The Courses
CCCH5054 Mothering China: From the Womb to the Nation
Why are there so many ‘Tiger Moms’ in China? Why are many Chinese women obsessed with having children, if not a male heir? How did the reforms and revolutions in China shape the notion of motherhood? What does it mean to be a mother in China today? Mothering China seeks to answer these questions from the perspectives of the state, elites, NGOs, and both women who are and are not mothers. The course explores how motherhood in China transformed from a personal experience to a national duty and the question of how national leaders and social elites constructed, sustained and altered the image of mothers between the late nineteenth century and now, a period marked by rapid sociopolitical changes in China. Through a variety of disciplinary lenses, and using dominant trends of mainland China as well as cases of mothering practices in Hong Kong and Taiwan, we will discuss a wide range of material including texts, films and adverts in order to align the changing image of Chinese mothers with the broader history of China’s twentieth-century revolutions.
Find out more: https://commoncore.hku.hk/ccch5054/
CCCH9067 Man Up: Chinese Masculinities in the Making
Today, Chinese men are grappling with a perceived crisis. Male students are outnumbered by females at most universities across China. Increasingly, young men find their wives earning more than they do. There is mounting pressure on China’s most popular male idols to undergo image makeovers to adopt a more masculine appearance. Coupled with the banishment of “sissy men” and the valorization of patriotic movies, the state is urging young men to toughen up to face both local and international challenges. These phenomena prompt crucial questions: What is the current status of men in Chinese society? What does the future hold for them?
Man Up explores various perspectives on how Chinese men have confronted, deflected, or negotiated the challenges they face. We delve into how issues of masculinity intersect with class, education, and the rural-urban divide in China. We examine how socio-economic changes in China, such as the one-child policy and rapid industrialization, have affected expectations and pressures on Chinese men. We pose questions like: How do Chinese men negotiate their masculinity in the face of Western influences and globalization? What impact does the rise of feminism in China have on the perception and reality of masculinity?
Man Up illustrates how the contemporary definition of masculinity in China is influenced by physiological, social, and economic factors. The aim is to delve into complex discussions around issues such as male sexuality, family relations, and nation-building within a Chinese context. By investigating various perspectives of masculinity through the lens of Chinese history and other disciplines, students will reflect upon and challenge existing narratives, tropes, and opinions.
Find out more: https://commoncore.hku.hk/ccch9067/
CCHU5088 We are Family: Myths, Realities and the Future
Today, we are told that ‘family values’ are seriously under threat. There are fewer marriages, easier divorces and more children born to single parents. Wars give rise to displaced families, whose households are constantly on the move. We are told that the nuclear family ideal has become out of date. Multigenerational families, single parent families, queer families and childless families have become increasingly popular globally. We are Family explores the possibility that the more diverse the families we live with, the more obsessed we are with the myths of family, the stories that are so regularly depicted across our media. Rather than a static institution, the family must be understood as an imagined construction with a long history and politics.
This course, which moves across multiple disciplines, considers a series of intriguing questions such as: What makes an ideal family? Should a single-person household be considered a family? How do queer families work? And how do technologies of reproduction impact the idea of family?
Each interactive class session revolves around such philosophical questions and engages with historical and contemporary case studies of family across global settings. Methodologically, the course adopts an intersectional approach by exploring how categories of gender, race, class, disability and sexuality simultaneously empower and oppress individuals in the realm of family.
What is your concept of family? What social forces helped shaped that idea? How might you shape your own future toward your most desired version of family? Let’s explore with each other the history, meaning and future of the family!
Find out more: https://commoncore.hku.hk/cchu5088/
CCHU9043 Rethinking Women: The Big Debates
Should women get married or stay single? Are women natural homemakers? Is it wrong for women to enjoy sex? Should women be given access to birth control and the right to abort? How should women confront sexual violence? What are the opportunities and challenges facing lesbians and transgender women? How do women fight?
During the course we engage in the big debates about women’s livelihood across time, space and culture. To what extent have social expectations for women changed throughout history? How have these expectations been enforced and resisted by women? What do women think about themselves today?
Rethinking Women focuses on contemporary societies through the critical lens of the past. It explores the great strides that women have made in educational and professional achievement in recent decades. But it also explores the social expectations and gender stereotypes that continue to limit women’s capacity to develop their abilities and make life choices. The aim is to encourage students from diverse backgrounds to rethink and challenge the assumptions about women’s identities and experiences. In Rethinking Women we discuss a wide range of material, including texts, films and adverts in order to consider such issues as gender relations, sexuality and reproductive rights, through facilitating a dialogue between the sexes. The course presupposes no previous knowledge of the subject.
Find out more: https://commoncore.hku.hk/cchu9043/
Course Co-ordinator
Dr Carol Tsang
Lecturer, Department of History, School of Humanities, Faculty of Arts
Dr. Carol Tsang is a lecturer in the Department of History at the University of Hong Kong. A historian specialising in gender and reproductive health in Hong Kong, she has published scholarly work in Cold War History, World Medical & Health Policy, Twentieth Century British History, the Hong Kong Medical Journal, and HKU Press. She coordinates and teaches courses on gender history, motherhood, and family.
https://history.hku.hk/staff-c-tsang/