Please note that this course is self-paced and you can enroll at any time. The course itself is 6 weeks long and certificates are generated and distributed to learners who meet the 75% requirement every 4 months. The next scheduled dates for certificates to be released are April 24, 2014 and August 24, 2014. Please note that these dates are subject to change, but will maintain a schedule of every 4 months.

This course is presented in English with limited video subtitles in Chinese.

Modern China presents a dual image: a society transforming itself through economic development and infrastructure investment that aspires to global leadership; and the world’s largest and oldest bureaucratic state, with multiple traditions in its cultural, economic, and political life. The modern society and state that is emerging in China bears the indelible imprint of China’s historical experience, of its patterns of philosophy and religion, and of its social and political thought. These themes are discussed in order to understand China in the twenty-­first century and as a great world civilization that developed along along lines different from those of the Mediterranean.

ChinaX introduces new features to make the riches of Harvard’s visual collections and the expertise of its faculty more accessible to learners worldwide. We will engage intellectual and religious trends, material and political culture, the local diversity and the national unity, art and literature, and China’s economic and political transformation— past, present and future.

This is the first of ten ChinaX “Mini-­Courses” that collectively span over 6,000 years of history. Each mini-­course consists of 4 to 8 weekly “modules,” each with videos, readings, interactive engagements, assessments, and discussion forums.