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Pleased to share a statement on ChinaFile today about new challenges to teaching China, coauthored with my wonderful colleagues @RatiganKerry Meg Rithmire Xiaobo Lü and @DimitarGueorg1. Below is a short thread about changes I will personally be making to my class. https://twitter.com/ChinaFile/status/1296462458987610112
The ideas below do not represent the views of Princeton or broader institutional changes, though I would say I have always felt supported by my university. We are all trying to figure out this year together.
The move to online education, coupled with the new National Security Law, has created something of a perfect storm for teaching China. We will have class content recorded, and students based in China accessing sensitive materials. And the NSL affects speech by non-citizens.
Our general point of view is that we must not self-censor— we must teach all aspects of China, including the topics the Chinese government would rather we not teach. But we should also be more thoughtful in managing data security and communicating risks to our students.
In my own class, I will be making four main changes. First, I will be instituting blind grading— students names will not be written on their assignments. This has been sensationalized a tad in the WSJ story— “code names”?— but it actually a standard practice and can reduce bias.
Second, I will be ensuring that student comments and discussion are not recorded. The only person that will ever be recorded is me. I will need to work with my university to make sure that is acceptable— I’m not yet sure if there are legal issues at play.
Third, I will also include a statement at the beginning of my syllabus that states the content of the course and the risks posed by the NSL. Again, I will probably have to work with legal folks to get the language right, but I believe we owe it to the students to be forthright.
Fourth, for students who are based in China, I will be reaching out to them to talk things over. If possible, I will encourage them to take the course once they return to Princeton in person. Taking an online Chinese politics course while in China would be very tricky.
Combined, I honestly don’t find these changes to be that big of a deal. I expect the course to feel pretty much the same as before. I will teach the same content, and ask the same sorts of questions in class.
There have been some reactions that the memo and the measures proposed therein represent an overreaction. I hope that is the case. But this coming year presents so many uncertainties, I would rather err on the side of protecting my students and preceptors.
In a year, we will be back in person, and the risks will decrease. We will learn more about the NSL and how Beijing plans to use it— I suspect we’ll find they arent targeting undergrads or instructors at Western universities. I hope to roll back these policies at some point.
We must continue to teach China, the good and the bad. The Chinese government is making it more difficult for us to do so, but I believe we can preserve free speech in our classrooms and protect our students during this uncertain year.
