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Here’s an early look at my (so far) better classes this semester. Remember that I’ve had at most three, and sometimes just two, hours of each class. Things have a good chance of changing.

HST 193, China through the eyes of the west: this is a topic that really interests me, as it gets at some of the cross-cultural issues regularly blowing up in my face here at Lingnan.

HST 399E, The world turned upside down [Early Modern England]: this is about an interesting period, and there should be some overlap (particularly as the professor has indicated he’ll focus on political history) with my POLS 271 Political Thought 2 class from WVU.

HST 399A, Contemporary Chinese History: this should be fascinating. The professor was born at Lingnan University, to an American professor and Chinese staff, in Guangzhou in 1938. Chased to Hong Kong, then Chongqing, and eventually to America by Japanese and then Communists, he went to Yale and Harvard before teaching at the University of Texas at Austin. He’s retired, and has now ended up at Lingnan (and supremely overqualified) pursuing some of the Lingnan history in Guangdong.

The material’s interesting too… the course defines contemporary as starting with the establishment of the PRC in 1949, and it should run up to the present.

POL 319, International politics of Northeast Asia: I had this professor last semester for half of a course. He didn’t seem to be terribly exceptional when I had him: not fantastically inspiring, but definitely competent and someone I sought to take another class from. The course is new, and part of it will hinge on whether “Northeast Asia” exists as a coherent region at all.

I didn’t make any changes during last week’s final add/drop period, so I’m stuck with this schedule now. It should be OK, and it’s empty on Friday.

I booked a ticket to Manila (again, as you’ll know if you’re a long-time reader) for Chinese New Year with a trio of the tutors. I’ll be going the evening of 15th Feb. and coming back the evening of 26th Feb. Let’s see if I don’t bring a typhoon down on us by posting this.