Austin Woerner's Memory Palace
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EAP102 Spring 2019

Class notes and homework assignments

Day 3

M-Tu Jan. 13-14

Homework

By the end of the day:

➤ Submit e-copy of Paper #1

Give your Paper #1 a memorable title that captures your vision for the book, and email it as a .doc or .docx file to Wang Xiaonan (xiaonan.wang631@dukekunshan.edu.cn), who is serving as my TA this semester.

For next class:

➤ Reading and thinking

Featured
Handout 4: Lonely Planet: China, "The Chinese Character"
Handout 4: Lonely Planet: China, "The Chinese Character"

Some generalizations about Chinese culture from the travel guide Lonely Planet.

Handout 3: Rough Guide to China, "Customs and Etiquette"
Handout 3: Rough Guide to China, "Customs and Etiquette"

Advice for foreign travelers to China.

Featured
Liu Yang, "East Meets West"
Liu Yang, "East Meets West"

A series of infographics by Chinese designer Liu Yang illustrating cultural differences, based on her experience living in Germany.

  1. Look up the following three terms in a dictionary or online: 1) a generalization, 2) a stereotype, and 3) cultural essentialism. What do these mean? Come to class prepared to tell us what they mean.

  2. Read and look at these handouts and think about this question: How useful would these texts (and pictures) be in helping a foreign student coming to China understand and adapt to Chinese culture?

    • “Customs and Etiquette” from The Rough Guide to China (Handout 3)

    • “The Chinese Character” from Lonely Planet: China (Handout 4)

    • East Meets West by Liu Yang (just pictures!)

    • 第五课 from Acting Chinese (a textbook), particularly the 正文 part （“中国人到底有没有礼貌?”)

      • Note: I will not post this online because it’s a draft chapter from a textbook and it’s not published yet. Instead I will send the document out on our WeChat group. Please do not share this online; unpublished material should not be circulated.

  3. Imagine you are giving advice to one of next year’s incoming Chinese freshmen. Now that you’ve been at DKU for a semester, what have you learned about American culture, specifically American university culture, that would be useful for them to know? Based on your own experience, what generalizations about American university culture would you make that could help them better understand and adapt to life at DKU? (Think about this question and be ready to share with the class.)

    • Note: This discussion will be a lot more interesting if you focus on thought patterns and behaviors (how people think and act) rather than the obvious structural differences between an American and Chinese university (for example, the fact that there’s so much more reading at American universities).

➤ Speakers

(2-3 minutes)

Tell us the advice you’d give to an incoming Chinese freshman at DKU about American university culture (your answer to #3 above).

day-3Austin Woerner