Week 10: Ceramics

March 28 and 30

Just like the Great Wall, porcelain is about as iconic as it gets for “Chinese” objects, to the point that the name “china” or “china ware” is synonymous with the fine translucent ceramic material created through a specific process that was for a long time exclusive to China. Quickly, the craftsmen in the Korean peninsula and Japan also learned the techniques, but areas further west remained dependent on trade for many centuries, just as they did for the tea they drank from these fine cups -cups often created specifically for export! The finest porcelain was created for the emperor (of course!), in a town called Jingdezhen, in the southeast province Jiangxi, which is still an important center for collectors of porcelain.

Slides

Readings and class details

Tuesday

Meeting in Ettinger, 212 3.30pm

Exploration Pack 1: World trade

  • Finlay, Robert. “The Pilgrim Art: The Culture of Porcelain in World History.” Journal of World History 9, no. 2 (1998): 141-87.
    • (PDF, appr. 60-90mins) Just read pp. 141-176 (you may of course continue to the end of the article)
      • The article may at first appear to be a bit harder to read, but you can use this worksheet to get through the most important aspects of the article. Also add your own observations on what is strange, remarkable or interesting to you. This will help you to organize your ideas to write your blog post.
      • This article focuses on how porcelain objects traveled all over the globe, as they were traded in communities ever further away from where they were first created (in China). That also meant their value and their meaning changed, sometimes very dramatically.

Exploration Pack 2: Focus on artisans

  • Gerritsen, Anne. The City of Blue and White : Chinese Porcelain and the Early Modern World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020.
    • (PDF, appr. 60-90mins) Chapter 9 focuses on the artisans and laborers involved in the production of the porcelain. The sub-headings of the text are useful questions to help you with the structure, but key questions to ponder are: How were the workers and craftsmen treated? How was the work process organized? What was the relationship between imperial and private kilns, and how did that affect the situation of craftsmen and laborers?

Thursday: Writing workshop time

Meeting in Trexler Library, B01, 3.30PM

With your writing assignment coming up, we’ll spend time in class to work on setting you up for success. Bring what you already have to class and you can work with peer partners to shape up your assignment.

Assignments

1. Reminder Blog post (content week 9)

5 points, due Sun. March 26, 11:59PM

Write a blog post exploring themes or ideas based on your reading. You do not need to have all the answers. In fact, learning to ask good analytical or research questions is a skill you can develop during the semester. Remember the description of the assignment from the syllabus.

  • Length: approx. 400 words. excl. list of materials consulted.
  • Add the list of materials consulted at the end of the post, in Chicago notes and bibliography style.
    • TOP TIP: Just copy the bibliography information from the Reading list on last week’s webpage, do not add the descriptive notes I provide for your information.
  • Add the words “Week 9” in the title.
    • Please use this exact phrase, so your post will show up in the blog stream.
  • Indicate which Exploration Pack you chose.
  • Include a relevant image, and add a caption with the source/credit, and an Alt text description
  • Post on your website, and add to the category hst137.

When you’re done, read this declaration carefully and then fill out the Canvas quiz to collect your points.

Declaration
– I wrote a post of approximately 400 words in response to the readings.
– I included the bibliographic references for the materials I used for my post.
– I indicated which Exploration Pack I chose.
– I included an image, and I provided a caption and credit (source), and an Alt text description for the image.
– I use the words Week 9 in the title, and added the post to category hst137

2. Feedback with Hypothes.is

3 points, due Tue March 28, 11:59PM

Below you find links to three blog posts from your fellow students. If one of the websites is your own, or it is twice the same person’s, refresh the page, and you should get new sites. There may be a post from an earlier week: that means it came in after I created last week’s randomizer, but still before the built-in extension of the blog post assignment.

  • Post 1:
  • Post 2:
  • Post 3:

Leave feedback, questions, thoughts, insights about the contents of the posts of your fellow students using Hypothes.is group HST137. You can ask for clarifications, point out similarities and differences with the material you covered, or with your interpretation. This should encourage you to nose around in the other materials you did not read originally, too.

Use tags in Hypothes.is: question: If you have a question (obvious); answered: if you gave an answer to a question; info: if you provide more information, looking up additional facts, drawing on knowledge from other classes; and other tags you can think of. This will help us to navigate more quickly to the questions that still need answering.

Use the “Architect’s Model” of giving feedback, and engage with concrete issues. Go beyond “Yeah, I agree,” “I like” or “I think the same”, and instead explain why you have that reaction, or if you disagree, you can try to persuade the original poster of your idea or interpretation.

Remember that Hypothes.is allows for hyperlinks, e.g. to materials that support your argument, or you can include pictures (memes! [yes, there she is again]), videos etc. that help the original poster to learn more.

When you’re done, read this declaration carefully, and then fill out the Canvas quiz to collect your points.

Declaration
– I commented on three fellow students’ weekly blog post on Week 9 materials, using the Hypothes.is group HST137.
– I made sure to leave substantial comments that help the writer to improve the post, or to identify their strengths.
– I left comments that I would like to receive myself: thoughtful, helpful, kind, but also pointing out errors so they can be fixed.

3. Outline and a paragraph

15 points, due Thu March 30, 11.59PM

Create an outline of your project, and work out one paragraph in full.

Find all the details on the dedicated webpage, including the information about how and where to submit

4. Blog post (content week 10)

5 points, due Sun. April 2, 11:59PM

Write a blog post exploring themes or ideas based on your reading. You do not need to have all the answers. In fact, learning to ask good analytical or research questions is a skill you can develop during the semester. Remember the description of the assignment from the syllabus.

  • Length: approx. 400 words. excl. list of materials consulted.
  • Add the list of materials consulted at the end of the post, in Chicago notes and bibliography style.
    • TOP TIP: Just copy the bibliography information from the Reading list on this webpage, do not add the descriptive notes I provide for your information.
  • Add the words “Week 10” in the title.
    • Please use this exact phrase, so your post will show up in the blog stream.
  • Indicate which Exploration Pack you chose.
  • Include a relevant image, and add a caption with the source/credit, and an Alt text description
  • Post on your website, and add to the category hst137.

When you’re done, read this declaration carefully and then fill out the Canvas quiz to collect your points.

Declaration
– I wrote a post of approximately 400 words in response to the readings.
– I included the bibliographic references for the materials I used for my post.
– I indicated which Exploration Pack I chose.
– I included an image, and I provided a caption and credit (source), and an Alt text description for the image.
– I use the words Week 10 in the title, and added the post to category hst137

Heads up! Second reflection

Due April 4, 11:59PM.

More details on the dedicated webpage to avoid cluttering this one.

Extra Credit assignments

No extra credit assignments this week!

Where to get assistance?

  • Tea Room on Discord:
    • open anytime for you
    • I will be hosting Tue 2PM-3PM; Wed. 1PM-2PM, or at other times by appointment via Google Calendar (usually a 15-20min appointment is enough). You can also find me in my office during Tea Room times.
    • Private room for confidential chat available on request.
  • Discord Text Channel #hst137
  • DLAs: Digital Learning Assistants: check the schedule!
  • Writing Center: Sunday – Wednesday 3:30 – 5:30 & 7 – 11 PM; Thursday 3:30 – 5:30 PM &  7 – 9 PM
  • Trexler Library Course Subject Guide: our own dedicated subject guide for the course 
  • Safety on/around campus: report an incident