Peking University, Beijing

Artificial intelligence is the technology that is commonly recognized to have profound impact to the economy and every aspect of human life. This course will focus on exploring how AI affects various aspects of the economy. We will focus on discussing the effects of AI on macroeconomics, labor market, education, as well as how AI combined with big data will transform business strategy, including issues such as individualized recommendation system, market design, data trading, etc. We will also discuss more fundamental ethnical issues such as privacy concern, algorithm discrimination, inequality and welfare. We will then have a better understanding of government policy regarding the AI technology.

The course carries a three-fold purpose: to raise our readerly patience and sensitivity, to showcase aspects of western culture, and to help enhance our English language skills. A mixture of lecture and discussion will form the main classroom activity.

In this course, we shall read five to six European novels from the late 19th century to the late 20th century, by such writers as Dostoevsky, Proust, Woolf, Kafka, and Camus. We shall consider the following questions, among others: What have these authors discovered about the self, for example, about the richness and opacity of the inner life, about self-knowledge and self-deception, about possibilities of redemption through love, art or memory? In what ways do the novels we read reflect upon—or even intimate beforehand—the unfolding of European socio-political life over the course of a crisis-laden century? How do these authors ponder questions of individual responsibility, guilt and conscience, and do they, in their largely post-Christian era, propound any alternative possibilities of transcendence? How does each writer’s art of narrative extend or transform our consciousness of time and space and help us reinterpret personal experience and collective history?

This course is designed to familiarize students with important concepts and theories of international security studies as well as prominent security issues in the contemporary world. The first part of the course introduces the basic analytical concepts and theoretical frameworks as regards direct and indirect use of force in international politics; the second part explores strategic policy during the Cold War and the lessons that scholars have drawn from that historical period; the third part examines several security challenges at the dawn of the 21st century such as nuclear proliferation, terrorism and insurgency, and the security implications of technological change; the last part focuses on the rise of China and international security, with particular attention paid to the relationship between China and the United States, the Taiwan issue, and maritime disputes in East Asia. It is worth noting that the course will not touch upon most non-traditional security issues such as energy security, climate change, food safety, etc.

"Modern Chinese Literature" and "Contemporary Chinese Literature" are one of the most popular courses among students from the Chinese Department of Chinese Language and Literature. However, because these two courses are both 4-hour professional compulsory courses, their training objectives, teaching content and The amount of works read far exceeds the needs of students from other departments. This course "Modern and Contemporary Chinese Literature" is a public elective course tailored for students from other departments to learn and understand modern and contemporary Chinese literature. This course condenses the essence of "Chinese Modern Literature" and "Chinese Contemporary Literature". By telling the interaction between the important works of Chinese writers from 1917 to the present and Chinese society, it reproduces the "emotional structure" and "collective unconsciousness" of Chinese literature on modern China. "The expression can comprehensively enhance students' artistic realm and humanistic feelings.

This course studies frequent vocabulary, grammar and general cultural knowledge of classical Chinese; basic competency in reading classical Chinese literatures; and to further improve their ability in the application of written modern Chinese. Teaching content includes mainly classical Chinese analects with the special learning of frequent vocabulary, sentence patterns, and general cultural knowledge on classical Chinese as supplements. 

The history of modern China is deeply intertwined with international law. Starting from the early 19th century, the European-originated international law made its way to the China-centered East Asian tributary system through military conquests and treaties. Over the past two centuries, international law has profoundly shaped the transformation of China in terms of building of a modern state and the national identity. The more recent decades have seen China’s increasingly active engagement with international law in terms of dispute settlement and treaty negotiation. Yet international law is still underappreciated in understanding China’s foreign relations, often being reduced to no more than legalistic cover for realpolitik by international relations scholars. Academic research on China’s foreign policy is largely devoid of serious legal analysis into China’s engagement with international law. This course sits at the intersection of international law and international relations and bears four goals in mind. First of all, the course prepares the students for understanding the fundamental concepts of international law. The second objective is to examine China’s initial encounter with the Eurocentric concepts and practices of international law and its lingering legacy. Third, it aims for surveying China’s contemporary engagement with various international legal regimes in a historical and contextualized way. Rather than highlighting China’s uniqueness in the international legal system, the course encourages comparative inquiries into China’s position on and practices of international law. Last, the course invites the students to empirically re-examine popular impressionistic discourses about China and international law by making extensive use of primary sources and incorporating competing perspectives.

This course introduces international marketing. The lectures cover the nature of international marketing, the international environment, market segmentation, market entry strategies, product strategies, pricing strategies, promotion strategies, structure of international physical distribution, some important markets, and organization of international marketing activities. The course is focused primarily on the international marketing decisions and management processes. 

This course is designed for the learners with basic listening, speaking, reading and writing abilities, and with a command of more than 2500 Chinese vocabulary and general Chinese grammars. Through learning, students should be able to make short and consistent speeches and conversations on familiar topics in daily life, social life and business activities, and express their ideas more accurately in oral and written forms.

With systematic teaching, we will help the students to learn the basic changing clues and major issues of 1200 years between Sui Dynasty in ancient China and Opium War, as well as the necessary historical knowledge of politic, economic, institution, culture, nationality and other aspects of this period; moreover to help the students to learn the basic method of historical research, the important academic works, famous experts and the latest academic trends; to train their professional awareness, and to lay the foundation for further study of the various dynastic histories and history of particular subjects, as well as the research and practice of the fields. By a variety of interactive forms of lecture, assignment and discussion, to develop students` humanistic spirits and inventiveness.