This exercise covers the part of the module that focuses on domestic dynamics (with the caveat that the domestic can never be totally isolated from the international). It will be completed at the beginning of the second term, with submission due the week after the seminar activity.

The students come to class with a SWOT analysis of the Chinese Communist Party’s ability and right to rule.

Students go into small groups and have five minutes each explain talk through their SWOT. This is followed by a period of general discussion in their small groups.

They subsequently then have the chance to adapt their SWOT analysis based on the responses to their initial positions, and also listening to the choice of others.

The students subsequently submit the SWOT supported by a text of no more than 800 words that explains their reasoning behind their SWOT analysis, including a reflection on how, if at all, this changed as a result of the seminar discussions. For example, what did others say that made them rethink? Were there any alternative positions that they considered but ultimately rejected? If so, why? Is there anything they would have done differently when presenting their SWOT analysis?

Guidance on the preparation of a a SWOT analysis will be provided in classes, and a mock seminar exercise will be take place in Term 1 to prepare the students.

Students who are unable to attend the seminar must apply for consideration through the Departments Mitigating Circumstances Processes.

For each seminar, the reading list will include at least one original document (in full or in part) produced by the Chinese Communist Party, the Chinese state, a party or state affiliated research organisation or media group. These will be provided in the official English translation of the text. Where appropriate, it will also include a report or statement produced by a foreign government, or by a non-Chinese lobbying think tank/research institution.

The intention is twofold. First, to ensure that students are not only given external analyses of Chinese politics and international relations, but also understand indigenous arguments, positions and explanations. Second, to encourage students to think about the political context and objectives of what they are reading.

At the beginning of term three, the students will provide an analysis of one of the documents they have studied throughout the year. In no more than 1200 words, this will explain not just the argument in the document, but also
what they think it was designed to explain/achieve
its wider contextual significance and importance
their evaluation of the arguments in the document

To help prepare the students, a seminar early in the first term will be devoted to documentary analysis, covering a topic relevant to that part of the curriculum. Students will be able to chose any of the documents provided on the reading list for the academic year except for the ones discussed in this special documentary analysis seminar.

Students will also be expected to use original documents when preparing their group presentations for weeks 16-20 inclusive.

The deadline for submission will be week twenty one.

One question to be answered in one hour 30 mins. The questions will be on the part of the module that deals with China’s international relations and global role and impact. Students will be allowed to consult their notes etc in writing the essay, but there will be no expectation of providing full references or a bibliogrpahy. The aim is to make this less a test of memory and of time management and more about analysis and critique and the ability to answer the specific question at hand concisely and under time constraint, as this is a key transferable skill students will be required to demonstrate in future employment.

~Platforms - AEP

• Online examination: No Answerbook required