October 29 (M), October 31 (W), November 2 (F)

Fong, "China's One-Child Policy and the Empowerment of Urban Daughters" (Moodle article)
Kuan, "The Horrific and the Exemplary: Public Stories and Education Reform in Late Socialist China" (Moodle article)
Kuan, "Banking in Affects," chapter 7, Love's Uncertainty: The Politics and Ethics of Child Rearing in Contemporary China (Moodle article)

1. Why, according to Fong, have urban daughters benefited from China's One-Child Policy? In what specific ways?

2. What is the significance of the "good student kills mother" story (Kuan)? And of Zhou Hong's education of his daughter? What forms of subjectivity do these stories highlight?

3. What is suzhi jiaoyu? How is it significant for understanding issues of education and parenting?

4. What is affect? What does "'banking in affects'" mean? Why is it important for understanding contemporary middle-class child-rearing in China?

 

Topic for RESPONSE PAPER #6 (2-3 pages, double-spaced, due on November 2 by email before class to Professor Leshkowich.) Please remember to submit your paper as a Microsoft Word document named lastname6.docx.

Child-Rearing in China: Letter to the Editor
For this assignment, you are to pretend that you are Vanessa Fong or Teresa Kuan and that you are writing a "letter to the editor" of a media source that has recently published an article about the dilemmas that Chinese families face in having, raising, or educating children. First, find a newspaper or reliable electronic media account from the past five years that discusses some aspect of child-rearing, family life, or children's education. You might find an article on the school examination process, the abandonment of the One-Child Policy, cautionary tales of child-rearing or educational pressures gone wrong, or forms of consumption involving children. Next, determine how Vanessa Fong or Teresa Kuan might respond to the article. Would she agree with the way that the author of the article depicted or assessed parents, teachers, or children? Are there other parts of the situation that she would be likely to emphasize? Different conclusions that she would draw? And why might those be significant? (Although you will be writing "in character" as Fong or Kuan, be sure that your discussion allows you to highlight what you personally see as the strengths or weaknesses of Fong or Kuan's anaysis.)