Reading Quizzes (10%)
Weekly quizzes (x 8) to be completed on Canvas by the end (23:59) of Sundays. The multiple-choice quizzes (the first one is due on January 21 for the readings listed under Week 3) are not meant to be onerous but are intended to encourage students to review the assigned materials before our weekly meetings. Collaboration is not permitted, and late submissions are not accepted. But students are allowed to miss one week.
Discussion Posts (15%)
One post (150–200 words) per week (x 8) to be submitted through Canvas by the end (23:59) of Sundays in anticipation of our weekly sessions. For each post, please:
- provide at the top two quotations (each as short as a sentence or as long as a passage) from the weekly primary sources that are especially pertinent to the focus question of the week (these will not count towards your word limits, but please be mindful not to quote from the editor/translator’s introduction);
- explain how the quotations (to be selected from two different documents, with the exception of Week 10), together or separately, could help answer the focus question of the week.
The key to this short exercise is to pay attention to who the speakers of the quotations were and to what extent the speakers’ views were representative.
Your first post is due on January 21 for the primary sources listed under Week 3. Whenever possible, please provide page references for the quotations selected—e.g., (Wang Tao, p. 38), (“An increased Chinese community of great importance. . .,” p. 23). Late submissions will not be accepted, but you are allowed to miss a week. You are encouraged to read—and respond to—each other’s posts, but you are not permitted to edit your original posts once they have been submitted.
Attendance/Participation (10%)
Students are expected to attend all weekly sessions (especially since we meet only once a week) and take an active part in class discussion. But please see Support if you have to miss a class.
| Excellent | Good | Fair | Poor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Did all the required readings, attended every session, raised and discussed issues; fully engaged with the class. | Did most of the readings, attended nearly every session, raised and discussed issues most of the time; engaged with the class. | Did some of the readings, attended most of the sessions, remained interested but hardly ever spoke. | I attended, I heard, but I didn’t really participate in the proceedings. |
Newspaper Column: A Week in Hong Kong (5+15=20%)
About 1,250 words. Due by the end of March 8 (through Turnitin; 4 points/day late; draft [5%] due by the end of February 16 February 21). Transport yourself back in time. You are a columnist for a local English-language newspaper in Hong Kong, and your job is to write a weekly column commenting on the week’s events. Your (hypothetical) column is not intended as summary of what happened; rather, it should provide insightful comments on some aspects of Hong Kong society for a particular week (see examples), You might, for instance, follow the developments of a news story and offer your readers a broader context to make sense of it; alternatively, you might find the advertisements in the newspapers more interesting and choose to write about the consumer culture of the time. The possibilities are (almost) endless.
For this assignment, choose a week any time before 1966 and read a week’s worth of two different newspapers from Old HK Newspapers (i.e., 2 newspapers x 7 days = 14 copies). To see the complete copy of a newspaper of a particular day, input the date in the format “yyyy-mm-dd” in the search box. If you are able to read Chinese, you are encouraged to make use of both Chinese- and English-language newspapers. Students may also choose to use the South China Morning Post (1903–) as one of the two newspapers. Those who are interested in the period when Hong Kong was under Japanese occupation should consult with the instructor on how to proceed. UBC does have access to Hongkong News (1941– 1945), but its usage needs to be approached with special care.
In addition to making references to the news articles/advertisements found in the newspapers, your column should include references to at least two of the primary sources that have been assigned and should (as do all good newspaper columns) have a clear point of view. Be mindful that you are a columnist living at your chosen time. You have no knowledge of what would happen. Imagination is encouraged, but historical sensitivity is a must. For your final submission, be sure to include a title for your column, a one-line biography for your assumed identity, and append at least three relevant images/screen shots from the newspapers.
See further instructions.
| Excellent | Good | Fair | Poor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clarity | Ideas are especially clear and thoughtfully organized. | Ideas are generally clear and well organized. | Ideas lack clarity. | Ideas are confusing, vague, or disjointed. |
| Contexts | Historical contexts are explained with exceptional clarity. | Contexts generally well explained. | Contexts are not clearly explained. | Contexts are not explained. |
| Insight | Explores significant issues with probing insights. | Explores issues competently; main point of column is generally well explained. | Inadequate reflection; main point is not clearly explained. | Main point is not explained. |
| Support | Main point is supported with effective examples or reasons. | Main point is often supported with relevant examples or reasons. | Some relevant examples or reasons; limited use of sources. | Very few relevant examples or reasons are provided. |
Midterm Checkup (5%)
Individual meetings (about 15 mins.) to be scheduled for the Week of February 26.
Book Review (20%)
About 1,250 words. Select a book from the course bibliography and submit a review through Turnitin by the end of April 5 (4 points/day late). You may choose a book outside the list, but it has to be related to one of the weekly topics and approved by the instructor.
Before you submit your assignment, please do not read any of the reviews of the book you are reviewing. Also, please kindly review the updated course policy regarding the use of generative AI tools.
- Identify at the top the book under review (you may simply copy and paste the citation from the bibliography). This will not count towards your word limit.
- Provide pertinent information on the main author(s)/editor(s). Keep this short and focus on their scholarly interests. A simple way to learn about the authors/editors is to look up their profiles on their institutional websites.
- Identify the central question(s) of the book. If you are reviewing an edited volume (that is, a collection of essays rather than a monograph), focus on the Introduction by the editor(s).
- Identify the main argument(s) of the book. For this and other reasons, I would discourage you from reviewing an edited volume, as it is much more challenging.
- Reflect and comment on the primary sources used by the author(s) in question (feel free to examine the footnotes/endnotes/bibliography found in the text). As far as you can tell, what kinds of primary sources are used? Discuss in slightly more details at least two examples.
- Reflect and comment on how the author(s) would answer the focus question for the weekly topic in question.
- Provide at least one example how the author(s) may agree or disagree with a particular claim or argument found in the secondary source for the weekly topic in question.
In addition, you should begin or conclude your review with a brief statement on your overall evaluation of the book, and you should provide in-text citations for all quotations and examples cited or discussed—e.g., (Sinn, p. 25), (Abbas, p. 99). For an edited volume, cite the author(s)/page numbers of the essays in question.
| Excellent | Good | Fair | Poor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Content | Central question and argument(s) of the text are particularly well explained. | Central question and argument(s) of the text are generally clearly explained. | Central question and argument(s) of the text are not clearly explained. | Central question and argument(s) of the text are not explained. |
| Research | Research interests and use of sources are particularly well explained. | Research interests and use of sources are generally clearly explained. | Research interests and use of sources are not clearly explained. | Research interests and use of sources are not explained. |
| Connection | Connections between the text and the weekly materials are particularly well explained. | Connections between the text and the weekly materials are generally clearly explained. | Connections between the text and the weekly materials are not clearly explained. | Connections between the text and the weekly materials are not explained. |
| Clarity | Ideas are organized and presented with clarity. | Ideas are generally well organized and presented. | Ideas are not well organized or presented. | Ideas lack clarity. |
Final Take-home Project (20%)
Due by the end of April 21 (through Turnitin; 4 points/day late). The final essay/project will take into account the full breadth of materials covered in the course. Details to follow.
Virtual Exhibition (40%; OPTIONAL)
(in lieu of book review and take-home final project)
About 3,500 words. Due by the end of April 21 (4 points/day late). Students are asked to identify a set of images or videos that could be used to tell a story about the transformations and/or continuities of Hong Kong. Each image or video selected should be accompanied by an explanation of its context, content, and significance. And the project must be accompanied by a short but well-referenced essay setting out its context and significance. Students interested in pursuing this option must seek approval from the instructor and submit a proposal by February 16.