INSTRUCTORS: Senior Lecturer William Andersen, Dept. of Visual Art, UWM, as well as faculty at the National Ceramic Art Training Base at Jingdezhen Comprehensive College in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi, and the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, China.

Yea-Fen Chen, Assistant Professor, Dept. of FLL, UWM and Max Yela, Head, Special Collections, UWM Libraries, have also agreed to give pre-departure lectures.

CREDITS: 6 art credits
DATES: July 24 - August 21 
COURSE DESCRIPTION: CHINA NOW: ART & CULTURE 
will introduce students to the complex facets of Chinese culture and society. Travel and study will take place in four distinct cities of China - Beijing, the ancient yet thriving urban capital located in the north; Jingdezhen in the south and known as the Porcelain Capital of China for over 2,000 years; the western city of Xi’an, the eastern end of the Silk Road and capital of 13 dynasties with more than 3,100 years of history, and Shanghai to the east, the one city that best shows where China is headed at the dawn of the 21st century, perhaps no city in the world is as futuristic, and Shanghai has become the very symbol of China's rise to economic powerhouse status. The course will explore interdisciplinary issues in China’s history and culture. These issues will be examined through an introduction to its art; an introduction to the cultural and ethnic groups that make up Chinese society; and the geographic, economic and political issues that have shaped China as an emerging world power.
At the beginning of our program we will have a brief four days in Shanghai. We will visit the Bund; Nnjing L, the number-one shopping street in all of China; the Shanghai Museum, one of the best Chinese art museums in the world; emerging contemporary art galleries; the Old Chinese City (called so since most of Shanghai was international settlements) with its a teahouse epitomizing old China, a quintessential Southern-Chinese classical garden, active temples and ancient pagodas, a section of Shnghai's old city wall, and the Bazaar with its traditional shopping. 
One week will be spent in the Jingdezhen area of Jiangxi Provinces. We will tour the Ceramic History & Culture Expo Area, Old Imperial Kiln and Grand Porcelain & Ceramic Museum. Possible Field Trips include Yaoli, Yixian, Xidi, Dragon & Tiger Mountain, Sanqin Shan, Lu Shan and Huangshan Mountain. We will study at the National Ceramic Art Training Base that is part of Jingdezhen Comprehensive College. Courses taught will include Conversational Chinese, Pottery Workshop, Tai-Chi & Martial Arts, Chinese Calligraphy, Chinese Traditional Musical Instruments, Chinese Painting and Acupuncture. 
Four days will be spent in Xi’an. We will have on-site lectures on Chinese art, culture and history at the Army of the Terracotta Warriors, Tomb of Qin Shi Huang, Huaqing Pools and Museum, Big Goose Pagoda, Little Goose Pagoda, Shaanxi History Museum, Forest of Steles Museum & Temple of the 8 Immortals (Daoist), old city walls, the City of God’s Temple, the Great Mosque and the Muslim Quarter.

The last ten days of our program will take place in Beijing. We will tour the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, Palace Museum (Forbidden City), Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, and Daoist, Confucian and Tibetan Buddhist Temples. To view some of the most contemporary art in all of China there are visits to the China Art Museum, Courtyard Gallery, Red Gate Gallery, Space 798, Pickled Art Center, CAAW Gallery, Imagine Gallery, Tokyo Beijing Art Project and the Long March Foundation Gallery. To familiarize the students with artistic practice in China today, we will stay in Beijing’s Central Academy of Fine Art (CAFA), one of the leading institutes of higher education in China  There will also be numerous opportunities to spend time with many of China’s leading artists by visiting their studios, galleries and homes.

Brief Profile of National Ceramic Art Training Base, Jingdezhen Comprehensive College and Jingdezhen.

JINGDEZHEN: Jingdezhen covers an area of 2053 square miles with a population of 1,520,000, including 450,000 urban. For over 2,000 years, Jingdezhen has been known as the Porcelain Capital City of China. Ceramics were produced here as far back as the Han dynasty (206-220 BC). Originally known as Changnan, its name was changed when Emperor Jingde (1004-1007 AD) of the Southern Song dynasty, decreed all the pieces made in the town for imperial court to be marked 'Made in Jingde Reign’. The porcelains made in Jingdezhen were so exquisite that they were described as being as white as jade, as bright as a mirror, as thin as paper, with a sound as clear as a chime. Among them are those particularly famous four classic types: blue and white, famille rose, rice-pattern, and color glaze.

Jingdezhen is recognized as one of the four most famous ancient towns in China. It is also entitled as one of the firstly-listed 24 historically and culturally renown cities by the State Council of China. Jingdezhen city is so famous that almost all the top government leaders, such as current President Hu Jingtao and Premier Wen Jiabao, of China pay visit to it at least once during their in-power time. The tourism resource of Jingdezhen is rich with deep cultural connotation, admirable ceramic history, and harmonious ecological environment

Jingdezhen lies on the boundary of three provinces, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and Anhui, and is located at the center of a 2-hour-driving-range-circle of many world-class tourism sites. Among them, the Lu Mountain, Yellow Mountain, and Sanqing Mountain are awarded by the Committee of Education, Science, and Culture of the United Nations as “The Inheritance of the World”. The neighboring Yaoli, Wuyuan, and Yixian counties are so beautiful for their well-kept Hui-style ancient architecture and poetic village life. Actually, the OSCAR winner movie, “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon” was mostly filmed at two of the villages in Yixian. One of the villages, Xidi, is also awarded by UN as “The Inheritance of the World”. The Poyang Lake is the biggest fresh water lake of China and also a national-level preservation place for seasonal birds, such as crane. Yangtze river, the longest and most famous river of China, is only an hour away to the north. And other famous interesting places within the circle include Dragon & Tiger Mountain, Jiuhua Mountain, and Thousand-Island-Lake etc..

Contact person at National Ceramic Art Training Base at Jingdezhen Comprehensive College 
Mr. Yanjun Weng 
General Manager of National Ceramic Art Training Base & 
Director of International Education Center at Jingdezhen Comprehensive College
No. 838, Cidu Avenue
Jingdezhen, Jiangxi 333000
P. R. China

Tel:86-798-8386768
Cell:86-13879838138
Fax:86-798-8331889 
Emails: wengyi@ yahoo.com

NATIONAL CERAMIC ART TRAINING BASE AT JINGDEZHEN COMPREHENSIVE COLLEGE: The National Ceramic Art Training Base was built for public-benefit by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Public Finance, and the Ministry of Planning of China. It is a co-program with Jingdezhen Comprehensive College and they are on the same location. The base occupies 53 acres land of a beautiful and convenient downtown area in Jingdezhen. So far 2.5 million USD investment has been poured in by the government and totally 132,000 square feet buildings have been built and well-equipped for the education and tourism purpose of ceramic art appreciation and practice. The base, currently under the management of government officials, started to open to public since September and receives averagely 1,000 students and tourists per month from all over the country and also from other countries such as America, France, Japan, South Korea, and Thailand.

The base has a very desirable location. It is in the downtown area of Jingdezhen and is only 1.6 miles away from People’s Square which is the center of the downtown. It sits within the Ceramic History & Culture Expo Area of Jingdezhen and next to the famous Old Imperial Kiln. On the opposite side of the road of its front gate, there are a newly-finished Grand Porcelain & Ceramic Museum of Jingdezhen and two under-construction five-star-hotels.

Curriculum offered at The National Ceramic Art Training Base: 
A. Courses and Lectures:
1. Conversational Chinese
2. Pottery Workshop
3. Tai-Chi & Martial Arts
4. Chinese Calligraphy
5. Chinese Traditional Musical Instruments
6. Chinese Painting
7. Acupuncture 

B. Tours and field trips:

• City tour: Ceramic History & Culture Expo Area, Old Imperial Kiln, Jingdezhen Comprehensive College, Grand Porcelain & Ceramic Museum.

• Possible Field Trips: Yaoli, Yixian, Xidi, Dragon & Tiger Mountain, Huangshan Mountain.

For more information and images from the China Trips course please visit our websites: 
http://duibuqi.imt.uwm.edu/gallery/china
http://duibuqi.imt.uwm.edu/gallery/Zhongguo
http://elearning.winona.edu/apps/facstaff/mah/

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

I. Required Readings: Readings from the following sources will be required of all students.

• A required Course Reader will be available for purchase.

 

Recommended Readings:

“China Art Now,” Michel Nuridsany. Editions Flammarion, ISBN 2-0803-0440-2. A comprehensive introduction to contemporary art practice in China.

“Chinese Art & Culture,” Robert L. Thorp & Richard Ellis Vinogard, ISBN 0-13-088969-5. A comprehensive introduction to art practice in China from ancient times to the most contemporary.

“Art in China,” Craig Clunas. Oxford History of Art series, Oxford University Press, 1997, ISBN 0-19-284207-2. Art in the tomb, at court, in the temple, in the life of the elite, and in the market place. A comprehensive introduction to the history of the arts in China. Provides the contextual depth and historical timeline necessary to appreciate and begin to understand the art in China.

Encountering the Chinese: A Guide for Americans. Hu, Wenzhong, & Cornelius L. Grove, Yarmouth, Maine: Intercultural Press, Second edition.  ISBN 1-877846-58-7

Understanding Contemporary China, Gamer, Robert. (Ed.) Lynne Rienner Publishers. Second edition.  2003.  ISBN 1-58226-045-3

 

II. Lectures/Site Visits
All students will be required to be active participants in the lectures and discussions taking place throughout the course, including pre-departure lectures and meetings. Lecture topics will include traditional and contemporary Chinese art, architecture and history. Various guest scholars and experts will give lectures and course faculty will coordinate the discussions. Some lectures will be given in a classroom setting, others on-site in museums and cultural institutions, during walking tours and during visits to indigenous communities.

III. Research Paper and On-site Presentation Requirement
Each student will choose a focus for a Research Paper and On-site Presentation on a Chinese Cultural Topic. It is expected that each student will present a lecture on an aspect of Chinese culture, art or history while traveling abroad. Every effort should be made so that the presentation site is appropriate to the lecture topic. Before departure students must turn in a presentation outline. There will be a short period upon our return for editing and assembly of materials before you turn in a final two to four page research paper on your topic.

The following are examples of several possible Chinese Cultural Topics. Please consider your own unique research interests when choosing your topic! :

The Army of Terracotta Warriors Qin Shi Huang Daoism 
Export porcelain Tai-Chi & martial arts Confucianism 
Jingdezhen ceramics acupuncture Zen Buddhism
Tang Dynasty ceramics music (classic, pop, punk, etc.) Tibetan Buddhism 
bronze vessels temple architecture The Opium Wars
calligraphy literati garde The Republic of China (1911-49)
courtly painting Forbidden City Chiang Kaishek
literati painting Tiananmen Square Mao Zedong 
Communist era artwork hutongs The Cultural Revolution 
1989 China /Avant-garde Exhibit Communist era architecture 1989 Pro-Democracy Movement 
contemporary painting contemporary urban planning Tiananmen Square Massacre
contemporary performance art I.M. Pei China’s economic rise 
contemporary installation art postmodern architecture pollution & the environment

IV. Travel Journal Requirement
Each student will choose a focus for a personal travel journal that includes documentation for the thirty days of travel. The journal project should be thematic and self-designed. It should be thought of as a activity-based project that could encompass many forms of documentation such as: drawings, photographs, writings, tape recordings, collections of objects and other material evidence. Each student will present the plans for their travel journal to the group at the last meeting scheduled before we leave for China. It should also be noted that several students in past study abroad courses have chosen to write focused research papers, geared to their research areas, to satisfy this requirement.

Prior to departure students will be required to attend a two-hour presentation by Max Yela, curator of Special Collections at the UWM Golda Meir Library. The presentation will include historical and contemporary travel journals made by artists, scientists, geographers and historians. During the travel and upon return, students will organize the entries in the travel journal. A date for the presentation, discussion and final evaluation of the finished documentation will be established.

The following are examples of several possible travel journal themes. Please consider your own unique research interests in constructing your journal! :

1. 21st Century Explorer
Imagine yourself as the first time explorer of the places you visit. Consider how great explorers of the past (Darwin, Von Humbolt, Lewis and Clark, etc.) recorded their journeys and collected material evidence of the places they explored to take back to their constituents at home. For each day of your travel collect at least one significant form of documentation of that day and place. Develop a system for the collection process and the documentation of the site where the material evidence was collected. Plan in advance how you will organize the evidence collected (i.e. in small containers such as film canisters, or a small box you will bring with segmented spaces for your collected material for each day of the trip)
2. Home Away from Home
Imagine being interviewed by a stranger who asks you to describe the five most important things that you identify with “home”. Write them down, then document them in some form. While you are traveling, document situations, places, and events that through similarity or contrast remind you of these five most important self-identifiers of “home.” Also as you are traveling add five more “identifiers of home” that you had not originally come up with before the travel began, and document these newly discovered items in addition to the original five.
3. Scavenger Hunt
Make a list of 15-20 qualities, conditions or situations. (note: true scavenger hunts require that someone else make up the hunt list, so you may want to engage the help of a friend in making up your list). These list entries can be concrete or rather ephemeral. Each day of your travel document a situation, place or event that you encounter from your list, but you must document everything on the list before you can come home!

Possible forms of documentation for the travel journal include: 
Drawings, watercolor paintings, photographs, writings, tape recordings, collections of objects and other material evidence. In past courses students have kept a daily scrapbook and ongoing collection of brief writings, sketches and pasted/collaged “artifacts of travel” that they have used as source material for their final journal. The final journal or research paper should be well-organized around your chosen theme and be presented in a visually coherent manner.
V. Grading Criteria
Grading assessment will be made on the following:

• Evidence of completion of course readings through participation in discussions taking place throughout the course during on-site visits to museums, archeological sites, etc.

• Active participation in all group activities scheduled before, during and after the course and responsible and appropriate behavior while abroad.

• Research Paper and On-site Presentation on a Chinese Cultural Topic. It is expected that each student will present a lecture on an aspect of Chinese culture, art or history while traveling abroad. Before departure students must turn in a presentation outline. There will be a short period upon our return for editing and assembly of materials before you turn in a final two to four page research paper on your topic.

• Development of Travel Journal and Final Presentation. It is expected that students work on their journal throughout the course. There will be a short period upon our return for editing and assembly of materials before the final class presentation of students’ artwork.

VI. Students Enrolled for Graduate Credit: Will be required to meet all of the course requirements outlined above. Additionally the graduate student will be required to complete an additional five to ten page research paper or art project relating the course content to the direction of their graduate studies. Graduate students will meet individually with course faculty in advance of departure to determine the scope and focus of the research paper.

China Now Packing List:

 

WEATHER: 
During the summer, from May to August, temperatures in Beijing can hit 38C (100F), coinciding with the rainy season for the city. Jingdezhen, Xian and Shanghai will likely be even hotter! You can check local weather online before departure at yahoo.com/ click on “weather” then go to “Asia” then “China”. The four cities we will be traveling to can be searched from there: Beijing, Jingdezhen, Xian and Shanghai. Or try weatherreports.com/ click on “China” and then the respective city.

ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES: In China the standard voltage is 220v as opposed to 110v in the USA. There is also different plug styles (3 pronged angled pins and two prongs) for wall outlets. Therefore, if you have any appliances that need to be plugged in (e.g. a battery charger for a camera) you must purchase a small voltage converter 100v/220v & conversion plugs. A store such as Radio Shack carries both of these items. Please be aware that converters and adapters may not always work, so you should not depend solely on these items.

E-MAIL: Throughout China there are internet cafes where you can keep in communication with home, except for the days we will be traveling by train or boat. Phone calls can be expensive.

 

PACKING:

• PLAN ON ONE MEDIUM SIZE SUITCASE/BACKPACK, and ONE SMALL BAG/SMALL BACKPACK (TO HOLD CLOTHES AND TOILETRIES FOR WEEKEND TRIPS!).

• LEAVE EXTRA ROOM IN YOUR SUITCASE FOR BRINGING BACK GIFTS, OR OTHER MEMORABILIA. DON’T PACK TOO TIGHT! REMEMBER WE WILL BE MOVING A LOT AND YOU WILL BE CARRYING YOUR OWN BAG!

• ONE SMALL “DAY” BACKPACK that can be either folder flat in your luggage or used as a carry-on. You will need this small pack to carry bottled water snacks, a notebook, sunscreen, etc when we are on day excursions.

• LAUNDRY – LAUNDRY CAN BE SENT OUT TO BE DONE AT YOUR OWN EXPENSE, most students last year did their own laundry in their sink or shower.

• Passport PLUS 3 photocopies of passport (the page with your photo and facing page)

• International Certificates of Vaccinations (Yellow Booklet) certifying any vaccinations;

Hepatitis A, Typhoid and tetanus vaccinations, etc.

• Neck pouch or money belt for passport, money, credit cards. You may also want a “fanny pack”

• International Student ID (for important discounts!) available through Study Abroad Office

• Passport-size photos for identification cards-about 4

• Pictures of family and U.S.

• China Guidebooks

• Paperback English/Chinese dictionary

• Notebook/sketchbook and materials for travel journal course requirement

• Pens (ball point, fine point, colored)

• Camera, film, and camera batteries (Camera batteries may not be available for your camera so bring plenty of extras! Or use rechargeable batteries)

• Walkman and/or music device

• Casual, Neat Clothing:

• tight-weave, light weight and medium weight shorts and long cotton pants (3-4 pair) note: blue jeans would be “medium” weight, but are too heavy/warm);

• one more formal buttoned shirt or dress

• several cotton t-shirts

• cotton undergarments

• absorbent socks

• sleepwear

• swimsuit (if you wish)

• Light raingear or plastic poncho

• Comfortable “broken in” walking shoes or sandals (2 PAIR)

• Cheap plastic “flip-flops” for showers

• Sun/Wind Protection:

• secure broad brimmed hat (that folds up)

• sunscreen and chapstick/lip balm

• sunglasses

• Medication:

• Any PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS, PLUS A COPY OF YOUR PRESCRIPTION

• Vitamins

• Aspirin or Ibuprofen

• Cold, sore throat, headache, constipation and diarrhea meds (Imodium is recommended, as well as Pepcid AC. We also advise Cipro for severe diarrhea. )

• Saline nasal spray for extremely dry conditions;

• Feminine hygiene such as tampons;

• First-aid supplies such as band-aids, blister medication, Neosporin, etc.

• Anti-bacterial hand cleaner

• Toiletries

• Toothpaste/floss

• Deodorant (hard to get in China)

• Razor blades

• Shaving cream

• Lotion

• Contact lens solution

• Kleenex (pocket size packs – for your nose and where toilet paper may not be available))

• Small BATTERY POWERED alarm clock

• Small powerful flashlight (like the “maglite” brand with extra batteries)

• An extra pair of glasses if you wear prescription glasses

• Mosquito repellent lotion with “DEET” at least 23% (no aerosol spray cans)

• Small pocket calculator

• Inexpensive watch (there will be many occasions when we have rendezvous times and we don’t want to be waiting for you!)

• Ear plugs (in case your roommate snores!)

• Sleeping Mask (in case your room is sunny)

• Wash cloth

• Swiss army knife (pack in suitcase; not your carry on luggage!)

32. Spending money in traveler’s checks and some small American dollar denominations. $300 to $400 recommended for gifts, meals and tips not included in program. You must also have a VISA or MASTERCARD with you for emergencies. Money can be obtained from ATM machines in major cities (there is usually a $2.00 charge per transaction)