Faculty Advisor: Ph.D. candidate, Princeton University

Research Practicum Introduction

When conducting historical research, it’s easy to get focused on the big events - the discovery of the New World, the Great Inventions, or the rise and fall of a Dynasty. However, studying and understanding the daily life of people in that period is equally important. It helps you learn about the social and family dynamic on the human side and gives you a fresh perspective on the formation of culture and history.

In this program we read, slowly and carefully, Jonathan Spence's classic The Death of Woman Wang (1978). This will offer us a window into life in premodern China and a chance to understand the making of history itself. The book is exciting and short; it describes four shocking and cinematic conflicts in one Chinese town over three hundred years ago.

Like today, writers then felt that they lived in a time of crisis. We will read these stories and try to understand daily life in that time period. How was China governed? What were women's lives like? What animated the lives of Chinese peasants? To find answers, we will unpack Spence's book using other scholarly writings and primary sources: ghost stories, legal cases, local histories, and more. Students will develop critical reading skills and see how historical scholarship is done at its best. Final papers will use readings from the program to further explore one of the central themes. 

Research Questions Includes

• Crisis: What does “crisis” mean and how helpful is it for understanding the conflicts Spence discusses?

• Governance: Do you think that the conflicts in Spence’s book were the fault of ineffective government? Evaluate the role of the government in shaping social life.

• Gender: Evaluate the lives of women in 17th century Tancheng. What were the forces limiting their opportunities, and what were they able to achieve?

• Environment: Describe the standard of living for the peasants of Tancheng. What forces were shaping it, and how? How do we know?

• Evidence: Evaluate Spence’s use of literary evidence; compare and contrast it with Spence’s other evidence. Is it providing a unique contribution? Is it somewhat disconnected?

• Scholarship: What is Spence’s overall argument about Tancheng? Discuss by comparing and contrasting Spence’s book with the writings of other scholars. 

• Or other topics in this subject area that you are interested in, and that your professor approves after discussing it with you.

Program Detail

• Cohort Size: 3-5 students

• Workload: Around 4-5 hours per week (including class time and homework time)

• Target Students: 9-12th grade students interested in History, East Asian Studies, Gender Studies, Literature and Sociology.