Understanding Chinese Culture

Osher Course
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh

John Hooker, Study leader

1:00 – 2:30 pm
4 Tuesdays, 5-26 September 2023
Cyert Hall, Osher Room B

Course description Study leader bio

Course objectives

Tentative Schedule

Click the links to view or download slides (as pdf files) used in class.

	Slides	Topic
Week 1	Introduction China Update	Introduction to the course. The new urban China. Economic superpower. How we got here. Wealth, consumerism, and the economic system. Infrastructure, renewables, air quality, population. Online world. Protecting children. Government, surveillance, & Covid. Real estate bubble. Oppression of Uighurs. Chinese language(s).
Week 2	Classifying Cultures	Classifying Chinese and other cultures: relationship/rule-based, polychronic/monochronic, collectivist/individualist, high/low power distance, shame/guilt-based, high/low context, masculine/feminine, uncertainty tolerant/avoiding, Dionysian/Appolonian.
Week 3	Everyday China	The centrality of family.  Saving face.   Business, guanxi, nepotism, & corruption.   Etiquette and humor.  Rituals, festivals, and recreation. Medicine, chi gong, tai chi chuan, acupuncture.
Week 4	Foundations of Chinese Culture The Chinese Diaspora	A deeper look at culture: universalism vs particularism. Yin/yang, complementarity vs dualism. Chinese religion & ethics. Essence of Confucianism, Daoism. The Chinese diaspora. The Asian century?