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BADM
750 Study Abroad Experience to China May 2008
Professor:
Stephen Silver Tel. 843-953-5163
Course Objectives:
- To familiarize students with the
Economics, Politics, and Culture of China and how that affects
the way business is conducted in that country
- Give the opportunity for students to
visit important cultural sites and important commercial areas of the
country and to visit individual firms to see how they conduct business.
- To understand many of the problems
confronting the country, including environmental issues, unemployment,
overpopulation, etc.
- Possibly develop an independent
study proposal
Texts and other
readings:
- Ebrey, Patricia, Cambridge Illustrated History of China,
Cambridge University Press; 1996
- Peter Hessler,
River Town, Two Years on the Yangtze,
HarperCollins; 2001
- Friedman, Thomas, The World is Flat, Farrar,
Straus, and Giroux: Latest Ed.
- Selected articles on contemporary China
and current events (Supplied by professor)
Course Description:
Students will be
assigned selected readings during winter break and at other times prior to
departure and write a short outline of issues they intend to investigate
before, during and after traveling to China. In addition, the students will find
materials on the internet, in newspapers and newsmagazines, and from primary
sources relevant to the issue(s) of interest.
The trip itself
will cover most regions in Eastern China – Beijing, Shanghai, and the Pearl River Delta, the economic and cultural center of
modern China.
In Beijing students will visit well-known,
important sites: the Great Wall, the Emperor’s Palace, the Summer Palace,
and have the opportunity to shop and sightsee on their own.
In Shanghai, we will see the Bund, Shanghai’s former
financial center, as well at Pudong, the new center
of commerce and banking. We will
visit the Shanghai
Historical Museum
in the basement of the Pearl
Tower and go to the
middle level of the tower for a breathtaking view of Shanghai (if it’s a clear day).
In the South, we
will visit the new commercial zone of Shenzhen and Hong
Kong, where students will observe capitalism as is held up as a
model for the rest of China. Nowhere else can compare with Hong Kong for the beauty of its harbor, its shopping
and its dynamism. And, of course,
there’s Disneyland.
Upon their return,
students will work on completing their papers, equipped with the lessons they
learned on the trip itself. The paper
should be at an appropriate level for the student’s degree status. The students will be expected to use a wide
selection of materials: assigned readings, internet searches, the Wall Street
Journal, etc., not simply Wikipedia.
MBA students are
also encouraged to consider using the China experience as a possible
aid in developing an independent study proposal. As participation on this trip precludes
students’ taking another course during Summer I session, they may wish to
develop a proposal for tan independent study on a topic of interest to them;
for example, on the issue of China’s environmental problems resulting from rapid economic development
and possible solutions to this problem.
Another hot issue currently is how to control against the exportation
of hazardous products to the U.S.
Students interested
in such a topic should try to find a faculty member interested in serving as
the independent study advisor for the project before leaving on the trip in
order to determine what might be examined while the group is in China. Students may even find firms that they wish
to visit and arrange for us to see these while we are there.
If the student has
any questions about the level of quality or the appropriateness of the topic,
(s)he should consult with the professor(s).
All sources must be cited correctly in order to
avoid any possibility of plagiarism.
Grading:
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Item
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Percent of grade
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Approximate Due
date
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Initial Readings and outline
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20%
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January 2008
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Initial
Bibliography
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20 %
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May 2008
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Participation
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30%
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May 2008
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Final Paper
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40%
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Expected completion July 2008
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