Week 1 (Jan 16, 18):

Tuesday: Texts, Data, Images, and Arguments

Thursday: History and Methods: The Tang-Song Transition and the Digital Approaches


Module 1: Spatial Thinking and the Medieval Economic Revolution

Week 2 (Jan 23, 25):

Tuesday: From Chang’an to Kaifeng

Thursday: The Medieval Economic Revolution in China

  • Learning Objectives:

    • Interpret spatial patterns in ArcGIS
    • Explain China’s medieval economic revolution
  • Read:

  • Further Readings:

    • Mark Elvin, The Pattern of the Chinese Past, pp.113-202

Week 3 (Jan 30, Feb 1):

Tuesday: Think Spatially: Why Does Space Matter?

Thursday: Introduction to the Geographical Information System (GIS)

Week 4 (Feb 6, 8):

Tuesday: Creating Thematic Maps in ArcGIS: I

  • Learning Objectives:

    • Map point features in ArcGIS
    • Use appropriate symbology for analysis and report
    • Interpret spatial patterns in ArcGIS
  • Homework:

    • Prepare social and economic data for GIS lab

Thursday: Creating Thematic Maps in Desktop ArcGIS: II

  • Learning Objectives:

    • Use joins, calculations, and other features in ArcGIS
    • Understand the issue of “rhetorical honesty”
    • Preparing maps for publication
  • Read:


Module 2: Spatial Thinking and the Chinese Political Elite

Week 5 (Feb 13, 15):

Tuesday: Education, Examination, and the Ruling Elite

  • Learning Objectives:

Thursday: The Changing Geography of Power

  • Learning Objectives:

    • Explain the social and political consequences of the Tang-Song transition
    • Use modularized queries in CBDB, project them in ArcGIS, and interpret the maps
  • Read:

Week 6 (Feb 20, 22):

Tuesday: Biography and Prosopography

  • Learning Objectives:

    • Understand the traditions of Chinese biographical writing
    • Understand “prosopography” as an approach of historical research
  • Read:

  • Further Readings:

    • K. S. B. Keats-Rohan, ed. Prosopography Approaches and Applications: A Handbook (Oxford: Unit for Prosopographical Research University of Oxford, 2007): “Abstracts of Papers” (pp.xi-xix) and “Introduction” (pp.1-32).

Thursday: XML, RegEx and Data Mining

Week 7 (Feb 27, Mar 1):

Tuesday: From Spreadsheets to Relational Databases

  • Learning Objectives:

    • Understand the concept, strengths, and structure of relational databases
  • Read:

Thursday: CBDB and Spatial Visualizations

Week 8 (Mar 6, 8):

Tuesday: Project 1 Tutorial

Thursday: Project 1 Presentations

Week 9 (Mar 13, 15): Spring Break — No Class


Module 3: Space and Structure of Elite Networks

Week 10 (Mar 20, 22):

Tuesday: The “Localist Turn”

Thursday: Mapping Social Relationships

  • Learning Objectives:

    • Map line features in ArcGIS/Palladio
  • Read:

    • Hilde De Weerdt, Information, Territory, and Networks, Ch.7
  • Tutorials:

Project # 1 and Short Paper #1 due at 5 p.m., Sunday, March 25.

Week 11 (Mar 27, 29):

Tuesday: Think Relationally: Introduction to Network Visualization

  • Learning Objectives:

    • Understand basic concepts in network analysis, such as nodes, and edges / ties
    • Prepare data in appropriate formats for Gephi
    • Use Gephi to create a simple network graph
    • Understand the strengths and limits of network graphs for addressing research questions
  • Read:

Thursday: Ideology and Court Politics

  • Learning Objectives:
    • Interpret the different ideological positions of major 11th-century statesmen
  • Read:
    • Wang Anshi, “Memorial to Emperor Renzong”
    • “Debate over Wang Anshi’s New Laws,” in Sources of Chinese Tradition, vol.1, pp. 631–34.

Week 12 (Apr 3, 5):

Tuesday:The Network Approach to Politics: Identifying Clusters

Thursday:  CBDB and Network Visualizations

Week 13 (Apr 10, 12):

Tuesday: The Neo-Confucian Moral Philosophy and Social Program

  • Learning Objectives:
    • Interpret the intellectual and social positions of the Neo-Confucian thinkers
  • Read:
    • Zhu Xi, “Preface to the Mean by Chapter and Phrase” (Sources of Chinese Tradition, 731-34)
    • Zhu Xi, “Proposal for Community Granaries” (Sources of Chinese Tradition, 746) and “The Lü Family Community Compact, Amended and Emended” (Sources of Chinese Tradition, 751-54)
    • Wang Anshi, “Memorial on the Crop Loans Measure” (Sources of Chinese Tradition, 616-18)

Thursday: Networks, Geography, and the Neo-Confucian Movement

  • Learning Objectives:

    • Explore how network analysis may be employed in studying intellectual and social movements
  • Read:

  • Further Readings:
    • Roger V. Gould, “Uses of Network Tools in Comparative Historical Research.” In Comparative Historical Analysis in the Social Sciences, pp.241-269.
    • Charles Wetherhall, “Historical Social Network Analysis.” In New Methods for Social History (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 125-44.

Week 14 (Apr 17, 19):

Tuesday: Project 2 Tutorial

Thursday: Project 2 Tutorial

Week 15 (Apr 24, 26):

Tuesday: Project 2 Presentations

Thursday: Reflections on the Tang-Song Transition

Project #2 and Short Paper #2 due at 5 p.m., Sunday, April 23.