
Using case studies from the Harvard Business School, this course will cover the contemporary Chinese scene by focusing on five main themes in China’s development: agriculture, entrepreneurship, education, environment, and literature.
You’ll examine the period from Deng Xiaoping’s rise in 1978 to the present, using the lenses of sociology, political science, and economics. You’ll learn how China has maintained one-party rule in an era of reform and internationalization, and how contemporary developments — like the current conception of the “Chinese Dream” — are influenced by the legacies of China’s past. You’ll also examine Greater China with a focus on the Taiwan model and Taiwan’s relationship with the People’s Republic of China.
Developing your own approaches to history, you’ll gain a critical appreciation of China’s literary, philosophical, political, and cultural resources. Enroll now to understand China’s global leadership role and to learn if the 21st century is truly “the Chinese century.”
The course will be delivered via edX and connect learners around the world. By the end of the course, participants will learn:
- The political and economic world of Post-Mao China.
- The period from Deng Xiaoping’s rise in 1978 to the present.
- How to examine Chinese history with a multidisciplinary approach.
- Five important themes in modern China’s rapid development: agriculture, entrepreneurship, education, environment, and literature.
- Taiwan’s relationship with the People’s Republic of China.
- How today’s conception of a “Chinese Dream” is influenced by China’s past.
Your Instructors
Peter K. Bol
Charles H. Carswell Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations
at Harvard University
Read full bio.
Ways to take this course
When you enroll in this course, you will have the option of pursuing a Verified Certificate or Auditing the Course.
A Verified Certificate costs $149 and provides unlimited access to full course materials, activities, tests, and forums. At the end of the course, learners who earn a passing grade can receive a certificate.
Alternatively, learners can Audit the course for free and have access to select course material, activities, tests, and forums. Please note that this track does not offer a certificate for learners who earn a passing grade.