Comparative China: Perceptions Through Youtube & TikTok

Course Number: 82-138

The world knows China through different media: books, newspapers, television, films, and social media. While these media provide unique and valuable windows for us to look into Chinese society and culture, they sometimes also confine our perspectives, or even distort our visions, because of the limitations of the platforms, the motives and standpoints of the media creators, and the methods or channels used for communication. Because of this, how to critically evaluate the images and information presented to us by the media and how to analyze them from a cross-cultural perspective, become the prerequisites for all our discussions and understanding of China and its role in the world nowadays. This course focuses specifically on the images of China and Chinese society as presented through the emerging social media such as YouTube and TikTok. In addition to helping student gain better knowledge of Chinese society and culture, the course also invites students to examine and discuss the perspectives behind these media materials, the cultural agenda of their creation, the strategies and methods used in their dissemination, as well as the impact of these factors on the audiences perceptions of China.

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Units: 9
Prerequisite(s): None